As a nurse there are multiple roles and responsibilities one must uphold to, to be successful and professional. A nurse is expected to grow professionally and personally throughout their career by identifying values, by reflecting on actions and ideas and gaining more knowledge with each new experience. To be successful one must commit to the growth and development of their knowledge and experience and strive to be an effective nurse. A nurse is responsible for being the patient’s caregiver, decision maker, communicator, advocate and teacher. Not only are these roles an important part of being successful as a nurse, they are also an important part of ensuring the safety of the patient. A nurse is responsible and accountable for the care …show more content…
A nurse must commit to being informed and knowledge on these processes in ensuring patient safety.
In providing a safe and effective environment for a patient, it is important the nurse follow the National Patient Safety goals and implement them in their daily routine. These goals were developed by the Joint Commission’s Patient Safety Advisory group which consists of physicians, nurses, risk managers, pharmacists and other professionals involved in care giving. These goals are put into effect “to assist accredited organizations to address specific areas of concern in regards to patient safety” (TJC, 2015). One of the first goals is to correctly identify patients, which should be done for each patient before any procedure that involves the patient or anytime they are receiving medication or blood products. Identifying the patient should be done by using 2 identifiers which would be name and date of birth. This is used to help prevent a medication or procedure being given or done on the wrong patient. As a nurse it is critical to report severe or life altering lab tests or situations right away to the right person, which is another patient safety goal. Medications are given frequently in the hospital so a goal is for each medication to be given safely and correctly. This can be done according to the National Patient Safety Goals by monitoring patients closely who are taking blood thinners, making sure that
In the article “What Do Nurses Really Do?”, Suzanne Gordon explores what nurses truly do. She concludes that nurses “save lives, prevent complications, prevent suffering, and save money” (Gordon 2006). Nurses provide care for their patients in the physical and emotional sense. Emotionally caring for a patient and being sensitive to his or her needs result from interacting with patients while performing the skills and using the knowledge that nurses learned in school. Nurses grow in their skills, knowledge, and attitudes through practice. Quality and safety education for nursing incorporates competencies that all nurses must use in their practice. These nursing competencies include evidence-based nursing practice, quality improvement, safety, teamwork and collaboration, patient-centered care, and informatics.
This assignment will explore and critically evaluate the role of the registered nurse in the development of a plan of care that is patient centred. This will involve examining and critically analysing the chosen nursing model in a holistic assessment of the patient and the use of the nursing framework ASPIRE (Barrett, Wilson and Wollands, 2012).
rights, health, and safety of the patient.” This provision, identifying patients, medication safety are related because it is a nurse’s responsibility to protect the patient from harm and promote safety. Nurses are taught to use multiple checks before administering a drug and use two identifiers. These checks include checking the medication against the order when obtaining it, checking again when preparing the medication and the last check is done at the patient’s bedside prior to giving the medication. Also it is imperative to question any medication order that does not seem fit. The order should include a date, time, name of the medication, dosage strength, the route for
The State of Tennessee Board of Nursing’s Rules and Regulations of Registered Nurses, Rule # 1000-01-.13-1r states that unprofessional conduct is defined in part by "failing to take appropriate action in safeguarding the patient from incompetent health care practices" (State of Tennessee, 2011). There are a number of arguments in this case study that incompetent health care practices are being performed, from the decision to place a patient on a ventilator for an oxygen saturation of 88%, circumventing the patient’s written and verbal advanced directives, utilizing an unauthorized family member to get consent for
Through the manner in which the case scenario is presented, Mr. Y is not involved in Mr. E’s life decisions even though he is entrusted with Mr. E’s final life decisions.
Nursing is not just a collection of tasks. To provide safe and effective care to the clients, nurses must integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes to make sound judgement and decisions. This essay describes some of the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes of nursing and discusses why they are essential attributes of a competent nurse.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how safety in the nursing profession affects the nursing education, nursing practice, and nursing research. Safety in the nursing profession means to minimize the risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performances (QSEN, 2014). Patient safety is a very important aspect in the profession of nursing. It is the nurse’s job to keep up to date with their patients and to make sure that protocol is being followed at all times. To maintain this strategy, the nurse must show proper knowledge of a nurse, skills of a nurse, and also a professional attitude.
