McGill 1 D'Erricka McGill Professor Camargo ENG 1102-033 March 26, 2014 The Role of a Professional Nurse Nursing

is a challenging field to pursue. In other words, a nurse must be dedicated and passionate in what they do and how they care for patients. Nurses also have to fulfill certain behaviors such as provide leadership, have self-determination, use critical thinking skills, collaborate well with others, have good communication skills, model altruism, set goals, and commit to a lifelong learning experience. According to Saint Josephs Institute of Medicine regarding the future of nursing, health care settings can change the health care landscape dealing with nursing and its impact on patients. To begin, a nurse is a healthcare professional who is focused on caring for individuals, families, and communities, ensuring that they attain, maintain, or recover functions dealing with health. It is important that a nurse is capable of assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating care correctly by any means. Many people in the world today plan to be a nurse but dont know what a nurse has to be knowledgeable of in order to maintain their intended career involving different roles, situations, and scenarios having a major impact on a persons life. When it comes down to nursing in general, there are many job positions a nurse can occupy. However, a persons degree depends on the job; whether its an associates, bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree. The higher your education level is the higher chance and opportunity

McGill 2 a nurse has in working a high paying job in the field of nursing. Some of the jobs a nurse can occupy are Home Health Nurse, Registered Nurse, Nurse Manager or Director, Case Manager, Community Health Educator, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse Practitioner, and Clinical Nurse Specialist. Nurses may practice in hospitals, clinics, physician offices, private homes, schools, pharmaceutical companies, industries, cruise ships, facilities, and camps. As a nurse, working in these places, one tends to work long hours and may be called into work at any point in time. In order to result in improved patient outcomes and improved job satisfaction for health care professionals, nurses who get called into work at any given time have to have well coping strategies. First, they have to work in collaboration, simply meaning they have to work together as a team. Second, nurses have to be skilled in delegation in order to balance time management in using staff wisely between licensed and unlicensed nurses. Third, nurses have to maintain a positive attitude because patients and their families can sense when a nurse is frustrated or overworked, and being positive equates to improved patient satisfaction and outcomes. Last but not least, a nurse must make sure he or she has the proper meals and rest to perform tasks on duty. Nurses have to do this because hunger and fatigue can negatively affect performance and attitude. Furthermore, nurses use clinical judgment to protect, promote, and optimize health, prevent illness and injury, alleviate suffering, and advocate in health care for individuals, families, communities, and populations. Nurses are also responsible for caring for the dying and disabled person. As a nurse, it is necessary to promote a safe environment, research, participate in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and have the proper education. In some health care settings, nurses are responsible for assisting individuals, such as

McGill 3 the doctor, in performing tasks and activities that contribute to health, recovery, or peaceful deaths, in which the patients would perform if they had the strength, will, or knowledge required. When a nurse is on duty in a health care setting within the United States, the patient benefit from the nurse because its the nurses responsibility to assess and monitor the patient, administer medication, provide personal care, document all patient records, provide the patient with education such as recommend healthful lifestyle changes, and perform medical procedures such as starting IVs. The patient benefits from the nurse in previous ways also because the patient trusts the nurse to take care of them and help them have a successful stay in a health care setting. In regards of the hospital division labor, the making of nurse professionals is a transformational and ethical approach. What is the nature of a profession and of nurse professionals? The sociological paradigm has not always held supreme status in nursing education and professional nursing in the United State. Earlier education and writings in nursing stressed the importance of development of character and good qualities in the individual nurse. Nightingale, for example, spoke of character development of the nurse, the nurse's commitment to seek personal moral excellence and to live a life of purity. In conclusion, "nurses are expected to recognize and respond to a plethora of new demands arising from an ever-changing and increasingly complex healthcare system. Multiple new regulations and accreditations processes, professional standards, increased accountabilities, and financial priorities require more of direct care nurses and nurse leaders already struggling to gain and sustain competencies in evolving arenas of practice, quality, and safe patient care. Todays politico-societal healthcare environments include growing shifts and disconnects in patient care needs and the availability of human, material, and fiscal resources required to meet those needs. Nursing professional development specialists are the keys to successful succession

McGill 4 planning, managing competing priorities, and effecting cost avoidance. Nurses are more than just educators and health care providers. They emphasize safety, quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of practice while rapidly transitioning diverse generations of nurses into practice."

McGill 5 Works Cited

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Moton, Tony. "Day in the Life of a Registered Nurse." Yahoo! Education. Vantage Media, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.

Wells, Helen. Student Nurse, Senior Nurse, Army Nurse & Chief Nurse. N.p.: Cherry Ames Boxed, 2005. Print.

D'Antonio, Patricia. "Nursing (medical Profession)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

"Nurse Practitioner (NP): MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. Ed. American Accreditation HealthCare Commission. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Aug. 2012. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.