The Role of Nurses and Its Effects on Patient Experience - Term Paper Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tutor :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Title : ROLE OF NURSES AND ITS EFFECTS ON PATIENT EXPERIENCE Institution : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx @ 2012 Role of nurses and its effects on patient experience Introduction The nursing profession falls within the health care sector and its focus is on caring for families, individuals, and communities so that they can have and maintain or recover the quality of life and health (Carel 2008, 89).  As a nurse I am charged with the task of treating patients, providing education to the public and patients on different medical conditions and giving emotional support and advice to the family members of patients. Consequently my role has several major effects on the experience of the patients I care for. As a nurse I am important since I determine the speed of healing and the rate of recovery that patients can have. My behavior towards the patients affects the way the patients view their own health conditions and progress towards healing. Compassion should be practiced by nurses since it has a major impact on the patient’s experience and consequently the process of healing (Cottrell, Stella 2005, 56). In this essay I will examine my role as a nurse as well as the manner in which it affects the patient under my care. Role of nurses The nursing role requires me to work in specialties in which I can work in teams or independently to plan, assess, evaluate and implement care for patients. The nursing community in the entire world aims at provision of quality care for all people, maintain own credentials, standards, competencies and code of ethics as well as advancing education. As a nurse I do the job of caring for people of different ages whether they are ill or healthy. This care is based on the person’s emotional, physical, intellectual, psychological, spiritual and social needs. The nursing profession combines social science, physical science, technology and nursing theory in giving care for individuals. Working as a nurse regardless of my work setting or specialty, I may have particular duties such as giving treatment to patients, provision of education to patients and the society about different medical conditions besides the provision of emotional support to the families of sick people (Madjar & Walton 1999, 116). I record the symptoms and medical history of patients, tests, operate medical machinery, analyze results, give medication and treatment and do follow up for patients as well as rehabilitation. I teach the people under my care together with their families different ways of managing their injuries or illness including home care after treatment, programs of diet and exercise and the administration to self of physical therapy and medication. Some nurses have received training to give grief counseling to members of the family of patients who may be critically ill. I promote general health through provision of education to the public about different symptoms and warning signs of diseases and the places where they can go and get help. I also do immunization or general health screening clinics, public seminars and blood drives on different conditions. Nurses are allowed to specialize in one or many specialties for patient care. Common specialties for nurses are divided into approximately 4 categories based on type of treatment or work setting, ailment, disease, condition, system of organ or body type and population. As a nurse I can combine different areas of specialties for instance cardiac emergency or pediatric oncology depending on the needs of the employer and personal interest (Jackson & Borbasi 2006, 45).  In nursing I can specialize by the type of care I give or by the setting of my work. For example if I was a nurse that gives ambulatory care, I would attend to patients with various injuries and illnesses on out patient terms in the offices of doctors or clinics. If I was a critical care nurse I would operate in intensive care hospitals where I would give care to patients that have respiratory, cardiovascular and pulmonary failure. As a trauma or emergency nurse I would be found in the emergency departments of hospitals treating patients that have life threatening conditions resulting from accidents, strokes and heart attacks. If I specialized in emergency cases I would work as a flight nurse that cares for patients that need to be flown to medical facilities by helicopter (Kallenbach 2005, 32). Role of haemodialysis nurses The nursing roles that I as a nurse in haemodialysis units perform resemble those that other nurses in other contexts perform. These responsibilities include the assessment of important signs, monitoring the emotional and physical reactions of patients to treatment, providing answers to relevant questions and overseeing the dialysis treatment when it begins up to the end. In the haemodialysis unit I act as the point for patients’ daily contact. Because of this I am in the best position to confirm if patients are taking their medications and giving advice to physicians about any change in the health of the patient (Cottrell, Stella 2005, 76). I also have the role of training other people on how to operate the dialysis machine. Although I may not run the machine I understand its mode of operation and can train the patient and technician on using it. I teach the technician about operation of machines and performance monitoring during use. The patient is taught about machine functions, safety and operation. I can also supervise the haemodialysis machine technician and monitor his performance. This involves checking the operation of the machine and getting feedback from patients about the care given. I can also operate medical equipment. The dialysis technican runs the machine but the responsibility of operating other medical equipment falls on the shoulders of the nurse. Such equipment includes those that detect the wastes in the blood of the patient, catheters and heart rate monitors (Chang, Amanda 2008, 12). Haemodialysis nurses also administer medicines that are needed by the patients. These are medicines related to treatment directly and because most of the dialysis patients are the elderly I administer other geriatric medications needed by the patient. These nurses maintain inventory of medicines supplied when they use equipment and administer medicine. When there is a shortage of a given item the nurse must say so that more is ordered (Carel 2008, 95).  