Nurses are undoubtedly one of the most trusted professionals worldwide. Patients, family members, and doctors entrust nurses to provide the utmost quality care to sick individuals. Top priorities of all nurses are advocacy for their patients: including advocating for their physical health, holistic welfare, and utmost importantly, their safety. Patient safety will always be the top priority when providing patient care. The nurse’s responsibility during every patient encounter is to ensure that each patient under her care, receives no harm. As a direct result of the previous statement, it is crucial that every nurse knows their rights to refuse unsafe patient assignments, the process to refuse unsafe patient assignments, and the legal or ethical ramifications that could present themselves if proper judgement is not used. By understanding these rules, nurses not only achieve the responsibility of advocating for patient safety but also safeguard their careers and license.
It takes a lot to let go of what is known, familiar and comfortable. Letting go of the LPN role and transitioning into an RN role is difficult for many. Nurses have a vast amount of opportunity for growth and change in the healthcare field. Many LPNs are choosing to expand their careers and obtain their RN license. While the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) performs a lot of the same skills, the student nurse must improve his or her skills in clinical judgment, collaboration, leadership, and delegation to effectively care for their patients as a professional nurse. There are many comparisons and differences to the role of a Registered Nurse (RN) to an LPN and can vary by their experience. However, there are differences in pay, education,
Errors pervade in our lives whether it is our home, in our workplace, or in our society. The effects of healthcare errors have impacted all our lives either directly or indirectly. Patient safety and quality care are at the core of healthcare system which strongly depends upon nurses. “To achieve goals in patient safety and quality, thereby improve healthcare, nurses must assume the leadership role. Nurses need to ensure that they and other healthcare providers center healthcare on patients and their families. Even though the quality and safety of healthcare is heavily influenced by the complex nature
The role that nurse practitioner (NP) plays within the increasing complex health care system is a constant changing role with the Consensus Model and the introduction of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The scope of the nurse practitioner (NP) includes the care of the young, the old, the sick and the well. The educational needs of a nurse practitioner vary greatly from that of a Registered Nurse (RN), in the amount of education as well as the focus of the education. NPs provide coordinated primary care with the use of comprehensive health histories and physical examinations, diagnosing and treating acute and chronic illnesses, the management of medications and therapies, ordering and interpreting tests results, and educating and
While providing safe care, nurses are also taught to be an advocate for their patients. To be an
In 2010 and 2011 inclusive, approximately 2.4 million hospitalisations within Australia were for the purpose of surgery. Of the approximated 2.4 million, 1.9 million of these were classified as elective admissions (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010-11). Australia is shown to have an ageing population, (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2006) which indicates an increasing percentage of patients undertaking surgery are elderly with numerous comorbidities. In considering these it pre-operative assessment as a means of risk management prior to surgery seeks to reduce the potential probability of perioperative complications.
Patient safety must be the nurses’ number one priority in providing optimum patient care. Patient safety always starts with proper patient identification with two different identifiers like name, date of birth and hospital identification number (Perry, Potter, & Ostendorf, 2016, p.47). Proper patient and family education about safety can make patient care much easier.
Urgency of acute care varies depending on the situation but can range to anything from emergency surgeries, to injuries, chronic illnesses, and also for the recovery of those procedures. Majority of the patients in acute care settings are critically ill. Nursing responsibilities in acute care settings are vital to patient’s recovery due to the front line position nurses play as well as the wide variety of tasks carried out. Assessments are made during every encounter the nurse has with the patient along with monitoring the patient’s progress. Nurses are responsible for recognizing symptoms the patient may be experiencing due to illness or injury and whether they fall in the spectrum of normal reactions. Vital signs are measured routinely and can be indicators of the patient’s current status. When vitals are questioned diagnostic tests can be arranged to further assess possible comorbidities the patient may have. Care plans are made to plan interventions the health care team can take to help patients through challenges they face, both physical and mental. Nurses administer medications as well as first aid as needed. They are responsible for maintaining special equipment patients may require including monitors and ventilators are well.