Contemporary Nursing Practice (week 1) – Flashcards
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What are the contemporary roles of a registered nurse?
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-Caregiver - Advocate -Educator -Communicator -Manager
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Without clear communication ____?
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it's impossible to give: - comfort and emotional support -give care effectively -make decisions with pts and families -protect pts from threats to well-being -coordinate and manage patient care -assist pt in rehab -provide pt education
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What does a nurse manager do?
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-Coordinates the activities of members of the nursing staff in delivering nursing care -has personnel, policy, and budgetary responsibility for a specific nursing unit or agency. -Also uses different leadership styles
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What does a caregiver do?
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-Helps pt maintain and regain health, manages disease/symptoms, helps pt attain max. level of independence. -Provide healing and restores pt's emotional, spiritual, and social well-being. -Helps and assists pt and family in setting and meeting goals w/ minimal cost, time, and energy.
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What does a nurse advocate do?
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-Protects pt's human and legal rights + provides assistance in asserting rights. -Stand up for the pt and provide language interpreter or additional info to help pt decide on treatments. -Also defends pt's rights by speaking out against policies/actions that endanger pt
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What does a nurse educator do?
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-Explains health concepts/facts, describes reason for routine care activities, demonstrates procedures like self-care, reinforces learning and pt behavior, evaluates pt's progress in learning. -Teaching can be formal or informal (answering questions about medications or teaching how to self-inject)
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What is a CNS (clinical nurse specialist)?
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-an APRN who is an expert clinician in a specialized area of practice. - Ex. population (geriatrics), disease specialty (diabetes), setting (critical care), type of care (rehab), type of problem (pain). -CNS practices in all health care settings.
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What is a nurse practitioner?
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-an APRN who provides health care to a group of pts, usually in an outpatient, ambulatory care, or community-based setting. -Has knowledge and skills to detect and manage self-limiting acute and chronic stable conditions (hypertension, asthma, diabetes mellitus, etc) -Different than CNS - work in private practice mostly and can prescribe medications
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What is a certified nurse-midwife?
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-an APRN who provides independent care for women during pregnancy & labor, and delivery and care for the newborn. - Includes some gyno services (i.e.Pap smears)
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What is a nurse administrator?
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-Manages pt care and the delivery of nursing services within an agency. -Manager positions require bachelor's while director positions require master's. -Manage a product line or service (ie. medicine or cardiology) -Functions include budgeting, staffing, strategic planning of programs and services, employee evaluation, and employee development
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What is a nurse researcher?
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-investigates problems to improve nursing care and to define/expand scope of nursing practice -often works in academic setting, hospital, or independent professional or community service agency. -min. MSN but Doctorate is preferred
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What are 4 Societal Influences on Nursing?
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1) Demographic changes 2) Women's health care issues 3) Medically underserved 4) Threat of bioterrorism
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What are 6 factors that contribute to the medically underserved population?
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Rising rates of : 1) Low-paying jobs 2) Underemployment 3) Unemployment 4) Mental illness 5) Homelessness 6) Increasing health care costs
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What are nurses doing to help the medically underserved population?
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Nurses work in these community-based settings providing health promotion and disease prevention to the homeless, mentally ill, those with limited access to health care and those who lack health care insurance.
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How do health care agencies, schools, and communities prepare for nuclear, chemical, or biological attack?
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-They have educational programs where nurses are active in disaster preparedness -They institute activities like public health emergency simulations, vaccine research, decontamination in event of bio attack, and triage for mass casualty to crisis response units
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What is the nurse's role in preparing for bioterrorism?
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-Evaluating the strengths/weaknesses of a disaster plan -Work with community disaster-preparedness groups and hospitals to decide what specific nursing activities are needed
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How are demographic changes affecting health care?
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-more people are living longer which requires a need for expanding health care resources -population shift from rural to urban centers -more people living with chronic and long-term illness -expansions of outpatient settings, with more people wanting to receive care in home
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What are the 5 influences of Today's Health Care Delivery System?
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1) Rising health care costs 2) Evidence-based practice 3) Nursing and biomedical research 4) Nursing shortage 5) Health policy
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What are factors contributing to the nursing shortage?
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-aging nursing workforce -retirements -recession/economic climate -slow growth in nursing school enrollments due to the shortage in staff, clinical site availability, and space limitations
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How does nursing shortage affect consumer care?
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Affects nursing education which is essential because there is a direct link between nursing care and positive patient outcomes, reduced complication rates, and a more rapid return of the patient to an optimal functional status
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How does evidence-based practice influence health care?
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-changes nursing practice by introducing new: info coming from research studies, practice trends, tech development, and social issues affecting patients -it's a problem-solving approach that helps make decisions about pt care using current best evidence, clinical expertise, and pt preferences
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What does the NLN stand for and what is it?
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National League for Nursing -it advances excellence in nursing education to prepare nurses to meet the needs of a diverse population in a changing health care environment -sets standards for nursing education
