Nursing is a multifaceted profession that affords those that practice it the opportunity to be an invaluable influence on the ability of an individual to recover from an illness or injury. This opportunity, which can be incredibly rewarding, also comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility. It is with this responsibility in mind that I have laid out four topics that I feel are integral to the field of nursing and should be the point of focus for the continued improvement of the field as well as the individual nurses themselves.
Educational Opportunities and Requirements
I believe that one area of nursing that will require improvement in order for the profession to improve is expanding the educational opportunities for prospective students. …show more content…
Nurses make up a large proportion of the healthcare field and if banded together they can help influence positive change with regards to healthcare reform. Nurses need to bring their personal experiences and skill sets to the forefront of healthcare issues so as to change the field in a way that benefits the profession of nursing and the field of healthcare as a whole. Nurses need to stay informed of new developments within the political arena that affect the profession of nursing and make efforts to either support or oppose such legislation depending on said legislation’s intended effect on the profession. Policies that are enacted and influence nursing practice might not be in the best interest of the nurses themselves and there is nobody better suited to speak out against such policies than the nurses that would be affected.
Patient Centered Care At all times nurses should consider their patients to be their top priority. Yes, the nurse will be employed by a healthcare facility and will have to follow protocols set in place by the facility. The nurse will also be required to follow the orders of physicians and other healthcare providers in the course of caring for patients. However, the following of these orders and protocols should never hinder the healing process of the patients under the nurse’s …show more content…
Census Bureau estimates that minorities will comprise 55% of the population by the year 2025 (Cherry & Jacob, 2017). This shift in the cultural composition of our nation will require that healthcare providers, in particular nurses, be better suited and better prepared to adequately treat individuals that have vastly different backgrounds than themselves. Nurses should be required to undergo continuing education with regards to the specific cultures that they are most likely to encounter in the areas that they work. Differences between cultures could be minimal or they could be so extensive that it would be difficult to interact appropriately with individuals of a particular culture without having at least a basic understanding of how that culture views the world. Cultural perceptions of medicine can vary markedly from one culture to the next and it would be much easier to treat patients of different cultures if one was familiar with that particular culture’s interpretation of different medical procedures and
Educational Opportunities and Requirements
I believe that one area of nursing that will require improvement in order for the profession to improve is expanding the educational opportunities for prospective students. …show more content…
Nurses make up a large proportion of the healthcare field and if banded together they can help influence positive change with regards to healthcare reform. Nurses need to bring their personal experiences and skill sets to the forefront of healthcare issues so as to change the field in a way that benefits the profession of nursing and the field of healthcare as a whole. Nurses need to stay informed of new developments within the political arena that affect the profession of nursing and make efforts to either support or oppose such legislation depending on said legislation’s intended effect on the profession. Policies that are enacted and influence nursing practice might not be in the best interest of the nurses themselves and there is nobody better suited to speak out against such policies than the nurses that would be affected.
Patient Centered Care At all times nurses should consider their patients to be their top priority. Yes, the nurse will be employed by a healthcare facility and will have to follow protocols set in place by the facility. The nurse will also be required to follow the orders of physicians and other healthcare providers in the course of caring for patients. However, the following of these orders and protocols should never hinder the healing process of the patients under the nurse’s …show more content…
Census Bureau estimates that minorities will comprise 55% of the population by the year 2025 (Cherry & Jacob, 2017). This shift in the cultural composition of our nation will require that healthcare providers, in particular nurses, be better suited and better prepared to adequately treat individuals that have vastly different backgrounds than themselves. Nurses should be required to undergo continuing education with regards to the specific cultures that they are most likely to encounter in the areas that they work. Differences between cultures could be minimal or they could be so extensive that it would be difficult to interact appropriately with individuals of a particular culture without having at least a basic understanding of how that culture views the world. Cultural perceptions of medicine can vary markedly from one culture to the next and it would be much easier to treat patients of different cultures if one was familiar with that particular culture’s interpretation of different medical procedures and