The television screen showed the image of a nurse, murdering the people he was supposed to be saving, by injecting them with his own concoctions of drugs. The disgust was beyond imaginable, as he was expected to be the one that saves people, yet he broke that expectation as the unprotected patients’ lives faded away. Charles Cullen was a New Jersey nurse who broke the bond of trust between nurses and patients. I knew that I had to do this project on him because he changed United States history by creating more laws for hospitals and nurses, so that they patients’ rights were not violated. It was slightly troublesome to conduct research because the school library did not have much information on Charles Cullen, or serial killers, which caused
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Habersham County, Tom was feeling slightly nervous as he exited the staff lounge and entered the hustle and bustle of County Hospital’s ER to begin his first shift as an RN. The first few hours of his shift passed slowly as Tom mostly checked vital signs and listened to patients complain about various aches, pains, coughs, and sniffles. He realized that the attending physician, Dr. Greene, who was rather “old school” in general about how he interacted with nursing staff, wanted to start him out slowly. Tom knew, though, that the paramedics could bring in a trauma patient at any time.
The image of contemporary nursing has shifted drastically from simply providing bedside care to wounded patients; today’s highly complex nursing practice involves nurses rushing around the hospital floor, writing reports, and focusing more on technical skills. These changes in nursing practice reflect a shift in the context and demands of healthcare (Doane & Varcoe, 2007). Moreover, since nurses are often so busy administering medications, doing injections, and charting, they forget about the caring side of nursing. Therefore, it is crucial for nurses to use inquiry lenses to focus on the ethics, effectiveness, and multidimensional aspects
Barbara Huttman’s “A Crime of Compassion” has many warrants yet the thesis is not qualified. This is a story that explains the struggles of being a nurse and having to make split-second decisions, whether they are right or wrong. Barbara was a nurse who was taking care of a cancer patient named Mac. Mac had wasted away to a 60-pound skeleton (95). When he walked into the hospital, he was a macho police officer who believed he could single-handedly protect the whole city (95). His condition worsened every day until it got so bad that he had to be resuscitated two or three times a day. Barbara eventually gave into his wishes to be let go. Do you believe we should have the right to
Like many systems in the United States of America, the health care system is far from perfect. Through Fred Hechinger’s “They Tortured My Mother,” Suzanne Gordon’s “What Nurses Stand For,” and George Simpson’s “The War Room at Bellevue,” it is clear that the quality of health care varies from hospital to hospital. The system, while in dire need of reconstruction, has some satisfying aspects that often times go unnoticed by the American public. Caring, respectful, and good-natured nurses are the unmentioned backbone of the health care system. Downfalls in the health care system begin with its continuous replacement of trained and experienced nurses with unlicensed assistive personnel, compensation of hospital administrators and chief
Inside the hospital, conformity is not an option unless patients want to face the wrath of the Big Nurse and her machines. Big Nurse operates the ward on a strict schedule and ultimately sets out to achieve submissiveness by any means necessary. “Ellis is Chronic came in an Acute and got fouled up bad when they overloaded him in that filthy brain-murdering room that the black boys call the ‘Shock Shop,” (16). “A cheery atmosphere” is the exact opposite of what citizens would juxtapose with a “brain-murdering” machine. Yet, strangely enough, the inhumane treatment such as what Ellis endured goes entirely disregarded by the Public Relations man in order to maintain a strong reputation. The corrupt values of society lead the Big Nurse and all of her patients to believe that the only way to succeed is to become a robotic copy rather than being an individual. “The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine,” (28). Through the concrete
The role of a nurse has been evolving with advancement in technology and changes in the healthcare system. The level of compassion displayed towards patients however does not change. For example, in the movie, Vivian’s nurse Susie was the one to show her
Nursing profession is constantly changing with the development of new technologies that lead to a new level of responsibility. The new level of responsibility challenges nurses torespond to different and difficultsituations in the health care industry, especially in protecting the human right, dignity of patients and their safety. Nurses hold adistinctive position as patient advocates, regardless of their respective areas of practice; either in a home health, clinic, or in a hospital setting. Nursesare faced with ethical decisions, both personal and professional decisions.
