An ambulance, with sirens blaring, pulls up to the emergency room entrance of a hospital The paramedics quickly and carefully unload their patient and rush in. One of the first people to greet them as they arrive is a nurse. What would healthcare be without nurses? Nurses are everywhere, and the many roles they take on vital to patient care: as caregivers, teachers, advocates, managers and experts. With their experience and many responsibilities, nurses also turn to other members of the healthcare team to work together for the best patient care possible. However, nurses also have limitations, which are pushed by fatigue when they work overtime, whether it is mandatory or voluntary. None the less, the role of the nurse is one that many are willing to dedicate their lives to, in order to make a difference. Care is a word that can be defined in many ways, physically and emotionally. Whether it is expressed through words or through actions, care can signify comfort, healing and hope. People who give this are often called caregivers, and the definition of a caregiver goes much deeper than just a person who gives care. Caregivers also support others, no matter if the need is for the expression of thoughts and emotions, or encouragement towards the accomplishment of some great thing. In the healthcare setting, both of these concepts are used to define what a caregiver is. To most people, the first word that would come to mind when thinking about a nurse would be caregiver.
Carers - a carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support.
I personally define nursing as aiding in the recovery and survival of another person using the specialized knowledge, ability, and critical thinking skills attained through study and experience. The word nurse translates in Latin to nourish. This Latin translation reveals that nurses nourish when a person is in need. Angelo Gonzalo (2011) states, “Nursing is an art through which the practitioner of nursing gives specialized assistance to persons with disabilities which makes more than ordinary assistance necessary to meet needs for self-care” (Major Concepts section, para. 1). Nursing requires a diligent and hardy person to be able to assess the situation, access the appropriate knowledge and skills, and accordingly provide the care a person needs.
Nursing shortage has been a global problem that need to be eradicated in order to promote patient care and improve care outcomes. Nursing shortage in America has caused a lot of negative impact on the nurses, patients and nursing profession. It has caused a lot of dissatisfaction on the part of the nurses and the patients (Nardi & Gyurko, 2013). Nurses are prone to injuries, stress and burn-out as a result of nursing shortages. They engaged in working long hours to compensate their coworkers and ensure completion of assigned jobs. They end up breaking down emotionally, physically and psychologically due to poor work-environment and
Nurses must support each other and “start a movement” (Tucker, S. 2016) to eliminate nursing “burnout”. The quality of nurse’s lives will improve and accordingly, their ability to provide exceptional care will be the “icing on the cake”. Now picture this; it is 2:50 pm and 1st shift is coming to an end, patients were checked one last time and all of their needs have been met. It was busy shift, but there was time for a walk and some breathing exercises. A nurse is giving report to the next shift and she actually has time to get in a quick workout before dance recitals soccer games, and PTA meetings; but more importantly, she made a difference
When people think about nurses, many ideas come to mind. They think of the hideous old starched, white uniforms, a doctor’s handmaiden, the sexy or naughty nurse, or a torturer. The media and society have manipulated the identity and role of nurses. None of these ideas truly portray nurses and what they do. Nurses are with the patients more than the doctors. People do not realize how little they will encounter the doctor in the hospital until they are actually in the hospital. People quickly realize how important nurses are. Because nurses interact with their patients constantly, nurses are the ones who know the patients best.
For over a decade researchers have been performing studies examining the effects patient-to-nurse ratios have on adverse outcomes, mortality rates, and failure-to-rescue rates of patients and on job dissatisfaction and burnout experiences of nurses. Aiken, Sloane, Sochalski, and Silber (2002) performed a study which showed that each additional patient per nurse increased patient mortality within 30 days of admission by 7% and increased failure-to-rescue by 7% as well. This same study also showed that each additional patient per nurse resulted in a 23% increase in nurse burnout and a 15% increase in job dissatisfaction. Additionally, Rafferty et al. (2007) performed a study in which the results showed that patients in hospitals with higher patient-to-nurse ratios had a 26% higher mortality rate and nurses were twice as likely to have job dissatisfaction and experience burnout. Blegen, Goode, Spetz, Vaughn, and Park (2011) performed a study where results showed that more staffing hours for nurses resulted in lower rates of congestive heart failure morality, infection, and prolonged hospital stays. The same study also showed that increased nursing care from registered nurses resulted in lower infection and failure to rescue rates and fewer cases of sepsis.
