PRACTICE OF REGISTERED NURSE

Practice of Registered Nurse



Practice of Registered Nurse

Introduction

Registered nurses, or RNs, are health care professionals who work as part of health care teams to promote health and prevent and treat disease. They are patient advocates and health care educators working to teach not only patients but also families and the community. This paper discusses the practice of registered nurse in a concise and comprehensive way.

Practice of Registered Nurse

With over 2 million positions in the field, RNs make up the largest health care occupation. More than half of all health professions students are nursing students, and there are four times as many RNs in the United States as physicians. Most nurses are women; only 5-7% of all nurses are men (Diamond, 1995).

Nurses work collaboratively with physicians and other health care providers, although the nursing profession is independent of medicine and other health disciplines. RNs' roles span from direct patient care to case management. Nurses are an integral part of the health care system. In fact, most health care services involve nursing care in some form. In the area of direct patient care, RNs have many responsibilities:

* They observe, assess, and record patients' symptoms, responses to treatment, and progress (Diamond, 1995).

* They provide assistance to physicians and other health care providers during examinations and treatments.

* They administer medications and take vital signs.

* They help patients to rehabilitate and heal.

* They educate patients and families about appropriate care after treatment, as well as long-term health.

* They develop and manage plans for nursing care.

In hospitals, RNs often work as staff nurses, providing care at the bedside and managing patients' medical needs. In some cases, RNs in hospitals supervise licensed practical nurses and aides (Diamond, 1995).

RNs who work in office settings, for physicians or in clinics, assist administratively in the office and help the medical staff with patient preparation and examination. They administer medications, perform some lab tests and injections, as well as dress wounds and incisions. RNs also assist with minor surgery techniques and record taking.

Nurses in the nursing home setting provide a variety of care to elderly or sickly patients who cannot care for themselves because of age or illness. RNs in nursing home settings spend a good deal of their time developing treatment plans and performing other administrative duties, including supervising LPNs and nursing aides. They also provide direct patient care, assessing residents' medical conditions, monitoring treatment, and performing more advanced tasks, such as starting intravenous fluids. Nurses in this setting might concentrate on an area of specialization, such as long-term rehabilitation, in which they would care for stroke and head injury patients (Reverby, 1997).

Home health nurses are often RNs who provide periodic at-home care for patients who might be recov-ering from illness or suffering from a chronic condition. While home health nurses work independently during their time in the home, the care they provide is prescribed by a physician or nurse practitioner.

RNs in public health nursing work in a variety of government and community organizations, including as school nurses ...