...My role as a student in higher education and future healthcare practitioner Introduction This essay will explore what I did before I became a student and what my roles are as a mental health student nurse as well as a future mental health nurse practitioner. The essay will also identify an action plan off which will address my developmental needs as a student. Before I became a student nurse I decided to go into higher education by starting with an access course to nursing while working as a carer assistant. On completion of this course it led me to a place at university, to study mental health nursing as my passion is to make a difference in the lives of those suffering from mental ill health. Being in higher education has made me grow up more as it has made me realise how much responsibility is ahead of me and that there’s so much expected off me as a student nurse. My role as a student in higher education is to carry myself in a professional manner that will reflect positively on my profession and university at all times. I need to promote myself and my university in a professional and moral way at all times. Effective communication as a student nurse is vital as there will be group work involved in lectures and the more I communicate with my colleagues, the better understanding I will have of my course and it will help me evaluate the quality of my work and ones of my colleagues. The university also expects me as a student to communicate justly when it...
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...or others in the context of delegation" (NCSBN, 2009). This is in reference to the nurse's legal liability for the actions taken and patient outcomes. Accountability and responsibility are different, as responsibility belongs to the person doing the task and accountability belongs to the person who assigned the task. The nurse is both accountable for the task being completed and is also responsible for the patients in their care. (RCN, 2010) Accountability and responsibility are two essential parts of delegation. DeWits and O’Neill (2014) define delegation as "transferring the authority to perform a selected nursing task in a selected situation to a competent individual ". When delegating, the registered nurse (RN) allocates nursing tasks to health care assistants (HCAs) while still remaining accountable for the patient and the task that was assigned. Delegating is a management technique that is used to provide more efficient care to patients. (NCSBN, 2009) Permitting HCAs to take on nursing responsibilities allows the nurse to complete other tasks that need to be completed; however, delegation is done at the nurses' discretion and is a personal choice. Nurses need to make careful decisions regarding delegation, taking into account the skill and training of the HCA, the difficulty and risk of the task, and the patient's condition. The expected outcomes, a time frame for completion, and any limitations should be explained to the HCA at the time that the task was delegated. (NHS...
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... treat or prevent disease so for the registered nurse in a clinical setting, the knowledge of pharmacology plays a huge importance in their role of medication administration. Pharmacology knowledge allows the nurse to carry out safe medication administration, monitor medication actions, educate patients, and act legally and ethically within the pharmacological parameters. This knowledge is also vital for the nurse practititioner in their role of nurse prescribing. Pharmacology plays a huge part in these roles for the nurse. This essay below will elaborate on the importance of pharmacology for the five reasons of safe medication administration, monitoring of medication actions, patient education, legal and ethical aspects of pharmacology and the nurse practitioner. Firstly, safe medication administration. To administer drugs safely it is the nurse’s responsibility to have knowledge of the prescribed medications as well as their therapeutic and non therapeutic effects. Knowledge of the medications include, knowing its approved drug name and classification, correct dose and route of administration. A medication may have as many as three different names- a chemical name, a generic (proprietary) name and a trade name (Crisp & Taylor, 2011). A chemical name refers to the chemical makeup of a drug, a generic name is the drug name listed in official publications such as the MIMS annual, and the trade name is the name manufacturers have registered the medication as. In a clinical setting...
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...This paper has not followed the formatting guidelines. The reference list follows APA 5 but there should be double spacing between the entries. Nicola Adams S00109832 RSL Clinical Visit In this essay I will reflect on my recent visit to the RSL War Veterans Retirement Village, in particular the ‘Clinical Role’ I witnessed, and the communication I observed between the Health Practitioner and the residents. Upon arrival at the Village we were given a chart detailing the “conceptual model for registered nurse practice in contemporary aged care environments” as used by the Veterans Village and I immediately realised that the role of Registered Nurse within an aged care facility is multi-faceted. My Grandma lives in an elderly peoples’ home in England where I have visited on numerous occasions. I have never seen a registered nurse in the facility and had made an assumption that they were present only in the Medical Centres and hospitals. According to the RSL village model the registered nurse role is complex; ranging from providing medical treatment and care for the resident to providing spiritual and emotional support for the family, resident, and community (RSL, 2006). I saw a number of ways in which the emotional needs of the residents were catered for, one being the inclusion of animals within the facility. The village housed an enclosure of rabbits and birds, and also several resident pet cats. I feel that giving the residents an opportunity to touch animals is...