I also conduct many routine tests on patients after and before dialysis. This is done to know the condition of the patient and to know how effective treatment has been. These findings are then reported to doctors or supervising nurses. I assess the patients by examining them physically through asking questions on health before analyzing the test findings to complete their assessment of the condition of their patients. Another role is educating the patients about how they can improve their own health. To achieve this I give them counseling on the right diet, physical habits and medication (Sontag 1991, 41). I also coordinate and oversee care, ensure that treatment and site access is correctly done with safety checks completed; charting is done well, doctor orders are implemented, lab work is drawn as needed and that social work, dietitian and other ancillary services feature in patient care. Dialysis removes toxins from the blood and also balances the fluid make up of the body. Dialysis nurses need to be in a position to interpret lab values for blood which shows the impact that treatment has. The goal of treatment is to bring the blood values of every patient close to move (Kallenbach 2005, 256).  Effect of nursing role on patient illness experience The role of the nurse in the haemodialysis unit as described above is very important to the patient. Kidney failure has an effect on other processes in the body among them pulmonary, cardiovascular and gastro-intestinal systems. As a nurse of dialysis I need to be aware of kidney failure signs and should do regular evaluation of patients to ensure that treatments are done effectively. As a dialysis nurse I can affect the healing process of patients. I therefore have to develop close relationships with patients and their families. To add to this, I am involved actively in the health management of patients especially exercise and nutrition to increase the benefits to patient (Madjar & Walton, 1999, 90). The conduct of the nurse in the process of handling the patient with kidney problems should be one the gives hope to the patient. The role of care giving demands that I cultivate the right attitude towards the patients. The relationship between the patient and the nurse is nurtured through the role of the nurse to the patient. This relationship sets the mode for the care experience and it impacts greatly on the satisfaction and illness experience of the patient. Patients can have a good experience if the nurse giving care to them acts professionally and observes the work ethics required of them. Such an experience is necessary because it creates a good atmosphere for healing of the patient. As a nurse I spend a lot of my time in the presence of patients and as the patients observe my interaction with other nurses and patients, they make their conclusions which have the potential of affecting their progress (Johns & Freshwater 2005. 231). Care giving is best received when it is done with compassion and sensitivity to the needs of the one receiving the care. I therefore have to care for my patients with decency and humanity and to provide patients with similar care as the one they would prefer for their families or themselves when in need. Compassionate care really matters to any patient. The absence or presence of compassion often marks the long lasting and the vivid memories that patients and the members of their families keep about the experience they get in the hands of nurses (Jackson & Borbasi 2006, 112). Improving the satisfaction of patients about the experience they get during health care has a lot of value to the patient and family members. Evidence from research indicates that compassion determines how effective treatment can be (Fassett & Gallagher 1998, 34). For example when the nurse caring for a patient is compassionate the patient can feel free to share information about concerns and symptoms which results into increased understanding and better diagnosis. Because fear and anxiety with other negative experiences delay healing (Frank 2002, 54) and anxiety in patients is reduced by compassionate behavior, it looks like compassionate care has a positive effect on the recovery rate and healing ability of patients. When as the nurse I do not observe work ethics and professionalism I may display a bad attitude towards the patients, their family members and fellow nurses or staff. Patients are always in a sensitive state and any lack of respect, consideration and compassion can make them fearful and frustrated. Their delicate feelings can easily be injured and therefore nurses in my activities I need to observe maximum care on how I handle them. Patients that go through bad experiences under nurses may dread the feeling of being in hospital for all their life (Chang, Amanda 2008, 89). Conclusion To conclude, in this essay I have examined my role as a nurse in the haemodialysis unit and how it affects the experience of illness in the patients I care for. My role as the nurse revolves around giving care. The nursing profession falls within the health care sector and its focus is on caring for families, individuals, and communities so that they can have and maintain or recover the quality of life and health. As a nurse I am charged with the task of treating patients, providing education to the public and patients on different medical conditions and giving emotional support and advice to the family members of patients. Consequently my role as the nurse has several major effects on the experience of the patients I care for. The way the nurse carries himself or herself around the patient shapes the experience of that patient in the course of the illness. In my nursing job I need to practice compassion because it eases fear and anxiety and gives way to quicker recovery. Work ethics and professionalism is required at my job so that I do not give patients bad memories of their time in illness. Bibliography Frank, AW 2002, At the will of the body: Reflections on illness. Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, New York. Fassett, D & Gallagher, MR 1998, Just a head: Stories in a Body. Allen & Unwin: Sydney. Jackson D & Borbasi S 2006, Nursing care and nurse caring: issues, concerns, debates. In: Daly, J, Speedy, S & Jackson, D, (eds) Contexts of Nursing, 2nd edn, Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier: Sydney. Johns, C & Freshwater, D 2005, Transforming Nursing through Reflective Practice, 2nd edn, Blackwell Oxford. (E-book). Madjar, I & Walton, J (eds), 1999 Nursing and the experience of illness: phenomenology in practice. Allen & Unwin, Sydney. Sontag, S 1991 Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and its Metaphors. Penguin Books: London. Carel, H 2008, Illness: The cry of the flesh: The Art of Living, Acumen, Stocks field, UK. Chang E., Amanda J. (2008) Chronic illness and disability: Principles for nursing care. Oxford. Cottrell, Stella 2005, Critical thinking skills Palgrave study skills. Page 167-182 Kallenbach Z.J. (2005) Review of haemodialysis for nurses and dialysis personnel. Elsevier mosby. Read More