Nursing And Midwifery Council Essay Example

Provision of the best services to the people requires a zealous person. This is what determines the level in terms of ranks to which one will rise. Such a factor is accompanied by the general conduct of a person and the education levels.

According to Cornish, different levels of professionalism require those who work for them to have acquired and to uphold certain values. For nurses or midwives to be trusted with the lives of the patients, they must acquire the required education, must perform well in their areas of work and also behave professionally. All these requirements in the nursing and midwifery work are set by the NMC. One must, therefore, acquire the required education to be registered by the council as stated by Kingma (pg.247, 2007). One must also display explicit performance and the best behavior at work.
As the general work standards are set by the council, it comes up with an appropriate way of investigating and ensuring that the stated standards are met. The council makes a thorough research on what it expects from these professionals and after the standards are established, a way of ensuring that they are met is sought. The council then sends its officers on the ground to ensure that the stated rules are put into practice. Through its officers, the council’s able to evaluate the adherence of the stated codes by the nurses and midwives. Those that ignore this code are easily noted and the appropriate action is taken against them. The nursing and midwifery code has four categories. These are the main aspects of the code that every worker on whom the code applies must adhere to.

These codes include; prioritizing people, practice effectively, preserve safety and promote professionalism.

Nurses and midwives, unlike doctors, are the closest professionals to patients. They are therefore supposed to put the needs of the patients first. They are supposed to ensure that these patients are cared for in the best way and that they are always secure. Nurses and midwives also should get close to their patients and understand their needs. These needs should be responded to with immediate effect to ensure that these patients get the comfort and the type of services they require. Respect is also another essential virtue that these professions should have over the people they serve. Every human being has a right to be respected and therefore, the rights of the patients should be considered as they get the service. They should also not be discriminated and the nurses and midwives should be on the forefront in condemning the discrimination of people in terms of color, background or race.

In achievement of these goals, the nurses and midwives have to be respectful, compassionate and kind to all people regardless of their age or social status. Caring for the patients is the most essential thing and therefore, all the necessary and available care mechanisms should be well applied as stated by Philp. According to Maben, everyone in the society has a specific taste of choices. This is an aspect that should too be considered considering that people are different.
The type of services and care extended to the people should have an element of variation since different people have different needs. The needs of the people should also not be assumed since it is what

makes them seek medical attention. There should be no delay in delivering the assistance for which the patient has gone to seek. This should be followed by creating a link of peaceful coexistence with the people to ensure that service delivery is effective as stated by Griffiths.

During my first and second years, I never got a chance to administer any sort of medication. All this time, I was entrusted with the duties of taking care of the patients. I used to assist them wear clothes or maybe give them food. Other times, I was assisting in the waiting bay to register the incoming patients or even assess their blood pressure. All this stuff seemed easy and I always used to wonder whether that is what nursing was all about. Actually, the relationship between these chores and what we learnt in class seemed so minimal. I envied the senior nurses because they were always entrusted with duties that I never thought that I will be able to handle in future. In my third year, life became real and I was introduced to all these things that the doctors and the senior nurses used to do. That year, we learnt a lot. The content seemed so different from what I learnt in my first and second years. The teachers were preparing us for our undivided future duties. The year moved so fast and we were sent for an internship in a large government facility. The hospital used to be flocked with patients of all sorts since it offered the best medical care. This is the place that I longed to be in. it’s exactly the place where

I longed to work.
One evening while I was on my night duty, with another nurse and we were going round the wards giving drugs to the patients as prescribed. We were even assisting those that were unable to them such that were would even put the drugs directly into their mouths. It never seemed to be a big deal until I met this sixty years old lady. She had been admitted to the hospital for seven years and this was her eight. The other patients responded positively to the medication but the response of the lady seemed a bit abnormal. After I gave her the two tablets with a yellow coating, I was relieved since I knew that I would relax for a few hours before we went for another round. Before I even left the ward, the lady collapsed and I ran to give a hand.

I tried holding her up but she was too strong for me. I had to seek help from the other patients. As I ran through the cold corridor to the doctor’s office, I was somehow shaking because back in my mind, I thought that maybe I had given her an overdose or I did not read the words on the doctor’s list so well. Maybe I had given her the wrong drugs. I banged on the door toward the doctor’s office and as he stared at me, he immediately realizes that something had gone wrong. He took the file on my hands and schemed through immediately. He then told me to follow him as he rushed out towards the lady’s admission block which was almost a hundred meters from

his office.
As we approached the bed on which the collapsed lady was lying, everything was quiet and the other patients had surrounded the bed as others retired to their sick beds. The doctor immediately rushed through the group and held the patient’s neck. There was no pulse he said as he made a call. Within the next few seconds, other doctors arrived and after some few assessments, the reported that the patient had died. I thought that I had killed her. The doctors then approached me and said that I had given the right medicine as prescribed. I was relieved but I was still shaking. I had to take a day off knowing that administering medicine was not as easy as I thought. Later on, I was guided by the nurses on what I should do in such instances and they also told me that what I did was also brave. They told me that I should not fear to give the prescribed medicine and that I should always be composed as I go through the prescribed medication because this would reduce the chances of confusion as stated by Fidecki.

One time in my second year, we were given some few weeks off and I decided to join my uncle who at that time had set up a clinic. It was doing so well and I thought that it would be a perfect place for me to spend my time in. One day, a middle-aged woman arrived walking, slowly almost bending. She sat on the bench and I could notice that she was in pain. I used to take the files from the doctor’s office to

the other places like the laboratory when they are needed.