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...Running head: Differences in Competencies Associate degree versus Baccalaureate degree The purpose of this essay is to compare compentencies between the associate and bachelor nursing programs .Competency is an individuals actual performance in particular situation, described by how well the individual integrates knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviour in delivering care according to expectations(Gurvis& Grey,1995; Nolan, 1998). The Difference between associate degree and bachelors is not much at the beginning of nursing career because at that time they have both graduated and are new in their profession and are still trying to establish themselves as a nurse and are trying to be competent in basic nursing skills. Despite the differences in both programs RNs have to appear for the same entry level exam (Nclex) . This exam tests for minimum technical competency for safe entry into basic nursing practice. A difference in competencies between ADN and BSN prepared nurses plays an important role in safety of patients and quality of care rendered. Nurse prepared with the baccalaureate and higher degrees provide better patient outcomes.(Aiken el, al, 2003) According to JCAHO (2006). Competency for nurses can be defined as “a determination of an individual skills, knowledge, and capability to meet defined expectations” (JCAHO, 2006, p.394). The differences between them is professional as well as educational preparation. ADN programs usually take two years...
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...The Role of The Surgical Care Practitioner The purpose of his essay is to examine the evolution and critically analyse the role of the Surgical Care Practitioner within the NHS . Many changes have occurred within the last few years with the UK government realising the need to modernise the service to suit the needs of the population it serves (Nicholas 2010 p94). The evolution of the nurse practitioner started with the Junior Doctors New Deal (NHSE 1991) and the compliance of junior doctors working hours from the European Working Time Directive which reduced the maximum hours a junior doctor can work each week and therefore created a massive hole that the NHS needed to fill. The publication of the document The Scope of Practice (UKCC1992) recognised that nurses could expand their roles through further education and training, and undertake roles that were once the domain of junior doctors. It wasn’t until 1999 when the Department of Health published Making a Difference (DoH1999)which identified the contribution of nurses to the health care team, but then further identified that nurses could expand and develop new roles to improve patient care and services. The Department of Health published a further document NHS Plan (2000) which included the Chief Nursing Officers 10 key roles which advocated the ability of nurses to order diagnostic tests, perform minor surgery, run outpatient clinics, and to admit and discharge patients from their work load. These are key roles of the...
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...Professional Essay Name: Institution: Date: The submission date of an assessment is a significant assessment benchmark that can be used as a performance measure in the assessment of university courses. As a performance qualifier, a submission date is perhaps the best standard to quantify and guide the appropriation of performance levels to Higher Education courses and modules. In this sense, the submission date helps the markers to allocate credits to students’ work by determining the key inquiries of performance qualifier standards, that is, what should be done how well is it done and within what period of time. A student’s ability to work within the submission date is part of the objectives of university course assessments that is used to measure and make judgment on graduate qualities as demonstrated by the particular student (University of Ulster, 2012). The submission date gives a student a defined time period for research and compiling of the information for the assessment in question. This is instrumental in a student’s self-assessment of their progress as well as in appraising their abilities in relation to their course of study. The ability to work within the deadline provided by the submission date is an important determinant of whether a student is suited for the demands of their course of study (Harvey, 2012). As such, this aids both the student and the university in making progress decisions concerning the student such as which grade the student is to be...
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...Anne Johnston-Silverberg, MS, FNPc September 14, 2012 The Affordable Care Act: The Role of the Nurse Practitioner The recent implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had a significant impact on the American health care delivery systems. The passage of this bill mandates that all Americans must have health care coverage and that insurance companies cannot disqualify applicants due to preexisting conditions (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2014). These changes will undoubtedly lead to an increase in the number of people seeking medical care, particularly those with chronic diseases. It is estimated that this influx in the number of patients will result in a primary care provider shortage of 20% by the year 2025 (Poghosyan, Boyd & Knutson, 2014). With many new physicians choosing to pursue specialties due to the promise of a larger salary, hospitals and clinics will need to start looking to other health care providers, such as nurse practitioners, to fill this role. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role nurse practitioners play with regards to the Affordable Care Act by examining the history and qualifications of nurse practitioners, the current practice of nurse practitioners, the basics of the Affordable Care Act legislation, and potential nursing challenges. History of Nurse Practitioners The role of the modern day nurse practitioner emerged in the late 1960’s out of necessity for more primary care providers. When Medicare and Medicaid...
