Characteristics of Nurses - Essay Example

"Characteristics of Nurses" is a perfect example of a paper on care. One of the prominent characteristics of nurses is that a majority of them lack adequate knowledge and skills (Wright 208). A large proportion of the nurses are not competent in undertaking medication calculations, and they often have difficulties in converting measurements to various scales. When conversions are not done correctly, the nurses end up under-dosing or overdosing patients (Wright, 2007). Furthermore, most of the errors in medication result from mishaps in intravenous forms of drug administration (Adapa et al., 2012; Stucki et al., 2013, Wheeler et al., 2008). The mishaps arise because the nurses lack appropriate knowledge on how to use infusion devices, as well as, confusion between nasogastric tubes and IV lines (Athanasakis, 2012).

Another reason that contributes to medication errors is the heavy workloads that nurses endure in the healthcare delivery system (Marsteller, 2011). According to Stucki et al. (2013), several studies have shown overworking as a prominent factor that leads to medication errors. The shortage of nurses in hospitals has reduced their ratio to that of patients, and the result is overloading the available nurses. As the nurses undertake multiple tasks simultaneously, they fail to give attention to the patients appropriately (Athanasakis, 2012). The working stress that arises from various duties, distractions, and interruptions have a direct impact on the nurses’ concentration in the preparation and administration of medications to patients (Sellgren, Ekvall, and Tomson, 2006).

Lastly, in an effort to guarantee patients’ safety, it is necessary to have effective communication among all healthcare workers during the hand-over of shifts. As a way of enhancing communication, various healthcare jurisdictions have ruled out the necessity for formal handovers.  Stevens (2008), states that most patients suffer when handovers do not follow the appropriate procedures. In fact, adequate care to patients is the responsibility of both nurses and doctors. Having appropriate handovers within the healthcare system is vital because they make all information regarding patients and the attention needed available (Matic, Davidson, & Salamonson, 2011).

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