A nurse is a qualified assistant to doctors in all areas of their work. Nurses follow the instructions and prescriptions of the doctor, and they are obliged to provide medical assistance to a sick or injured person in a life-threatening condition. They perform various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures: measure the temperature, make dressings, injections, vaccinations, help doctors with surgical operations and medical manipulations. The nurses give patients medicines prescribed by a doctor, monitor their condition and well-being, give massages, and provide comprehensive care.
From my new role, I expect satisfaction in the need for self-realization and helping people. I understand the need to optimize and improve the quality of care in order to more accurately direct the professional activity of a nurse to the needs of the patient. At the same time, both the qualifications and the level of competence of a young nurse depend on the content of her professional motivation (Zaccagnini & Pechacek, 2019). Moreover, I have a need for social content in the role of a nurse, which consists in realizing the importance of benefiting society.
It is important to provide assistance during the doctor’s treatment and diagnostic manipulations and minor operations in outpatient and inpatient settings. Additionally, in my role as a nurse, I hope to maintain a personal record, an information database of the health status of the population served. Moreover, it is necessary to learn how to manage the activities of junior medical personnel. Participating in the rounds of doctors in the wards, reporting on the condition of patients, fixing the prescribed treatment in the journal, and caring for the sick is expected in the role of a nurse. Furthermore, the nurse monitors the fulfillment by the patients of the appointments of the attending physician. She provides sanitary and hygienic services to the physically weakened and seriously ill.
One of the most important tasks in creating a safe hospital environment is to identify and eliminate various risk factors for medical personnel. With the transition to the new role, I am concerned about the problem of conflicts in nursing teams. In teams of any field of activity, conflicts are the inevitable result of the interaction of individuals with divergent beliefs, but the inevitable common goals and points of interaction. Moreover, I feel a high level of responsibility for the performance results. I am afraid not to realize my knowledge and skills in the proper measure.
In addition, I am concerned that the cumulative psycho-emotional overstrain may be the basis for the formation of symptoms of chronic stress and psychosomatic diseases. Constant stress leads to nervous exhaustion, which results in a loss of interest in work and a decrease in attention to patients and colleagues. The impact of physical factors in the work of a nurse can be very significant, as it leads to particularly difficult cases of occupational injuries. The main physical risk factors include physical interaction with the patient, exposure to high and low temperatures, exposure to various types of radiation, violations of the rules for operating electrical equipment.
I cannot say that something astonished me in this role. First of all, the main difference between an advanced practice nurse lies in the quality of postgraduate education. I am self-confident, and I think proper self-study and the knowledge gained during the course allow me to be calm in the performance of my duties. Moreover, all extraordinary situations were passed and discussed. At the same time, we were trained in what we had to do at work.
Reference
Zaccagnini, M., & Pechacek, J. M. (2019). The doctor of nursing practice essentials: A new model for advanced practice nursing. Jones & Bartlett Learning.