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...Title: Evidence Based Practice in Nursing Name Course Tutor April 20th, 2013 Introduction The paper herein provides a critical discussion of evidence based practice (EBP) in nursing. It clearly elaborates on the meaning and definition of EBP as used by nurses as well as the importance of evidence based decision making as it relates to nursing care. It broadly examines the concept of EBP in nursing care and its relevance to nursing practice and to the delivery of quality patient care. Subsequently, the essay will also expound on the broad research methods that are used in evidence based nursing and conclusively show how this evidence can be applied in day to day health care practice. The Definition and Importance of EBP Evidence based practice in nursing has wide and varied definitions among the nurses in practice and in academic centres. However, the most generally accepted definition is the integration of the best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values (Sacket et al., 2000). Van, Schoonhoven & Grol (2008 at p. 382) while citing Sacket et al., (2000), define evidence based nursing as the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence available in making decisions that are pertinent to the care of individual patients. It is the optimal use of the available research evidence in nursing (Van, Schoonhoven & Grol, 2008). In other literature, evidence based practice (EBP), in nursing has been defined to mean the...
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...1Care Delivery: Delegation Introduction The topic I have chosen to discuss in this essay is delegation, as from my experience this is one of the most complex nursing skills to develop, this claim is supported by literature (Weydt: 2010) Delegation is a suitable topic to discuss as it is a necessity for any nurse to be able to delegate effectively, especially in recent times in which nurses are stretched to their limits due to an increase in patient numbers and current government NHS cuts. The NHS is supposed to be protected from the public sector cuts, but new research shows that more than 50,000 jobs are disappearing from the NHS (Ramesh: 2011) Delegation has particular relevance to me as a third year student because knowing when, how and to whom you can delegate requires a complex understanding of the task in hand, the process of delegation, and the skills and existing workloads of the people available. It is especially important to achieve the right balance as a third year student, as delegating too much may result in a loss of control, while failing to delegate or not delegating enough can lead to duties not being completed. I will begin by discussing areas of delegation such as responsibility, accountability and authority. I will then move on to discuss aspects and principles of best practice. I will then continue to focus on managerial and organisational aspects relating to delegation, I will discuss these aspects using examples from practice. Delegation may be difficult...
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...Health Nursing Essay On the other hand, nursing practice is an act of providing care to the patients. This can be done by implementing a nursing care plan which is based on the initial condition of the patient. For certain people, the responsibilities of the nurses may seem apparent as all they need to do is following the orders from the doctor. Even for an experienced nurses, they still need to concede from the doctors in matters that they are restricted and not qualified in. This is called professional boundaries. According to CRNNS (2002), professional boundaries are the defining lines which separate the therapeutic behavior of a registered nurse from any behavior which, well intentioned or not, could reduce the benefit of nursing care to individuals and communities. But in reality, the job of the nurses sometimes being pushed to the limit according to the patient's condition. This may lead to some instant decision making with or without the conceding from the doctors. This case however may be seen as the boundary violation. The boundary violation can be defined as a disruption of the barrier between a professional and the client. In our case, it is an act or interaction which damages the patient and the professional (nurse) relationship. The action of crossing the professional boundaries may be regarded as against the law. According to Allen (2001), five keys of nursing boundaries had been identified which consist of boundary among nurse and nurse itself, nurse and supported...
