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Nursing skills and the knowledge that underpins them
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On May 3, 2012 my grandpa had a stroke. The first thing that came to my head was, “Will my grandpa die?” I did not want to lose my grandpa. He was someone I looked up to, and I loved to be around him. He was hospitalized for approximately two months. My family and I visited him often. I remembered what my grandpa was like before his incident: a fun-loving guy, always cracking jokes to his grandkids. aHe was different now. At first, he couldn’t respond to the doctors with words, he could only slightly shake his head. When people came to visit him, he couldn’t recognize who they were. He didn’t even know who I was. He couldn’t walk. Later he had feeling in his feet, but still had trouble standing up and still couldn’t walk. He started to speak, but slurred. His reaction was slow. He wasn’t the same grandpa I knew months before. I visited the hospital frequently. As …show more content…
Receiving basic health care is important, but over 90% of hospitals lack health care workers that cannot simply provide basic care (Rosseter).
The nursing shortage is not only about a low number of workers, but about how the health system lacks qualified nurses to use their skills successfully. There are numerous stories of unqualified nurses providing care for patients that lead to terrible outcomes.
In Denver, a nurse failed a medication competency test and accidentally gave her 78-year-old patient a fatal dose of intravenous drugs.
A nurse was busy caring for twelve other patients, while one of her patients was crying for help was not heard, resulting in bleeding to death after an emergency hysterectomy.
An overworked nurse misinterpreted a fetal monitoring strip of a 30-year-old patient waiting to give birth and failed to notice that her baby was in terrible pain. The patient’s son suffered serious brain damage
The role of nurse practitioner in the Canadian healthcare system is relatively new compared to the traditional roles of doctors and registered nurses, and as with any new role, there are people who oppose the changes and others who appreciate them. Some members of the public and the healthcare system believe that the addition of the nurse practitioner (NP) role is an unnecessary change and liability to the system because it blurs the line between a doctor and a nurse; this is because nurse practitioners are registered nurses with additional training (usually a masters degree) that allows them to expand their scope of practice into some areas which can be treated by doctors. Other people feel that nurse practitioners can help provide additional primary care services, while bridging communication between nurses and doctors. There are always legitimate challenges to be overcome when changing a system as complicated as healthcare,
The nurse, a traveling nurse, was working on a unit and received orders for infusion of normal saline in a 7 month old. He saw a small bag of what appeared to be saline on the desk in the nurse’s station, with the manufacturer’s pre-printed labeling indicating that it was filled with normal saline. One key aspect, as described by the traveling nurse, was that he had encountered in other health systems that pediatric infusions were specified in small bags. Based upon these two perceptions, the nurse administered the infusion – despite the pharmacy applied label being on the other side of the bag. Needless to say, the child died shortly after receiving the infusion, despite resuscitation attempts. The infusion was actually prepared for his adult patient
1. What is the difference between a. and a. Which K, S, and A pertain to the care you provided to the patient you have chosen? Why do you need to be a member? K- Describe the limits and boundaries of therapeutic patient-centered care. S- Assess levels of physical and emotional comfort.
The nursing shortage is divided into four different categories. The four categories are as follows; "willing nurse" shortage, funding or perceived funding shortage, shortage of understanding that nurses are needed to deliver care, and nurse education and empowerment shortages (What is the nursing shortage and why does it exist?., 18 October, 2007). To be able to repair this major problem, all four segments of shortages need to be addressed. The first nursing shortage, A "willing nurse" shortage, is the simple fact of not enough supply to fill the demand of nursing positions. This shortage occurs either because there are simply not enough nurses to fill the open positions, or because experienced nurses are opting out of nursing and the willingness to provide care due to the current occupational environment. The second nursing shortage is the funding or perceived funding shortage. This shortage is merely due to nurses not feeling as if they are being compensat...
... & Abrahamson, K. (2009). A critical examination of the U.S. nursing shortage: contributing factors, public policy implications. Nursing Forum, 44(4), 235-244. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6198.2009.00149.x
As a result, she breached the standard 6 which states that “registered nurses should provide a safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practice” (NMBA, 2016). In line with this standard, nurses should use applicable procedures to identify and act efficiently to address potential and actual risks such as unexpected changes in a patient’s condition (NMBA, 2016). Through early identification and response by the nurse, this will ensure that the patient’s condition is recognised and appropriate action is provided and escalated (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2011). Moreover, the nurse did not immediately escalate the patient’s deteriorating condition to the members of the health care team.