As I arranged the files, I overheard her conversation with the doctor and since the doctor could notice that she was in some kind of severe pain, he got to the point where he had to ask her how intense is the pain. She kept on saying that it was not much. I was rather confused how this could be. She never seemed okay and the doctor had to do something. She had to be placed under a pain measuring tool. The doctor in a few minutes time had the results in his hands. It was not good at all. The results indicated that the lady was in too much pain and that is why she could not even stand straight. Back in my head, I realized that it was a bit hard to express pain in words and therefore one had to undergo a pain assessment test as stated by Ashworth.

When I went back to school, we had a few months in class and then we were sent as an attachment. Where I was, a similar situation occurred. There was this old man who was brought to the hospital. He almost expressed similar symptoms like I had seen. I advised the nurse I was with to ensure that he undergoes a pain assessment test since when the nurse approached him and asked how he was feeling; all he could say is that the pain was not so intense. Later on, the nurse approached me and told me that it was really good to take the old man through a pain assessment test. The test had

indicated that he had so much pain. He had liver complications and he really needed such a test. As I furthered my education to the third year, I have known that it is very essential to take the patients through a pain assessment test even after allowing them to express themselves concerning how they feel as stated by Olde-Rikkert.

Raising concern is also another essential factor that one has to consider as stated by Bruyneel (pg.344, 2012). Sometimes when things seem wrong, one should talk about it to find an immediate remedy. In my first and second year, the doctors in my internship used to give me easy tasks. The rest were the usual stuff like taking care of the patients. This did not seem so professional and I thought that any person could do it. But one night, the doctor asked me to do an unusual thing. He seemed so tired and depressed. He wanted me to take his place for about ten minutes since the other nurses were very busy. He had to find another doctor to assist him. Since it was at night, there seemed to be a few patients that wanted to be attended to and I was only supposed to stay in the office until he came back.

Was a heavy task to be entrusted with and I was not prepared for it. He could have at least asked for assistance from a qualified nurse but he chose to entrust me with it. I thought what would be the implications if I attended to a patient and gave the wrong prescription. Immediately! I told him that I could not do that and

since he never seemed impressed, I walked out of the office. After a few minutes, the hospital ambulance arrived with a badly injured young man. The doctor was forced to attend to him.

I thought about how it could have been if I had accepted to take his position. It could have been the worst nightmare of my life. I could have gone against the professional code and this could not have been good for my profession and his. During my time in class, the teacher had insisted on how good it is to always raise concern when such things arise and I knew that I had to do then correct thing. According to Smith, it never mattered how the doctor will take it but for the sake of the lives of the patients, I had to do it.
The advised medication should be given making a reference to the available evidence and one’s explanations of the problems they have. Factors such as previous medical care and the use of medical products should be a part of this consideration as stated by Harrison. The know-how required in different sectors should be maintained making it easy to handle different situations. The professionals in such fields should lower themselves to the level of their clients. They should use terms that patients understand with ease as well as taking their time to understand the language being used by the clients.

Personal and patient’s safety is so essential. One should, therefore, work with competence ensuring that all the factors that are risky to the lives of the patients are taken care of immediately. According to Spears, competence helps one to see signs

of worsening mental or physical health. If one cannot handle a certain situation, a referral should be made to other physicians who can provide the appropriate medical care. Work always comes with new roles. One should, therefore, undergo the appropriate training before taking new roles that need higher skills and knowledge.

One should be open in case an accident or an unnecessary incident takes place as stated by Usherwood. Corrective measures in such a situation should be taken immediately. An appropriate explanation should be made to the affected party followed by apologies to the person and his family. Such incidences should also be documented to avoid the occurrence of the same in future. One should chip in to offer professional assistance in emergency cases. Here, caution should be taken which assists in providing safety to the affected persons.
The necessary resources should be used in accordance with one’s level of competence. In the case of situations that are risky to the workers or the public in general, one should raise alarm to alert the other people which help them to take caution as stated by Ross (pg.230, 2009). Protection should be extended to those in the administrative positions to help them out of potentially risky situations. The concern should also be raised in situations where some persons are vulnerable to certain types of risks.

Being a professional means that one is able to maintain the standards of the profession that he is in. one should be able to gain trust from the patients and fellow workers. According to Sermeus, the clients should have a sense of feeling that the person involved can provide the required services. Fairness should

be upheld at all cost such that there should be no discrimination. Privacy for the clients should be maintained since everyone has a right to privacy.
The laws of the country that one is working in should also be observed to create a good working environment.one should ensure that he or she is always in the list of NMC via attaining the required form of professional improvements as well as avoiding favors that could be given at work from the clients. Integrity in all actions that one takes should be applied which helps one to hold his position as a professional as stated by Tishelman.

Attention sought by the media should be handled with care to avoid disclosing of personal matters. If complaints or allegations are made in favor of or against a person, they should respond positively giving all the required and relevant information. This should be done professionally which makes it easy for judgments to be made. Denne states that one should also try to apply leadership skills by making the best use of the available resources and giving directions to those new in the profession. This ensures that the standards and quality of the services delivered are improved.

The NMC controls the professional lives of the nurses and the midwives. All the people in this profession should not do something because it is always stated in the council’s code but because it is the right thing. Nurses and midwives should take their jobs as a passion and work towards achieving the best goals. Nurses and midwives also should ensure that they always develop and improve their skills and knowledge to keep them updated.