At Henry Street, the nurses resided within the community; therefore, they too experienced the community’s public health problems. In addition, being part of the community enabled them to provide immediate interventions and education on universal precautions. Subsequently, children were less sick and attended school regularly. Infection control was proven to be effective in lowering the infant and children mortality rates. In 1914, Henry Street’s records indicated, community nurses treated a total of 3,535 cases of pneumonia, including children and adults (Lewenson, 1996, p. 103). The work of Dock and Wald raised public awareness regarding the benefits of public health nursing and the increasing need for additional community nurses. There was a dramatic increase in public health nurses at a rate of 1,413 nurses in 1909 to 15,865 nurses in 1933 (Lewenson, 1996, p. 104). Dock, along with Wald, Mary Gardner and Mary Brewster “advocated a new national nursing organization to address public health issues and found leadership of both the Superintendents’ Society and the American Nurses Associations supported the formation of a fourth nursing organization” (Lewenson, 1996, p. 105). With established partnerships and constituencies, advancements of the nursing profession, better understanding of medications and disease processes, Dock and other influential nurses were able to improve health access, patient outcomes and transfer new knowledge and ideas to individuals and their
Historically, the nursing practice wasn’t seen as a professional job, but leaders such as Nightingale and Barton paved a path for the nursing practice to continue its growth and become stronger. Simple hand washing provided by Nightingale reduced infections caused by operations while Barton helped to establish the American Red Cross (Pearson, 2015) which to this day continues to provide aid to those in need around the world. Contemporary issues for nursing are typically within the healthcare setting.
Nurses who appreciate the history of advocacy that our founding nursing leaders encouraged and practiced are better prepared to take on the challenges of our present changing paradigm of healthcare .The rich history of nursing founded by “The Mother of Nursing “Florence Nightingale was credited for helping to develop nursing education programs.( Nickitas, Middaugh & Aires, 2016,p.4 ) She was one of the first nurses to advocate and utilize the political system to accomplish her goals of improving the nursing education system . In addition , she started what is now known as the Modern Nursing Movement .(Nickitas, Middaugh & Aires 2016) Other nursing leaders have advocated change in the health field and suffered the ill effects such as Margaret Sanger who went to jail and was convicted for her support and beliefs in the planned parenthood program. Lillian Wald another health care innovator, Organized nursing organizations to “Protect the public from uneducated nurses, and to develop standards for nursing education and practice “(Nickitas, Middaugh, Aires, 2016, p. 4). Nurses
In this paper I plan to discuss an increasingly difficult topic of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I will go over the basics of the act including who founded it, when, what it states as well as what its purpose is. I will also discuss the nine titles of the Affordable Care Act. I will then go over how four of the nine titles have affected how nurses provide care. I will finalize my paper by reflecting upon what I have learned from the Affordable Care Act.
The reader gets great insight into recognizing how speaking out or raising concerns about wrongful or illegal practices can justify a nurse’s decision to remain silent and not speak up. Nurses who sound the alarm against poor practices stand to lose more than what they can gain. The conclusion best summarizes why, despite the risks involved, some nurses still believe that telling the truth is worth the price they stand to pay. Curtain explains, “Despite the price, nurses are more likely to speak out than any other healthcare provider. So, is it any wonder that the public trusts them more than any other
The nurse today can be compared to a person who busies himself/herself with process of rescuing a situation to the extent that he/she finds no time to investigate the real cause of the problem. If a nurse could know the real cause of the problem, then he/she would be capable of eradicating it once and for all. This act of finding the real cause of the problem is what entails political activism and this is what should be running in the blood of every nurse.
Since the first days of nursing school, nurses have always been taught to advocate for their patients. Standing up for them when they have no voice, assuring that they are receiving the proper medication in the proper dosages, and maintaining their humanity in their final hours. In 2010 the Institute of Medicine called for nurses to engage in health policy and lead in transformation of the US healthcare system (Institute of Medicine(IOM), 2010). It has been years since this report and the government is still lacking nursing representation. In the words of Abood (2007), The current health care environment...challenges both nurses and patients who are often caught between the cross currents of cost constraints and access to appropriate quality care (p.1).
Nurses are usually the most powerful people on earth, given the fact that they have a remarkable potential to exercise tremendous power both in the societal and political arenas. This power emanates from the great body of healthcare knowledge that they possess and in their large numbers. Contrary to this absolute fact, most nurses do not maximize this policy changing potential that they own. Regrettably, they view political activism not as power tool but as a barrier to the furtherance of their nursing profession. This emanates from the view that nursing is about application of service through actual involvements which politics does not entail (Rains and Barton-Kriese 219).