Registered nurses work alongside physicians providing patient care in a variety of ways. A few examples of what nurses are responsible for include: administering medications, tracking patient’s vital signs, helping to diagnose and properly treat patient aliments and educating the patient and their family on their condition and the course of treatment. Depending on what area of medicine a nurse works in will determine more generalized and specific duties and responsibilities. There are many different areas a nurse may work in. Some areas include: obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, emergency room, and many more. Nurses can work in a variety of settings, these can include: hospitals, urgent cares, doctors office, nursing homes and home health.
It is no secret that communication is key when providing direct patient care in a skilled nursing facility. However, there is a noticeable lapse in the communication between the care team when providing care to the individual or groups of individuals. Two main parts of any care team are the registered nurse and the certified nursing assistant, as these are the two people whom have the most direct and impactful roles with residents in a skilled facility. The Registered Nurse and the Certified Nursing Assistant play similar roles in providing patient care, but have different roles in its entirety. The role of the Registered Nurse (RN) is defined as having the competency and skill to provide direct and indirect health care to individuals, their families, and communities around them. Services are also provided designed to give out medications, to promote comfort or healing, promote healing, and to also provide the dignity of their patients and patient’s families (American College of Rheumatology, 2015).
para. 1). Registered Nurses should be emotionally stable, so they can help the families through rough times (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 47). An RN also needs to be organized, and to make sure the patient gets what they need when needed (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 48). All RN’s will need to have the patients medical issues, and problems handy and to give the patients, and their medicines when the patients need it (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 8). An RN will usually records what the patient is doing, sometimes work with medical machinery, talk to doctors about the patient, and help the patient and the patient’s family on how to deal with their medical problems (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 8). Another important thing that an RN will need is to have the physical stamina and to be ready to lift or transfer patients (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 49). An RN will have to be able to lift at least 10 pounds, maybe even 20 pounds (“Registered Nurse” para. 4). A person in this career should have an energy level that is somewhat high, has a skill that is interpersonal, and a knowledge that is a little scientific (“Career” para. 6). If you happen to be an RN in a nursing home, an RN will watch over the LPN’s and CNA’s, may start fluids for the patient, make plans for treatments, and manage the patients health
The General Duty of most Registered Nurses’ is to do whatever they can, in their power, to help every patient they come across on a daily basis in a comfortable, appropriate, manner. On the more specific end of a RNs’ duty, a Registered Nurse is expected to and responsible for: performing physical exams and health
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).
The role of nurse practitioner is valuable when discussing collaborative care. There are so many levels of care, so many health entities, and so many insurer criteria involved that it is instrumental to have a role that can work towards help bring all aspects together. In addition to diagnosing, treating, and managing care, the role of the nurse practitioner is to manage simple and episodic acute health issues along with chronic disease (Sangster-Gormley, Martin-Misener, & Burge, 2013). It is important to note that although this is a function of this role, nurse practitioners also practice from a holistic point of view which allows them to help manage patient conditions or wellness in a more complete fashion. This includes helping patients have access to care beyond primary and secondary care settings. This encourages nurse practitioners to work alongside other health care and allied health professions, and families to create an individualized plan for every patient (van
There are many roles and tasks that can be performed under the LPNs scope of practice. The LPN can give medications prescribed by the doctor, give immunizations approved by the healthcare provider, preform daily wound care and vital signs, take medical histories and enter provided information into the computer documents, (Licensed Practical Nurse, 2017). The Licensed Practical Nurse can watch over the UAP, monitor intake and output, and help with patient transferring as well. The LPN has a lot responsibly and works as the eyes and ears of a doctor or a registered nurse.
Registered nurses have several duties and responsibilities that can range depending on the organization that they work for. Registered Nurse’s may be employed in physicians' offices, schools, hospitals, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, clinics, and even in prison settings. They are responsible to provide direct care to patients that are done under the order and supervision of a licensed health professional. The licensed healthcare professionals include physicians, nurse practitioners or physician's assistants. The daily actions of an RN may include receiving a patient assignment, assessment of each patient, administering medications, attending to patient needs, facilitating patient, assisting the physician with bedside procedures, monitoring laboratory results, and monitoring for any changes in condition. While on the job they might also encounter heavy lifting of patients, exposure to bodily fluids, and large amounts of time on feet. The amounts of hours they work depend on where they work. For example, hospital-based nurses mostly work a total of 3 twelve-hour shifts per week while a office-based nurse usually works 5 days a week for a total of 40 hours.
Under the scope of practice of an RN from the New York State Education Department, an RN can diagnose and treat human responses to actual or potential health problems. To be able to perform those tasks a care plan must be made for each client. An RN manages the health care services such as observing and assessing the health status of clients and implementing/assessing nursing care. This all falls under the initial assessment of a client, which is within the scope of an RN. An RN uses information gathered as part of client assessment, they then have the capacity to assign client care to other members of the nursing team, RNs and LPNs, and assign tasks to other care providers such as nurse’s assistant. Even though there are parts of the nursing process that may be delegated to qualified personnel, the initial assessment is the RNs responsibility. The initial assessment is the basis for safe and appropriate client care, which makes it so vital and why not just anyone can perform it. RNs hold the overall responsibility in the nursing
Transitioning from a practical nurse to a registered nurse will build upon my already existing knowledge and expertise by developing my skills and gaining more experience. My future role as a registered nurse will involve being able to think critically and analyze issues more deeply. I also must be able to consider underlying conditions and how they relate to my patient’s status. As a registered nurse I must examine my personal qualities and analyze whether I have the mental or emotional capacity to do what is required of me.
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
The answer to the question of “What does a registered nurse really do?” is so broad in scope that it becomes difficult to explain effectively with one statement. With many specialty fields of nursing falling under the same general definition, a core set of roles and responsibilities is used to define this answer. The Bureau of Labor and
For example, RN might be assigned for patients’ assessments, LPN assigned for certain medication administration and nursing assistant helps with care/bathing and feeding patients. All this done under supervision of a team leader another RN (Currentnursing.com, 2015).
Nurse’s roles are expanding according to the need of the patient and society. A nurse has to play roles from bed side nursing to the prevention of disease and illness, educating patient, families and collaboration with different healthcare teams. Howell (2012) indicated
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.