Nursing Roles
I believe that one of the areas in which I can excel is a leader. Over the years, I have interacted with multiple staff and patients, and this has built my leadership skills as a practitioner. I believe that excelling, as a nurse, requires one to have decision-making skills and develop empathy, which is one of the qualities of a leader. A nurse leader is a nurse who is very interested in excelling in the career path and also acts as a leader in the organization of health care whose aim is to represent the nursing profession interest (ANA, 2017). Nurses play one of the significant and leading roles in health care. They are delivering high quality and safe care to the patients and their families at large through advocating. One of the roles that I feel I need to improve is being a collaborator. According to Manthey and Wessel (2015), the core of nursing care is a collaboration among clinicians. This means that there should be more teamwork between me and other medical practitioners in administering care to patients
The Nurse as Health Educator
Patient education is a crucial part of the nursing profession. It is essential because it enables the patients to prevent diseases, reduces health complications, and improves patient independence. The role of a nurse in patient education is to provide relevant information for prevention and self-care. According to Bastable (2016), the nurse should ensure the patient understands self-care steps needed, the rationale behind self-care, recognition of warning signs, relevant action in case of a problem, and the contact to make if a problem occurs. The role of the nurse, therefore, is one of ensuring patient understanding and independence to the appropriate levels in healthcare. Overall, it is the responsibility of the nurse to enhance patient knowledge about health and healthcare.
Additionally, effective patient education can get achieved using several strategies. Other than learning styles, the nurse can ensure that they stimulate the patient’s interests. They can do this by establishing rapport, asking and answering questions, and considering the specific concerns of the patient (Choi & Greenberg, 2018). Secondly, the nurse should consider involving the family of the patient, with the consent of the patient. This inclusion can ensure that caregivers can effectively provide care. Thirdly, the use of technology is another crucial step in increasing the effectiveness of education. Technological devices should get used to giving lessons and even remote access to the patient. Lastly, in delivering care plans and health promotion, behavioral objectives should be utilized with patients who have ongoing behavioral issues in need of change.
References
Bastable, S. B. (2016). Essentials of Patient Education. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Choi, A. R., & Greenberg, P. B. (2018). Patient education strategies in cataract surgery: A systematic review. Journal of Evidence‐Based Medicine, 11(2), 71-82.
Manthey, M. & Wessel, S. (2015). Primary Nursing: Person-Centered Care Delivery System Design. Minneapolis, MN. Creative Health Care Management, p. 43