The nursing shortage most likely does not mean a great deal to people until they are in the care of a nurse. The United States is in a severe nursing shortage with no relief in sight due to many factors compounding the problem and resulting in compromised patient care and nurse burnout. Nursing shortages have been experienced in the past by the United States and have been overcome with team effort. However, the current shortage is proving to be the most complex and great strides are being made to defeat the crisis before it becomes too difficult to change. Researchers anticipate that by 2010, the United States will need almost one million more registered nurses than will be available (Cherry & Jacob, 2005, p. 30).
"What Works: Healing the Healthcare Staffing Shortage." Modern Healthcare 37.29 (July 2007). ABI/INFORM. ProQuest. Ithaca Coll. Lib., Ithaca, NY. 2 Dec. 2007
There is nothing traumatizing in the world has adding pain to where it already exists. This is the hell situation which every medical error victim is exposed. As the statistics are currently showing, the fatalities are increasing day by day. The trend seems to be hiding on the old ideology of “man is to error”. However this is not being tolerated any more and the American medical facilities are being held 100% accountable for the mistakes they make in their service delivery. Professional diligence is not a matter of negotiation in this generation and probably future generations. If a medical facility cannot treat people diligently, then the only better option remaining for that facility is to be made to account for the losses they have caused on affected patients and be closed down immediately.
These articles have many similarities when discussing the issue of staffing shortages. For patients, their loved ones and the general population, they don’t understand the ramifications and strain that staffing shortages have on nurses. People expect and deserve complete, competent and safe care when they are patients. These articles bring to light all the struggles that nurses have to deal with. Nurses are fearful that they will make mistakes, will harm patients, and will harm themselves. (Bae, 2012; Erlen, 2001; Martin, 2015) Overtime can be overwhelming and exhausting, which can lead to errors being made. (Bae, 2012; Erlen, 2001) These articles perceive that it may be beneficial for nurses, patients, and healthcare facilities to decrease the nurse-to-patient ratio, however, this option is not always
It’s hard to leave a loved one in a hospital bed when night falls. Family members leave with a sense of responsibility, guilt, and sadness. They leave relying on the nurse to watch and care for their sick family member. Therefore, it is heart breaking to find out the next morning your loved one has suffered great brain damage due to nurses failing to check on alarm sounds. Now, the family is put on the spot to continue life support or disconnect their family member. One can only imagine what went wrong; up to the minute that you left the hospital, your loved one was doing fine. You are relying on the health care providers to take care of your loved one, just as you would, while you are gone. Staff made an error by ignoring the alarms sounds, warning them that the patient was deteriorating, and costing the patient’s family a great deal of pain. Jenifer Garcia’s life shattered when this exact event happened to her husband in July, 2010 (Kowalczyk, 2011). She left her husband Friday night, alive, and returned the next morning to find out he was brain dead. Advancements in technology are used to decrease and catch medical errors made by health care providers that can harm or kill patients, but alarm fatigue has proven that even technology cannot fully protect a patient from nursing errors, thus taking the lives of patients.
Nursing has always been a key career in the health care system. Although it is not often focused on media and stories surrounding health care, nursing is a career of great importance. If any patient was asked about their experience at a hospital or a care center, many would mention the capability and care that they received from the nurses. The health care system could not function efficiently, if at all, if nurses were not present to perform their part. Nurses are more than just physicians, support staff.
...staff would not be required to put in the overtime to compensate for the lack of workers. Patients would no longer have to suffer the neglect of the staff because he or she was too busy. Making sure the patient gets the best quality care reduces the time spent for recovery. Reducing the time spent for recovery increases the organization’s finances. Providing a safe facility also reduces the expenses on the private hospital’s budget. Ensuring a patient is safe can reduce potential use of ongoing treatment and services. Hiring the appropriate nursing staff needed can save the organization money. Instead of cutting back on staff, more staff needs to be hired to fulfil the needs of the patient. In the economy today, private hospitals need to focus on the overall long term effects of each action opposed to quick reactions resulting in financial strain for the facility.
The prolonged shortage of skilled nursing personnel has been a serious concern to the healthcare industry, and this shortage has impacted the quality of care delivery. In addition, nursing turnover has also exacerbated the problem of nursing shortage. Nursing shortage has been blamed on many nurses retiring and less younger nurses joining the occupation. There is also an increase in life expectancy (baby boomers) leading an increase in both physical and mental ailment with subsequent demand in nursing care. Nurses are also leaving nursing profession because of inadequate staffing, tense work environment, negative press about the profession, and inflexible work schedules. Even though nursing is a promising career and offers job security, the
This may happen due to the nurse thinking it is the patients fault, and therefore thinking they do not deserve the same quality of care as the next person. This is not fair to the patient, as one never knows what the underlying cause is, that has led to the situation. It is really important to form a good patient nurse relationship, and to get all the facts, in order to assure this does not happen.