Professional Nursing and Adult Branch - Case Study Example

Professional Nursing (Adult Branch) Introduction The 21st century has experienced various social and scientific changes that have radically changed delivery system in health care. Nursing is a vital component of the delivery system in health care. Therefore, nursing role in the welfare of a patient has no limit for praise. The profession of nursing has evolved over time to form an important role in the domain of Medicare, based on strong moral, ethical and professional principles. Today, nursing practice has changed positively to professional status from a vocation. This means that today, nursing plays a greater role in delivery system of health care than in the past, and it is more accountable today than in the past. Florence Nightingale founded the modern nursing and established the philosophy of nursing based on health restoration and maintenance. Civil wars in America really boosted the growth of nursing profession while the first and second world wars made nursing profession even more notable. According to Baillie, (2008, 24)), nurse has many roles to play in the hospital because, besides taking care of the patient, he or she has to console the family members and friends. The life of the patient highly depends on the role that the nurse plays, and therefore, a nurse has to observe nursing professional ethics like accountability and full commitment in order to achieve the nursing goals. Mr. Y is an old patient and just as any other patient in an hospital, it is the responsibility of the nurse to take full responsibility of his health. Non the less, while taking care of the patient (just as Mr. Y) it is important for the nurse to observe all ethical and moral values and practices in the nursing profession. Thus, the goal of any nurse is to see that he or she restores and maintain the health of his or her patient under all circumstances. Nursing A registered nurse is a nurse who has undergone the nursing program and has graduated from a college, or school of nursing and has successfully passed the exam of national licensing (.American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2006, 43). A registered nurse takes care of patients in hospitals and in other facilities like schools and other groups and families to regain their health and prevent other diseases. The practice scope of a registered nurse is determined and regulated by Nurse Practice Act of each state. The act outlines the legal practices of registered nurses together with the roles they must, or must not perform. It also states the practice scope of nurse practitioners. Nursing practitioners may prescribe any medication category, but in some states, they are prohibited, unless while working under a physician. Nursing a Patient Nursing practice for a student nurse is very challenging, thus to succeed in the field one should make sure that he or she follows all the nursing practices and values so as to give best medical services. First, as a nursing professional taking care of Mr. Y you should manage yourself and health of others in according to the professional code of Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC): that is ensure high standard conduct, ethics and performance by recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses. This call for NMC understanding of students guide that calls for the understanding of privacy, dignity, consent and confidentiality of the patient. Furthermore, in taking care of the patient one should discuss and undertake all programs in a safe and private environment. Importance of Working as a Team Working together with other health care and social care staff helps in knowledge demonstration and effective practices of inter-personal working which utilize and respect members’ contributions. Therefore, as a nurse it important that you learn of support sources and agencies that may give care delivery services. This is because working with members of social and health care in decision making about a patient would ensure that the patient get the best services and hence quick recovery. Thus engaging such members in the review and evaluation of a patient’s care in nursing outcome progress is important. Importance of Records As a nurse it is important that you monitor and record the health conditions of the patient so that they be referred to, in the future. The health records of a Patient are very important since they give doctors the patient’s health history, like past disease symptoms, treatment, response and recovery process. This provides the base of undertaking the patient’s current treatment and hence ensuring that he recovers fast. Therefore, such records should be securely stored, in a private place, and confidentially handled. Self Performance Assessment In this case, a nurse should use professional practice standards to assess his or her performance. He or she should be very familiar with NMC record keeping guidelines together with medicine administration guidelines. When recording the patient’s information, on care and medical administration, you should reflect on documented care and administered medication. You should also discuss with your mentor your NMC guidelines understanding, application and practice. student nurses should also consult a registered nurse when the care of nursing is far beyond their nursing expertise in their current competence scope. This is before attempting any procedure in an under supervision practice. Acknowledging your own limitations and asking for advice is vital especially when the patient needs more help or advice that is beyond your knowledge base. Nurses should also consult other professionals in health care, when the needs of their patients are outside the nursing practice scope. This is by developing working knowledge of communities, specialist nurses, community matrons and social services roles and referring the patient to members of these professional teams. Understanding the complexity of design of care packages is also crucial. For example, being observed while referring your patient to health professionals, by making sure that you refer him to the right person together with complete referral forms, is very effective. Identifying unsafe practices and taking appropriate response to guarantee a safe outcome is basic while handling the patient. Thus, a nurse should be aware of his or her responsibility and accountability, relative to seeing and reporting any unsafe practice. It also important to Familiarize yourself with safety and health policy and report any incident to the relevant authorities as per the Primary Care Act (PCT). Delivery care service management within a nurse’s own accountability sphere would also help in attending to the patient very carefully. As a student, one should discuss his or her care delivery roles, accountability and responsibility for the patient with his or her mentor. Documenting patient care evaluation, by making a copy of the document and reflecting on your role as a student, reflect your professional commitment. Practicing Nursing Legal and Ethical Framework Observing the legal and ethical framework in nursing is very crucial because it ensures patient primacy, interest and well being besides respecting confidentiality. While nursing my a patient, one should demonstrate legislation, social and health policy knowledge relevant to the practice of nursing by understanding national policies of nursing practice like modernizing nursing careers and national service frameworks. It is also important that you demonstrate your understanding of changes in nursing roles in giving primary care. Patient security and confidentiality of both verbal and written information should be acquired