Why are Nurses Important in Healthcare

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The nurses have to be able to establish and maintain successful patient relationships. Nursing treatment, for patients, is about being heard and seen. Knowing you are in safe hands. You are allaying their anxiety and their confusion. In return, you give patients confidence, and hope. You give them many choices they can choose from. Whereas nurses 70 years ago were mostly seen as nothing more than order-takers for doctors — responsible for providing food and drugs, changing beds, and bathing patients — registered nurses have much greater roles and autonomy, and enjoy an increasingly collaborative partnership with doctors and other healthcare staff members. To appreciate why nurses are so essential in today’s healthcare, we need to look at what they do, from the relationships they cultivate with patients to the ways they interact with other practitioners.

Nurses spend ​more time with patients. Think back to a previous consultation with a doctor. Chances are a nurse was the first person you saw after you signed in at the reception desk. He or she probably made what seemed like a small talk, between talking about your wellbeing and testing your vitalities. However, the small talk was not just about putting you at ease or avoiding uncomfortable silence; professional nurses know that taking the time to get to know patients can be immensely helpful in uncovering valuable health information, information patients would not be offering up otherwise. ​Instead, after the doctor saw you, the nurse presumably came back to talk about any drugs prescribed by the doctor and see if you had any more questions before helping you check out. In a new study of time intensive care patients spent with at least one healthcare provider, about 86% of the time was with nurses, compared to only 13% with doctors. The time spent with nurses was even higher in the case of overnight stays in hospital. Nurses are also described as being at the forefront of healthcare services. They are the first to note a shift in the condition of a patient or spring into action in a critical situation.

The time nurses spend with patients also gives them valuable insights into the wishes and desires of their patients, attitudes, wellness patterns and concerns, making them powerful advocates of their care. Indeed, the American Nurses Association considers advocacy a “nursing foundation.” Nurses devote a lot of their time and resources to educating patients in their practice, whether that means helping them understand a treatment or procedure, medications and side effects, the value of proper diet and good hygiene (of particular concern for immunocompromised patients), or how a clinic works (in the case of ongoing care). In providing treatment, nurses report everything from the vital signs and reasons for visiting patients to their probability of dropping (referred to as a “fall risk score”) and current medications. They then review these tests, updating permanent medical records of patients and paying the associated fees. In the case of hospital stays, nurses are frequently the first to discover a problem and although notifying the attending physician is a common procedure, there are occasions when nurses need to act quickly to stabilize the patient. In other cases, a doctor can spell out instances as part of the order set when a nurse may act without obtaining permission from the doctor. For example, if the magnesium levels of a patient drop to a specified level, the nurse will give the patient magnesium without consulting the doctor. For example, if the magnesium levels of a patient drop to a specified level, the nurse will supply the patient with magnesium without consulting the doctor.

Nurses have a certain lens through which they can see the quality of care and some doctors are open to integrating the medicine and nursing practice more readily. In the United States in particular, a huge shortage of primary care physicians has led to increased demand for Nurse Practitioners and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses who can work autonomously and provide care to those in need, especially underserved rural and urban communities. ​In the United States in particular, a huge shortage of primary care physicians has led to increased demand for Nurse Practitioners and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses who can work autonomously and provide care to those in need, especially underserved rural and urban communities.

Nurse Practitioners will help the healthcare system fulfill its goal of treating as many patients as possible with the highest quality treatment. Nurses should use their individual and collective voices to advocate for policy reforms that expand the autonomy of nurses and enhance the profession’s reach and impact. Growing nation has its own unique challenges, and as the population begins to age quickly, nurses will be vital to caring for those aging people. Nurses may use the media, physician partnerships, collaborative political action and face-to – face interactions as opportunities to participate in meaningful conversations with others. Nursing is fundamental to quality healthcare and nurses should use their experience, expertise and collective vision to promote social change and support it.

 

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