Nurse Jackie is a television series that is set in a hospital environment. Within the hospital there is an interdisciplinary approach which focuses more on the work the nurses perform. Jackie is the main character who we follow and is an emergency department (ED) nurse. Jackie is a hard working nurse who is experiencing severe back pack pain thus causing her to use narcotics to control the pain. That said, this paper will explore how nursing and Jackie’s character is portrayed in the show as well as how Jackie can be seen as a leader (Austin, 2009). The health care workers in the show Nurse Jackie, are portrayed as as hard working professionals who hold a high regard for patient care. The nurses follow an established dress code which requires …show more content…
Jackie respected her elderly patient’s choice not to receive care, but was an advocate for him to remain in the ED to eat his chicken soup (Hudis, 2009; Sullivan, 2012). The patient knew he was dying and did not want any further treatment except for his wife’s soup. Jackie respected his decision and fought for him to stay in the ED to consume his soup. This is a form of advocacy because Jackie had to convince her nurse manager to keep him in a bed. This kept the patient calm and actually relaxed him so much that he ended up dying by the end of the episode (Hudis, …show more content…
Jackie advocates for the patient’s daughter to be at her bedside, because the daughter is the main caregiver, even though the ICU has an age restriction of having to be at least 14 (Austin, 2009). Further, Jackie takes it upon herself to ensure that the patient has enough required medications to last a few weeks. She achieved this by taking the medications from the pharmacy and smuggling them out of the hospital by giving them to the daughter. The patient’s daughter was extremely grateful and appreciated all of Jackie’s actions (Austin, 2009). From the above examples, nurse Jackie displayed a servant leadership style. Jackie fits the servant leadership style because she has a desire to care for (serve) her patients (Sullivan, 2012). Jackie is aware of the needed changes in order to improve her ability to patient care regardless of the level or complexity of care to provide comfort. Further, Jackie is empathetic towards her patients by understanding their decisions and showing empathy with their decisions. Lastly, Jackie does persuade her managers and pharmacists to ensure that the required care is given to support her patients (Sullivan,
Healthcare is viewed in an unrealistic way by most individuals. Many people view a physician as the only means to find a solution to their problem. Nurses are still seen by some as simply “the person who does what the doctor says.” This is frustrating in today’s time when nurses are required to spend years on their education to help care for their patients. In many situations nurses are the only advocate that some patients’ have.
Although nurses do not wield the power of doctors in hospital settings, they are still able to effectively compensate for a doctor’s deficits in a variety of ways to assure patient recovery. Nurses meet a patient’s physical needs, which assures comfort and dignity Nurses explain and translate unfamiliar procedures and treatments to patients which makes the patient a partner in his own care and aids in patient compliance. Nurses communicate patient symptoms and concerns to physicians so treatment can be altered if necessary and most importantly, nurses provide emotional support to patients in distress.
Nurses have a considerable amount of responsibility in any facility. They are responsible for administering medicines and treatments to there patient’s. While caring for there patients, nurses will make observations on patient’s health and then record there findings. As well as consulting with doctors and other healthcare professionals to plan proper individual patient care. They teach their patients how to manage their illnesses and explain to both the patient and the patients family how to continue treatment when returning home (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014-15). They also record p...
During the time when all nurses were undervalued, Gordon followed and observed three registered nurses every day at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, while on their daily routines for almost two years. Each of the nurses have different jobs, which cause them to have different roles. The three nurses Gordon evaluated were: Nancy Rumplik, an oncology nurse; Ellen Kitchen, a home care nurse practitioner; and Jeannie Chaisson, a clinical nurse specialist. All three nurses together have more than 50 years of work experiences in the medical field. Gordon gives us an assortment of cases the nurse worked on. She shows how each nurse has special abilities when it comes to helping their patients.
“A healthcare provider’s bedside manner encompasses their medical knowledge, personality, and ability to understand the patient and communicate their concern for them.” (Britt). Although some individuals don’t see the importance of communication and emotional connection with patients in the medical field, doctors who have problems properly interacting with their patients will have a lower chance of success in healing them. Doctors receive so much education but are never taught proper bedside manners, which is the way that physicians interact with patients. In order to ensure a patient’s comfort, psychological well-being, and physical health, a physician must truly understand their patient.
Furthermore, there should be enough trust between the nurses and physicians where they can easily put aside their egos and ask for a second opinion when they have any doubts concerning a patient's safety. This was clearly exemplified when the nursing staff attending to Lewis Blackman failed to contact the physician when various side effects arose; instead they tailored the signs to fit the expected side effects. Even after Blackman’s health was deteriorating, the nurses remained in their “tribes” and never once broke out of it to ask for help. The entire hospital was built on strong culture of remaining in their tribes instead of having goals oriented towards patients care and safety.
Upon the first point of contact between a nurse and patient, the way a nurse communicates through words, gestures or facial expressions can affect the patient's perception of the nurse. Communicating professionally helps to portray the nurse in a good light. This is important as having a positive perception of the nurse's image and behaviour is crucial to building patient trust — one of the key elements of a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship (Bell & Duffy, 2009; Wadell & Skarsater, 2007). The need for the establishment of therapeutic relationship is supported by th...
