What You Ought To Know About a Registered Nurse?
Registered nurses are highly trained experts with knowledge and skills who rank higher than other nursing staff members. The designation of registered nurse is for an expert who has completed at least an associate degree in nursing or a Bachelor of Science degree.
What does a registered nurse do?
A registered nurse plays a lot of responsibilities either in the health care setting, home or in any other setting. In all the responsibilities, the nurse is involved in activities geared towards patient care. Here are some of the roles played by a registered nurse.
Patient advocacy
This is among the major roles that a registered nurse plays in the health care setting. In most times, patients in the health care setting feel vulnerable and helpless. A registered nurse plays the role of helping such patients. They act as a liaison between the patients and the health care system to ensure that they are attended well and their rights are respected. In case a patient requires any help, a nurse has the responsibility to offer the assistance required to ensure that the patient receive the required treatment.
Assessment of patient’s health
Assessment of patient’s health condition is a complicated process that requires someone with high level training in nursing and deep thinking skills. A registered nurse is trained to carry out assessment in all issues including mental health, social and physical aspects of the patient. This is done because all these issues have some effects on the overall health of the patient. It is good to note that education received by licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants do not focus more on critical thinking skills, so they may not be able to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the patients. This is why it is only a registered nurse who is obligated to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the entire body systems and then give report to the doctor of any health condition they detect during the assessment.
Developing patient care plans
A nurse practitioner or doctor makes the medical diagnosis, however registered nurses deal with the actual problem resulting from the disease. It is only a registered nurse who can create a care plan including making the decision as to whether to delegate some of the tasks to unlicensed personnel. For example, it is only a registered nurse who can make the assessment of the needs of a paralyzed child at school, and then develop a plan of care that may include monitoring and placing a urine catheter. The registered nurse then trains and supervises a classroom aide on how to do the insertion and monitoring the child’s catheter.
Care coordination
In a community health care setting, it is the registered nurse who has the responsibility of coordinating care provided to patients. This coordination includes communicating with ancillary providers such as home health aides and social workers and managing how they assist the patients.
Carrying out patient education
According to nursing standards, it is only registered nurses who have the responsibility to carry out comprehensive patient education. The education provided includes teaching on child birth, diabetes management courses and others.