Since I was a kid, I always wanted to be a nurse. I am taking the very steps to be a nurse and, due to educational requirements, I had to read a memoir written by an actual nurse called The Shift by Theresa Brown. In this book, Theresa talks about her experience over a twelve-hour shift. She illustrates how a nurse works in a hospital environment with positive and negative aspects. There are so many beneficial outcomes of being a nurse such as the relationships formed between patients and nurses, and saving lives every day. But there are also disadvantages behind this profession like the long shifts nurses must work, the hierarchies of hospital jobs, the stress of life and death situations, and picky patients.
The Oxford Dictionary defines caring as the work or practice of looking after, as well as, displaying kindness and concern for those who are unable to care for themselves, especially on account of age or illness. Meanwhile, Avant and Walker (2011) terms caring as an interpersonal process which requires an emotional commitment coupled with willingness to fulfill combined responsibilities and to be trustworthy enough to act on behalf of a person. In essence, it helps in developing great interpersonal relationship between the nurses and the patients in the healthcare centers in a systematic scientific manner.
A nurse’s typical day isn’t without stress; it is usually a lot of complex planning, critical thinking, time management, an abundance of communications with all departments of the hospital, and documenting events that have happened throughout the day on their entire patient assignment. “Nurses who are mandated following the completion of their regular shift are often ill-equipped to continue working. They have not planned for that situation with: proper advanced rest, arrangements for
In today’s society, the medical field is constantly thriving with technological improvements and the growth of educated individuals that contribute to the well-being of others. Nurses make up the largest majority of the industry, and with that, nursing is the fastest growing occupation. Nursing is a job that allows people to not only take care of the sick but also to experience, learn, and further their interests of the human body.
Nurses take part in an integral responsibility in the healthcare system. This is why they have been acceptably referred to as the vital center of healthcare. Being a nurse is one of the most challenging occupations in the world and demands a lot of commitment and dedication to the job. Nurses play various roles as they have to act as care providers, conversationalist and a coach among others. If nurses were to be removed from the healthcare system, it would crumple in its tracks.
Hospitals are always in need of nurses to help provide around the clock care for each and every patient. Hospitals can be very hectic at times, the nurses are there to help assist the doctor with anything he or she might need to achieve for a positive outcome. For example, if an emergency were to happen at the hospital and the doctor must attend, the nursing staff must be there to assist and at the same time care for all of the other patients in the hospital. A mother could go into premature labor and be in dire need of the current doctor at the hospital, and a majority of the nursing staff must help and the rest must attend the other mothers and newborns currently at the hospital. “Employment of midwives is expected to increase by 10 to 19 percent from 2010 to 2020 as fast as the average for all occupations.
Nurses provide excellent patient care, teach patients about health conditions, and give advice and support to patients and their families. Nurses have a variety of duties. They must monitor and record patient symptoms, take vital signs, watch patients diet and physical activity, supervise less skilled nurses, and order and interpret tests to access the condition of the patient. Nursing can be a wonderful, caring, and thoughtful job. However, to other nurses: nursing can be a difficult, tiring, and stressful job. Any job can be tough but nursing is emotionally and physically draining on a person. Nursing can be such a burdensome and demanding job sometimes because of the long hours, the exam to become a nurse, and dealing with other people.
Nurses, working around the clock to provide care and help to those in need, requiring focus and dedication to their jobs. They have become a staple in hospitals because they do the majority of interacting with patients and doctors. Working twelve-hour shifts, sometimes longer nurses work with the goal of bettering those in their care. Nurses work in many divisions of hospitals such as Radiology and GI, Gastrointestinal. They can become floor nurses and traveling nurses, moving to different floors of a hospital or hospitals in different cities and states. Working in hospitals and other medical centers, nurses focus on helping those in the bigger community, a nurse’s jobs revolves around assisting people back to their optimal health and to get them back home.
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