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...WORD COUNT 1648 1 Law, Accountability and Ethics in prescribing During my supervised practice in an outpatient clinic the non-medical prescriber I was with was asked by a colleague to prescribe for a patient on her behalf. In my role as a vascular clinical nurse specialist, I run nurse led clinics working alongside other nonprescribing colleagues seeing patients with peripheral vascular disease, this can range from patients with leg ulcers or diabetic foot ulceration with wound infections to patients with intermittent claudication, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm or varicose veins, all of whom may or may not need medications or wound management treatments prescribed. It is very likely that during these clinics once I qualify as a non-medical prescriber I will be asked the same. In this essay I will explore the issues of law, accountability and ethics raised by prescribing on behalf of others. The legal system of England and Wales has two branches of law; criminal and civil Criminal Law: Statues are acts of parliament which are presented via the House of Commons moves to the House of Lords where amendments are made, returns to House of Commons, for final discussion when complete the Bill is given Royal Assent and passes into law. Criminal law involves offences against the state, it is usually the Crown that brings the action against the defendant (Gagan 2010 cited by Courtnay & Griffin). In terms of non-medical prescribing there are two important statues ...
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...Help or Hurt Nursing? Chapter One: The History of Nursing. The first nursing school was established in India in about 250 B.C., and only men were permitted to attend because men were viewed to be more pure than women. If you think of a woman dressed in scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck and a clipboard in her hands, you aren’t alone. An overwhelming majority of nurses in the United States today are women. However, nursing began as a practice reserved for men. It wasn’t until the 1800's that nursing became an organized practice. During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale and 38 volunteer nurses were sent to the main British camp in Turkey. Nightingale and her staff immediately began to clean the hospital and equipment and reorganized patient care. Nightingale pushed for reform of hospital sanitation methods and invented methods of graphing statistical data. When she returned to Britain, Nightingale aided in the establishment of the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army. As a woman, Nightingale could not be appointed to the Royal Commission, but she composed the Commission’s report. (Travel Nurses of America, 2010) Completed, the report was over 1,000 pages in length and included detailed statistical information. Nightingale’s work led to drastic changes in army medical care, the establishment of an Army Medical School and medical records, and ignited the growth of nursing as an organized profession. For these contributions, Nightingale is widely accepted as the founder...
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...Jocelyn Seawood Nurses vs. Doctor English Composition 121 Kathy Knecht 10/17/2011 Nurses vs. Doctors In the field of healthcare there has been a long time ongoing discussion about which healthcare profession plays the most important role in the healthcare industry. If you were to ask the nurses the nurses would say that there will be no good healthcare without great nurses. The doctors would say that the doctors are the brains and the strength of the healthcare world. Those who work outside of the medical industry often confuse the roles of doctor and nurse, not aware that the two have very different functions. Although the two work side-by-side in many situations and need each other to complete certain tasks, there are major differences between a doctor and nurse. Both roles, however, are essential for the medical industry and of equal importance. In this essay I will objectively compare and contrast the role of the doctors and the role of the nurses, and maybe this will give more insight on who’s who in the healthcare industry. Doctors and nurses first differ in their job descriptions. In most cases, the doctor is tasked with examining and diagnosing patients. A nurse, on the other hand, will have a more hands-on role with physically treating a patient based on the doctor's diagnosis. Nurses often joke that they are just as knowledgeable, yet are paid less and charged with performing the "dirty work". However, both jobs can be physically and emotionally demanding. It...
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...The purpose of this essay is to critically explore and discuss the holistic care and management of a chosen patient from a recent clinical placement. The patient which has been chosen has had an exacerbation of a chronic problem. Management options which are or have been available to the designated nurse will be critically discussed alongside the justification of the plan of care which will or has been implemented. The role of the registered nurse in relation to safe and effective decision making will be explored. A discussion of the decision making process which has been chosen for the patient will be noted and this will be related to known theoretical models of clinical decision making. It will also critically examine the importance of managing risk in health care to enhance the patient care and outcomes and this will be related to the chosen patient and clinical scenario. Finally it will also critically appraise the evidence base that supports the discussion. The chosen patient is a 42 year old male who has been admitted to the current clinical placement, which is the local spinal injuries centre, after numerous complaints of recurrent urinary tract infections. All patient identifiable information has been changed to protect the patients’ identity in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery (NMC) guidelines regarding confidentiality (NMC, 2004). Mr Scott had previously been an inpatient to the Spinal Unit following a road traffic accident in September 2004, the outcome...
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