in a capacity that demonstrates professionalism, (Baillie, 2008, 37). Adhering to NMC confidentiality principle is important and nurses should therefore store their patient’s information in a safe area and make sure that they do not share it with anyone. This would increase the patient’s confidence too, which might quicken his recovery process. Demonstration of knowledge on contemporary ethical issues as well as how they can impact health care and nursing is something a nurse should give first priority. These includes treatment consent, underage contraception, domestic violence reporting, substance misuse and childhood immunization, (Baillie, 2008, 39). In legal and ethical dilemmas that cause complexity management, nurses are required to note, document, and record the patient’s condition as concordance, if possible, and if there is refusal of care consent, the patient should be referred to another agency, for example, if the patient reports sensitive information like domestic violence. When seeking patients care in his home, a nurse should act appropriately like seeking permission and gaining consent and setting good initial communication standards like identification and explanation. Acknowledging the Patients Cultural Practices and Belief Differences According to Isabel (1994, 59), a nurse should act fairly and avoid discriminating a patient’s cultural practices and beliefs no matter how different they may be. Therefore, as a nurse one should maintain, acknowledge, and support the rights of the patient in giving health care. This also calls for the patient’s acknowledgement in terms of decision, and wishes in regard to health care like care decisions, assessment, privacy dignity and confidentiality in your role of supporting the patient. The rights of patients should not be compromised in terms of gender, age, ethnicity or disability, adds American Nurses Association, (2006, 72). Mr. Y is a 50 year old man, hence as a young student nurse you should not discriminate him because of his age or gender but handle him with a lot of respect bearing in mind that he has the same rights to access treatment just as any other patient. Therapeutic Relationships Engagement and Communication Skills A nurse should engage in, or disengage from, but develop therapeutic relationships by using the right interpersonal and communication skills, (United Kingdom Government, 1997, 254). Therefore, When communicating with a patient, a nurse should use effective and good engagement and communication skills refraining from use of medical/jargon terminologies , use of simple and clear explanations, understanding patient’s needs by pitching and understanding language to acceptable levels. He or she should also maintain or disengage, appropriately, from relationships of professional care and focus on meeting the patient’s needs within boundaries of professional therapeutic. In cases where there is language barrier between a nurse and the patient, the nurse should ensure that he or she uses national language that the patient understands or seek an interpreter if there is no language that they can effectively communicate in. Promoting the Patients Well-being In order to promote patient’s well being, a nurse should make and utilize opportunities that will promote the patients health (United States Institute of Health. 2006, 175). To ensure that the health of a patient is well maintained, a nurse should consult the patient in order to identify his desires and needs for advice that promote health by seeking his own health choices. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the nurse to avail the patient with current and relevant health information in a way that facilitates his knowledge and understanding choice or preference such as explaining to him his current lifestyle issues that are risky to his health in a way that he will understand. As a nurse it is also important to formulate and document nursing care plan in partnership with his family and care takers, within an informed consent framework. This is by establishing care priorities and needs. To help promote the patient’s well being, it is also important to strive to achieve his optimal rehabilitation, habilitation and health based on current assessment and nursing knowledge with research based evidence and national policy. Moreover, you should also seek to identify expected outcomes, along with achievement time frame, patient consultation and social care and health team. Effective Nursing Practice Effective nursing practice can only be achieved by appropriate application of knowledge and skills that indicate effective and safe nursing practice (Gill, 2006, 57). Current research findings and any other relevant evidence should be incorporated in the practice in contemporary findings in areas like cytology. Therefore, in attending to the patient, a nurse should identify relevant changes in new information or practice and share it with his or her colleagues so as to improve the health standards. It is also important to keep yourself updated with practice changes with your mentor or other nurses who are also students. Public Protection According to Manaq (1999, 176), members of the public can be protected by creating and maintaining an environment that is safe, by using quality assurance and strategies of risk management and applying relevant principles that ensures safe therapeutic substances administration. Therefore to ensure this happens, nurses should always refer to risk management procedures and local PCT principles and NMC guidelines for medicine administration. Use of appropriate tools of risk management to identify potential and actual risks would help any nurse in familiarizing himself or herself with local policies in the nursing practice so as to give the patient safe nursing care. Identifying and eliminating environmental hazards while giving primary care, together with communicating safety concerns to relevant authorities is a good measure of public protection. Conclusion Nursing is more of a calling than just a profession. It calls for a lot of commitment and self sacrifice in order to effectively handle and assist patients. A nurse has to console friends and families or the patient, besides nursing the patients. They work for long hours under unbearable circumstances yet they have to render their services, in an attempt to save lives. However, nurses must observe nursing professional ethics like accountability, confidentiality, non-discrimination, equal patient treatment among others. A nurse should also engage in or disengage from, but develop therapeutic relationships by using the right interpersonal and communication skills that with help patient care and well being. References American Nurses Association. (2006). "Nursing Facts: Today's Registered Nurse. Washington,D.C., American Nurses Association. American Nurses Credentialing Center. (2006). "ANCC Certification" Washington, D.C., American Nurses Association. Baillie, L. (2008). Nursing Practices and Responsibilities. Princeton NJ; Princeton Publishers. Gill, K. 2006. Teaching Primary Care Trust. Nottingham, Nottingham School of Nursing. Retrieved on 27th May, 2011 from http://essaytree.com/nursing/module-nrsrn1008-%E2%80%93-principles-practice-of-adult-nursing-adult-branch-0904-intake/ Isabel, C. (1994). Nursing Roles and Practices. Brazil; Federal Fluminense University Press. Manaq, J. (1999). Preparing Adult Brach Students in their Roles as Staff Nurses. United Kingdom; Luton University, Faculty of Health. United Kingdom Government. (1997). Nurses, Midwives Council and Health Visitors Act. London: London Press. United States Institute of Health. (2006). Nursing (Ferguson's Careers in Focus). New York, N.Y: Ferguson. Read More