Nurses have the most stressful and difficult jobs in the healthcare industry. With the growing labor shortages in the nursing profession, they are expected to provide a high level of care to patients with varying health conditions from the sick to the dying. Some patients need to have a great deal of care and attention because demanding as it is, lives are at risk.
Though nursing is an honorable profession, nurses suffer from difficult working conditions because of rapidly changing needs and priorities. Nurses in understaffed hospitals and medical facilities have arduous work shifts and even extended working hours.
Taking Care of the Patients
Depending upon the working condition, nurses generally have several patients to take care in the entire span of their shift. At the beginning of their shift, nurses will visit every patient to check their condition and make sure they have taken their medicine. It is their duty to provide general care services from changing their bed to feeding them.
The patient’s recovery is attributed to the level of care the nurses provide because shoddy care can often lead to serious complications. Nurses can be targets to malpractice suits due to negligence and mistakes. At the end of the shift, the outgoing nurse would provide all the important and relevant information to the incoming nurse thereby making sure that the level of care remains consistent.
Administering the Medication
This is the most important task that nurses do because making a mistake is not an option. The nurse must know in which manner the medicine is administered, the dosage, and the allergic reaction that may have an adverse effect on the patient’s health condition. Medical records have to be monitored regularly so that potential side effects and adverse reactions may be detected and acted upon early before it gets worse.
Nurses should make sure that there is what you called ‘continuity of care’ so that patients can recover early thereby helping doctors and other medical personnel complete their jobs. They should also coordinate with the doctor and pharmacist when it comes to administering medications.
End of Life Care
It’s just unfortunate that some patients will die because of the severity of their medical condition but it is the duty of nurses to take care of dying patients. In intensive care units, nurses should prepare the patient to have a peaceful and dignified death.
Educating the Patient’s Loved Ones
Nurses should talk to the patient’s loved ones about the medical condition of the patient in layman’s term. Not everyone knows that myocardial infarction is the same as heart attack. It is the nurse’s responsibility to educate them about the illness and treatment that is going to be administered.
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