McGill 1 D'Erricka McGill Professor Camargo ENG 1102-033 April 23, 2014 The Role of a Professional Nurse Nursing

is a challenging field to pursue. In other words, a nurse must be dedicated and passionate in what they do and how they care for patients. Nurses also have to fulfill certain behaviors such as provide leadership, have self-determination, use critical thinking skills, collaborate well with others, have good communication skills, model altruism, set goals, and commit to a lifelong learning experience. According to Saint Josephs Institute of Medicine, "As nurses take on leadership roles, they could change the health care landscape: A look at the future of nursing and its impact on patients." (Saint Joseph's: Inviting nurses to the table) Nursing requires different characteristics as a care-taker in taking roles in the medical profession, having an impact on their patients. To begin, "a nurse is a healthcare professional who is focused on caring for individuals, families, and communities, ensuring that they attain, maintain, or recover functions dealing with health. It is important that a nurse is capable of assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating care correctly by any means" (Medical News Today). Many people in the world today plan to be a nurse but dont know what a nurse has to be knowledgeable of in order to maintain their intended career involving different roles, situations, and scenarios having a major impact on a persons life.

McGill 2 When it comes down to nursing in general, there are many job positions a nurse can occupy. However, a persons degree depends on the job; whether its an associates, bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree. The higher your education level is the higher chance and opportunity a nurse has in working a high paying job in the field of nursing. In other words, "nursing is a profession filled with limitless personal and professional rewards. Nurses can find work where and when they want, full-time or part-time" (Learn4Good: Nursing Career Choices/Education). Some of the jobs a nurse can occupy are Home Health Nurse, Registered Nurse, Nurse Manager or Director, Case Manager, Community Health Educator, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse Practitioner, and Clinical Nurse Specialist. " Once a nurse get into his or her profession, there are very few problems they will encounter in finding a job in the healthcare field. Nurses may practice in hospitals, clinics, physician offices, private homes, schools, pharmaceutical companies, industries, cruise ships, facilities, and camps. As a nurse, working in these places, one tends to work long hours and may be called into work at any point in time. In order to result in improved patient outcomes and improved job satisfaction for health care professionals, nurses who get called into work at any given time have to have well coping strategies. First, they have to "work in collaboration, simply meaning they have to work together as a team. Second, nurses have to be skilled in delegation in order to balance time management in using staff wisely between licensed and unlicensed nurses. Third, nurses have to maintain a positive attitude because patients and their families can sense when a nurse is frustrated or overworked, and being positive equates to improved patient satisfaction and outcomes. Last but not least, a nurse must make sure he or she has the proper meals and rest to perform tasks on duty" (Nursing Careers: General Nursing Skills). Nurses have to do this because hunger and fatigue can negatively affect performance and attitude by caring for the patient in which the

McGill 3 patient needs to be. For example, if a nurse has not had the proper rest for work the next day, there's a possibility the nurse will half do their job. There's also a possibility the nurse will not be alert when they're starting IV's, and committing other functions dealing with the life or death of a patient. Furthermore, "nurses use clinical judgment to protect, promote, and optimize health, prevent illness and injury, alleviate suffering, and advocate in health care for individuals, families, communities, and populations" (Thinking like a nurse: a research based model of clinical judgment in nursing). As a nurse use clinical judgment he or she is putting their experience, knowledge, and heart into what they are doing in order for the patient to be cared for the way they should. In the medical profession, I feel clinical judgment is very important because it allows not only a nurse but a doctor as well to make a life or death decision. Therefore, having clinical judgment triggers what is best for the patient through the knowledge and advances of the level of a nurse or doctor. For example, if a person doesn't think he or she is going to make it through life because their blood pressure keeps fluctuating without the person knowing, the doctor has to put his knowledge to affect. The doctor has to determine what medications to put the patient on, how many different medications the patient needs, which medication is going to have the least amount of side effects, etc. Making clinical judgments are one of the central reasons why nurses are responsible for taking care of the dying and disabled patients. As a nurse, it is necessary to provide a safe environment, conduct accurate research one will be responsible for, present good characteristics to shape the health policy in patient and health systems management. "In most health care settings, nurses are responsible for assisting individuals, such as the doctor, in performing tasks and activities that contribute to health, recovery, or peaceful deaths, in which the patients would perform if they had the strength, will,

McGill 4 or knowledge required" (Nursing Careers: General Nursing Skills). When a nurse is on duty in a health care setting within the United States, the patient benefits from the nurse because one of the nurses responsibility is "to assess and monitor the patient, administer medication, provide personal care, document all patient records, provide the patient with education"(American Nurses Association: What Nurses Do). For example, nurses have the opportunity to recommend healthful lifestyle changes, and perform medical procedures such as starting IVs. The patient benefits from the nurse in previous ways also because the patient trusts the nurse to take care of them and help them have a successful stay in a health care setting. In regards of the hospital division labor, the making of nurse professionals is a transformational and ethical approach. What is the nature of a profession and of nurse professionals? The sociological paradigm has not always held supreme status in nursing education and professional nursing in the United States. By sociological paradigm, I mean an interpretation or status of a nurse being a person who gives and serves their community as a whole. In other words, nurses are examples in society due to their care for others around them. Therefore, earlier education and writings in nursing stress the importance of development of character and good qualities in the individual nurse due to different aspects evolving around sociological paradigms. Nightingale, for example, spoke of character development of the nurse, the nurse's commitment to seek personal moral excellence and to live a life of purity to show how important a nurses status is. In conclusion, "nurses are expected to recognize and respond to a plethora of new demands arising from an ever-changing and increasingly complex healthcare system". This includes multiple regulations as well as accreditations. Nurses of course have to show the need for professional standards and accountabilities. Nurses have always been more than just

McGill 5 educators and health care providers, they "emphasize safety, quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of practice while rapidly transitioning diverse generations of nurses into practice" (Nursing: Medical Profession).

McGill 6 Works Cited

Crosta, Peter. "What Is Nursing? What Does a Nurse Do?" Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 23 Apr. 2009. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

Moton, Tony. "Day in the Life of a Registered Nurse." Yahoo! Education. Vantage Media, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.

Wells, Helen. Student Nurse, Senior Nurse, Army Nurse & Chief Nurse. N.p.: Cherry Ames Boxed, 2005. Print.

D'Antonio, Patricia. "Nursing (medical Profession)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

"Nurse Practitioner (NP): MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. Ed. American Accreditation HealthCare Commission. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Aug. 2012. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.