When one imagines a female nurse in America, one may think of a smiling woman in pink scrubs helping a new mother care for her baby, a comforting hand to hold in a time of need, or even a soft voice counting, “One, two, three...” before administering an injection. Nursing is a profession that is dominated by women at ninety-two percent (US Department of Labor) and is accurately characterized by its commitment to the care for individuals and the promotion of healthy living. According to the American Nursing Association’s Code of Ethics, “The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.” Because of these professional and altruistic values, it is no surprise that the profession of nursing has received the highest ranking in Gallup’s annual Honesty and Ethics Poll for the eleventh year. Eighty-one percent of Americans claimed that nurses have “high” or “very high” ethical standards (Gallup). Clearly, the American public thinks quite highly of nurses, however, when is turns on the television, these well-respected individuals are portrayed on popular medical dramas as disposable sexual objects and as subordinate helpers. This unrealistic depiction of nurses is a reflection of the misogyny in American culture that presents itself through entertainment such as ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Fox’s House.
One of the most poignant statements that I have heard during my tenure in nursing school is that “Nurses are often the first person that an infant sees at birth and the last person that a patient sees upon death.” Nurses have contact with patients recurrently along this continuum of life, now more than ever. This is due to the world’s aging population and the correlating factor of higher patient acuity (Larson, 2013). This frequent and close contact with nurses has fostered a sense of trustworthiness in the minds of U.S. citizens. This is evidenced by a recent Gallup Poll which listed nurses as the most honest and ethical professionals in America (www.galluppoll.com, 2015). Nurses have the challenging task of providing this trust-worthy,
Often time, nurses has been viewed by patients, their family members and the medical team as basic emotional care givers, pill crushers or cart pullers and not as healthcare professionals who are more interesting in health promotion, disease prevention and better patient outcomes. They also often forget the emotional, physical, mental, and caring part that is involved with the profession. And to make matters worse, nurses are continued to be viewed as a threat by doctors more than ever before especially with the opening of Nurse Practitioners programs.
Carper identifies four fundamental patterns of knowing that contribute to the structure of nursing knowledge and the promotion of safe, quality patient care, including empirics, esthetics, personal knowledge, and ethics (1978). According to Carper, empirical knowledge is knowledge of the science behind nursing practice (1978). With empirical knowledge, a nurse relies on the scientific facts she has collected throughout her years of education and experience and applies them to patient care in order to provide the best care possible. Knowledge of esthetics, according to Carper, is knowledge of the art of nursing (1978). Esthetic knowledge allows the nurse to rely on her perceptions and intuitions about what a patient really needs to creatively design and implement the types of care that will be the most effective and satisfying for her patient (Carper, 1978). The third way of knowing, personal knowledge, involves knowing, recognizing, and utilizing the role the individual self plays in nursing practice (Carper, 1978). Carper introduces the idea of therapeutic use of self, in which the nurse sees the patient as more than just an object that needs tending to and instead as another human being to form a relationship with (1978). Personal knowledge drives the nurse to think of how she would want to be treated if the roles were reversed, and motivates the nurse to engage the patient in every aspect of their care so they receive quality care that is tailored to their specific needs. The last way of knowing, ethical knowledge, is defined by Carper as encompassing a nurse’s sense of the right versus the wrong thing to do in a given patient situation (1978). A nurse has to rely on her moral intuition to make sure that every judgment call being made on a patient’s care are all ethical and in the best interest of the
Teaching is part of being a nurse (Angelo, 2015). Being a nurse does not only end at providing full care to the patients but also includes proper teaching about the patients’ disease and medications. Patient’s education should happen when opportunities come, especially before discharge. By teaching them prior to discharge and providing them hand-outs, pamphlets or websites to find important information about their disease and medication, they will be ready to administer their own medications and be informed about their disease. Good personality is also vital in nursing practice (Angelo, 2015). It is not only what a nurse has learned in school or the skills and knowledge that he or she acquired from clinical instructors that are important, but also the whole make-up of a nurse’s own self. For example, a knowledgeable nurse is fully equipped with the skills in dressing a wound, but will never be an effective nurse if he or she does not know how to behave while performing the skill. The facial expressions and body language showing that a nurse is uncomfortable seeing the wound makes him or her unsuitable for the job. It is important that a nurse must not only limit his or her learning inside the skills lab or hospital (Angelo, 2015). Joining associations, programs, community services, and volunteering opportunities can expand nurses’ knowledge, skills, and abilities. The tone of voice must
A myriad of challenges are faced in healthcare today. From over-crowding and long waiting lists to staff shortages which have knock on effects resulting in inadequate skills mix and unacceptable nurse-patient ratios. An aging population, high birth rates and an increase in chronic diseases also puts pressure on the healthcare system. The nursing role has had to evolve in response to changing societal needs and the challenges in the healthcare system today. (McCurry et al. 2009). This can bring additional challenges to nurses’ professional identity. ??
As health care providers, nurses strive to instill confidence in their patients and their loved ones. A nurse is respectful to their colleagues as well as their patients. Nurses promote patients’ independence, patients can be confident in the knowledge that a nurse will do what is best for them, respecting their privacy and dignity. This means that a nurse does not share the patient information for personal reasons nor does the nurse get involved in a patients personal relationship if it is not medically relevant (NCSBN, 2011).
Nursing may be seen as very independent work even though there will be situations that will require others. Friendships may be formed; however, to have professional interactions is something that is not always followed. In terms of patient confidentiality, we may not realize that a HIPPA violation has occurred due to friendly conversation with coworkers. If a patient were to overhear their nurse discussing their information in an unprofessional manner then it may cause issues with a patient’s dignity and their rights. If a patient’s right is violated then it can lead to a patient’s mistrust in their caregiver, leading to mistrust in the facilities, and can end with a patient’s health being compromised. The patient is the reason for this career; if the needs of the patient are being unmet or violated then the purpose of our occupation will be unsuccessful and