Nurses: The backbone of our healthcare system

The role of nurses in healthcare delivery in terms of promotion, prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation is crucial to the smooth functioning of the system.

How do nurses play an important role in the health care industry?

It is true that doctors or medical practitioners play an important role in the healthcare industry by treating the patients in the right way. But at the same time, you cannot deny the role that nurses play in the healthcare industry. In fact, they are the unsung heroes who take care of the patients day and night without being impatient or irritated. Nurses are the ones who form the backbone of both the public and the private healthcare system ensuring that the requirements of the patients are rightly taken care of.

Anyone who has ever visited a hospital has surely seen the kind of work the nurses are engaged in and hospitals cannot even imagine functioning without their help. However, with services offered by medical organizations.

Nurses serve their communities in many ways and have essential roles in healthcare. Nurses promote healthy lifestyles, advocate for patients, provide health education, and directly care for many patients. The exact functions of nurses have changed somewhat over the years; however, their importance in healthcare remains evident.

Since the advent of modern medicine, nurses’ role has shifted from being comforters to modern healthcare professionals who provide evidence-based treatment and wellness education. Nurses have a multifaceted role as holistic caregivers, patient advocates, specialists, and researchers.

Patient care

The primary role of a nurse is to be a caregiver for patients by managing physical needs, preventing illness, and treating health conditions. Nurses care for injuries, administer medications, conduct frequent medical examinations, record detailed medical histories, monitor heart rate and blood pressure, perform diagnostic tests, operate medical equipment, draw blood, and admit/discharge patients according to physician orders. Nurses also ensure patients’ comfort, change bandages, report any changes in a patient’s condition to other nurses or doctors, document patient activities, and assume other relevant tasks.

Patient advocacy

In addition to their role as a clinician, nurses often provide emotional support for their patients and families. This can include ensuring that the patient understands and is prepared for their treatment, listening to patients and assessing their physical, emotional, cultural, mental, and spiritual needs. A nurse often serves as a patient advocate in protecting a patient’s medical, legal, and human rights. Since many sick patients may be unable to comprehend medical situations and act accordingly, it is often the nurse’s role to support the patient.

Planning of care

A nurse is directly involved in the decision-making process of treating patients. Thus, it is essential that nurses think critically when assessing patient signs and identify potential problems to make the appropriate recommendations.

Patient education and support

Nurses are also responsible for ensuring that patients can understand their health, illnesses, medications, and treatments to the best of their ability. This is particularly important when patients are discharged from the hospital and are responsible for continuing their treatments at home.

In every aspect of healthcare, nurses provide education, promote healthy practices, share their expertise, and help patients heal. By guiding patients and their families, nurses can also provide patients with appropriate referrals for other services, resources, and classes.

In addition to when patients leave the hospital, nurses also educate patients about their care plan daily. This is essential for the success of the treatment, as patients must be prepared for all steps of their treatment and recovery. Nurses are also responsible for training and helping other nurses.

 

 

 

TECHNOLOGY USED IN NURSING

“Technology has the power to transform teaching by ushering in a new model of connected teaching,” As technology in nursing and medicine has developed, so has technology’s role in nursing education. Nursing students may have access to online education, live and web-based simulations, apps, reference guides and electronic textbooks on mobile devices.

Online Education

Perhaps one of the biggest changes brought by technology is the availability of online degree programs. These programs offer convenience and flexibility that can allow more people to pursue a degree. Online education operates through a Learning Management System (LMS). These software programs handle all facets of the e-learning process, including delivering content, handling registration for courses, tracking and reporting. Nursing programs can choose from a number of different systems, each offering different features and benefits.

Simulated Environments

Another use of technology in nursing education is simulations with electronic, training manikins. Instructors can program the manikins to mimic scenarios nurses might see in clinical practice. Students can take vital signs and make decisions based on the manikin’s symptoms. It is a safe environment where students can practice their critical thinking and decision-making skills, knowing the manikin will not stay dead if it dies, according to an issue of Nurse Education Today.

Mobile Technology

The use of mobile technology in nursing gives students (and working nurses) instant access to drug references, diagnoses, medical textbooks and more using apps and online guides on smartphones and tablets. Plus, mobile technology is highly valued and used in healthcare settings one article notes that healthcare professionals use smartphones and tablets most often to achieve better staff coordination, improve patient communication and gain easier access to electronic health records (EHR).