From a patient and their family’s perspective, nurses do not have good responsive skills. Although we may be busy, we need to remember that we have other patients to care for and must attend to them quickly to ensure that they are happy and safe. The most important thing is that we must be empathetic to those in our care and communicate professionally as nurses. As
A George Washington University study published in Science Daily says, “If health care employers are serious about wanting a more highly educated workforce, they will need to go beyond the current ‘soft policies’ and adopt more forceful measures, such as requirements for degree completion and wages that reward nurses who have worked to get a BSN or advanced degrees” (George Washington University, 2013). The problem is that there is such a shortage of nurses that employers hire whomever they can get regardless of the type of degree. As long as the person is a licensed RN, s/he is right for the job. One reason that so many people support a
Nurses can also build partnerships with doctors and collaborate with health care workers, to help improve the health care system in the United States. The IOM sees the nurse as a great leader, but they are not being used to their full potential due to challenges like policy regulation, high turnover of nurses, the aging workforce and the difficulty to find a job coming out of school. The ANA in a press release, agreed with the IOM report and acknowledged the need for nurses to step up and meet the challenges of the changing and advancements in the health care system, (McNamara, 2010). IOM Recommendations The Institute of Medicine report recommended that leaders in nursing should work together to help improve the number of nurses with a BSN degrees from 50 percent to 80 percent by the year 2020.
If any changes need be made to better the care that patients receive it should done by enforcing more supervision. There should be more supervision to assure that proper care is being given by all nursing staff and not half done. We should, as healthcare professionals, at all times provide the best care as we possibly can. One way to stay atop of this is by envisioning the patient as our own grandmother, sister, cousin, aunt or any other family member. Total Care Nursing is or can be very stressful on the patient and their family members as well as the nurse.
Once the nurse has began establishing a relationship with their patient, they must be careful to not pass or show any judgment on a patient’s decisions, beliefs, values, or culture. The professional nurse should demonstrate sensitivity to diverse cultural needs and ethnic backgrounds. Having an open mind is always necessary when dealing with such a wide array of people in the public as a nurse would be. Because healthcare is a continually expanding field, a professional nurse should be willing to stay up to date with continuing education or seminars, learning new and better ways to provide the best care possible for patients. The nurse should reflect a high degree of professionalism to patients, the public, and other professionals.
One of the leading concerns regarding the nursing shortage is the aging workforce. “Already, an estimated 8.5 percent of U.S. nursing positions are unfilled-and some expect that number to triple by 2020 as 80 million baby boomers retire and expand the ranks of those needing care” (Business Week, 2007). This trend is causing great concern among health care workers and the nursing community. Having such a large number of nurses on the brink of retiring and entering the patient status soon after is affecting the health care field negatively. There is not enough nurses educated and trained to handle such an influx and the salary of current nurses is under debate.
“If we take seriously the idea that caring is the future of all healthcare…it is not that we care which is moral, but how we care” –Marks-Maran (1997, pg 87) I feel that is why communication is so important to nurses. Of course nurses need to be academics at times and have excellent fine motor skills but all this would be lost if they communicate and express themselves inadequately to patients- and to each
Team building can provide business with the skills they need to work more cohesively as a group. Nurses are especially used to working within teams to accomplish a goal. It is surprising that a large industry like healthcare would not place more emphasis on team building as a part of organizational success. The article even mentions that, on an educational level, team building is not a critical skill for nursing. Nursing seems like an ideal industry in which to practice team building.
Just because someone believes they are right, it does not mean they are right. The nursing profession trains new nurses on operating the latest technology, complex medical equipment and complex treatment plans. Nursing as a profession does a disservice to new nurses by not developing their leadership capabilities. Transformational leadership merges ideals of leaders and followers (Sullivan, 2005). Its focus is to unite both manager and employee to pursue a greater good
Whether we are exploring the best way to arrange shift cover or discuss with patients and their families the most appropriate community care, how we communicate depends on our professional relationships with all those involved.” In other words, communication is a key aspect in nursing as a whole. We believe, without it high standard of care will not be delivered. Communication within Child Nursing, in all forms is vital to enable the best care and to reduce fear and anxiety for the child/young person and their parents. Not using nursing terminology e.g. “E-Coli or Staphylococcus aureus”- to confuse the child and their parents, but instead breaking it down in plain clear English of what “E- Coli” actually is, will help them understand what is going on.