The American Nurses: A Case Study

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

It is up to the nurse/delegator to determine the delegatee’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and any training that will ensure that the task will be handled appropriately and safely. If it is necessary the nurse/delegator must provide instruction and direction to the delegatee. The nurse/delegator or another qualified nurse must be available to supervise the delegate and delegated task. The level of supervision needed will be determined by the training, capability, and willingness of the delegate to perform the task. A delegate may not delegate to another person or expand the delegated task without the permission of the nurse/delegator. Once the delegated task is completed the nurse must evaluate the delegated task, patient’s health status, determination if the goals are being met and if the delegation of the task may be continued (UT Admin Code R156-31b. Nurse Practice Act Rule, 2013). In section R156-31b-704 the rules for the recognized scope of practice of an RN are outlined. It states that the RN, RN managers, and RN administrators should practice

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

LPN’s carry out the orders of the physician, by administering medications and treatments to the patients assigned to them. LPN’s are often the voice of the doctor when it comes to patients care. LPN’s want to make sure to safe and effective care is rendered to all their patients. LPN’s often participate in readjusting a patient plan of care to benefit the patient’s outcome and their safety. LPN’s can delegate procedures to personal qualified to carry out those tasks. Some of these tasks may include items such as vital signs, glucose checks, back massages, bathing and ADL’s, activities and feeding of patients. CNA’s, play a very important role, in helping the nursing staff carry out their orders and duties every day the come to work.

Nurse practitioners work with other doctors to ensure that patients stay healthy or become healthier once again. Due to their training in clinical medicine, nurse practitioners are able to make diagnoses and treat patients for many different health problems (Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), n.d.). Although nurse practitioners are not doctors, they are advanced registered nurses. The description of duties that are expected of a nurse practitioner are as followed: developing treatment plans for different conditions, educating patients on proper healthy habits, conduct exams, preform different tests and exams, caring for patients and helping prevent further sickness,

The national nursing shortage is an ever-growing concern, and it is essential for healthcare organizations to confront the looming issue. Possible solutions to the nursing shortage include retaining older nurses who are looking to retire, increasing the amount of students graduating from nursing schools, and drawing nurses back to the bedside who have left the nursing workforce (Hatcher, 2006). Leaders must assess the nursing turnover in their organization, and they must strategize on ways to retain those nurses. Organizations must implement techniques to retain older nurses to help combat the national nursing shortage and prevent a national healthcare disaster (Keller & Burns, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to identify the demographic breakdown of an organization, explain how the organization’s environment is conducive and non-conducive for older workers, and describe tactics to retain older workers.

The country has experienced nursing shortages for decades, but an aging population means the problem is about to get much worse.

A discussion regarding the health care reform or even health care in general can be somewhat controversial. The definition of health is drastically different depending on whom you speak to. Many would define health as " a person's absence of disease, others would describe good health based on the status of mind, body & social well-being" (GCU Lecture, module 2, 2012). According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, health is defined as "The overall condition of an organism at a given time". An individual's overall health affects the nation, this is where stakeholders come into value. According to Keele, Buckner & Bushnell a stakeholder is either an individual or an organization that either invest time and

What does it mean be a registered nurse? To some, it may be someone who goes and fetches a cup of water or a cup of coffee. Perhaps it is someone who just provides the patient with warm blanket and a pat on the head; or just maybe someone who delivers medications to the patients. A registered nurse (RN) may provide those services, but there is much more behind the scenes of planning that the patient may not realize. A RN is also responsible for the proper delegation of care to the patients under his/her care with the appropriate staff that is suited for such tasks. For example, a RN may delegate the CENA’s (Competency Evaluated Nurse Aides) to take vitals on a patient while the LPN/LVN

The nurse practitioner is responsible for patient management. Certified by American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, NP have specialized training and education to qualify them to work directly with patients independently or collaboratively with other NPs and physicians. They also provide preventive and acute nursing care services to individuals of all ages. The NP has the ability to supervise, provide patient educate, supervise or administrative duties due to having their own patients, depending on the state of which one lives. They also have to know a little bit about informatics as well since some do run their own clinics and have to know how their computer

The shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States has been a cyclical topic dating back to the 1960s. Only recently have employers in certain regions of the nation stated a decline in the demand for RNs. Consequently, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2014) report on 2012-2013 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, American nursing schools denied admission to 79,659 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2012. The reported decrease in job availability and rejected admissions has left many individuals to question if the nursing shortage still exists. On the other hand, some

The National Council of State Board of Nursing (NCSBN) is a governmental body mandated to regulate nursing practice in various states in the United States of America. Each state has its own regulatory rules that must be adhered to by every practicing nurse in the concerned region. Depending on the location of the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), the NCSBN subdivides nursing practice regulations into three different classes: full practice, partial practice, and restricted practice. Therefore, it is of the essence to examine the nature of practice in different states before an APRN begins training. This paper will take a detailed look at the state of nursing practice in Texas and Arizona. Apart

The national nursing shortage is predicted to continue to rise to levels that have not been seen since the 1960’s (Fasoli, 2010). Managers must create an environment that is conducive to employees. The leader needs to promote organizational commitment and retain employees by promoting a positive culture on the unit. Nurses want an environment where they can provide high-quality care to patients and leaders must help facilitate and maintain this environment. Employees also want to feel like their opinions matter to the manager, and they have a say in the future of the unit. Employees do not want to feel like they are not important, or their voices are not being heard.

The responsibilities/tasks of the RN include the assessment of the client through an initial health assessment. This includes going over the client’s diagnoses, health history, medications, and determining a level of care. In addition, the nurse also reviews ADL/IADLs, health/medical information, and safety.

The Pathway to Excellence® Program touts 12 practice standards or core concepts that are nursing centered including the ability of nurses to control the practice of nursing and recognition of nursing for achievement (see Appendix A) (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2014). These standards have shown evidence of overall nursing satisfaction, which is a key influencer in nursing satisfaction and retention. Pella Regional Health Center provides a post-designation exemplar of participation in the Pathway to Excellence® Program. Key outcomes included that 99% of nurses felt a key part of quality improvement strategies, 96% felt they were a key part of changes to patient care standards, and 98% felt nurses were involved in professional development strategies (Drafahl, Beyer, & Chow, 2012). The designation confirms a supportive nursing environment with a practice based on standards