Nursing Career
Nursing as a science means that it is a body of knowledge systematically organized, and like all bodies of knowledge is dynamic and subject to change. New perspectives in health and illness appear. Nursing as an art pertains to the aspects of knowing in nursing that are not discovered by scientific investigation. Nursing is thus considered as both a science and an art.
Nursing practice is directed and guided by an understanding of the definition of health and the factors that impact a client’s health framework. In the relationship between the nurse and the client, nurses respect the client’s unique psychosocial, spiritual, and cultural needs and advocate for their health choices and decisions. Nurses support client participation in the process of actualizing a defined image of health and do not negate the ability of clients to form their own image of health.
Over the years nurses have responded to the frustrations of hospital work with a variety of revised and expanded forms of nursing practice. The development of a theory and practice of primary care has emphasized the need for continuity, and one nurse may now coordinate with all aspects of care for an individual patient.
Nursing has responded to and always will continue to respond to the needs of the clients. In times of war, nursing has responded by meeting the needs of those who are wounded in the combat zones and in military hospitals in some countries abroad. When communities face health care crises, such as those that occur from infectious diseases or a lack of health care resources, nursing is there to establish community-based immunization and screening programs, treatment clinics, and health promotion activities (Potter & Perry, 2004).
In today’s health care work environments, nursing roles are shifting dramatically in response to profound changes at system, organization, and individual levels. These changes may be influential to nurses’ quality of work life and intent to remain with their employers and in nursing. Professional autonomy is a highly desirable nursing role characteristic (Fox, 2003).
In this transformational time in health care here at the outset of the 21st century, the primary role of the nurse is to live fully aware of the unfolding potential of this journey. It is the skill sets of awareness, availability, and anticipation which now most defines the character of clinical leadership and calls the nurses’ understanding of the application of the role into a new arena for it (Porter-O’Grady, 2003).
The changing patterns of health care delivery have increased complexity in all practice environments. Evidenced-based practice models have intensified rather than simplified nursing care delivery because they have been inserted into traditional practice patterns. Nursing lacks systems to plot its patterns of care delivery. Consequently, except in limited circumstances, nurses are unable to predict what activities make a difference in the outcomes and satisfaction levels of their patients. The inability to identify and control the processes, protocols, patterns, rituals, and tasks related to safe, compassionate care delivery and better health outcomes does not assure professional practice (Donley, 2005).
In response to change in health care delivery, how nurses perform their roles is open for interpretation. Although nurses’ roles still involve traditional bedside responsibilities for patient care, increasing numbers of RNs are enacting new roles that emphasize collaboration. Nurses’ scope of responsibilities is broadened as they coordinate care across the health care continuum, lead health care teams, and participate in health care decisions (Fox, 2003).
It is essential that nurses be knowledgeable regarding health promotion and disease or illness prevention. When the nurse is providing total care, he or she should think beyond current health problems to the client’s general well-being and future risks for illness and injury (Black & Hawks, 2004).
Nurses have an ethical responsibility to teach not only their clients but also other health care workers. The nurse has the responsibility to teach the information that other health care workers need. The nurse also often clarifies information provided by physicians and other health care providers and may become the primary source of information needed for adjusting to health problems (Potter & Perry, 2004).
Nursing today emphasizes specialized education to support the work in health care. Nurses teach preventive care and health maintenance, assist medical treatment, aid rehabilitation, and attend the dying. Most nurses work in hospitals and nursing homes, with others in public health agencies, offices, schools, and industries. Nurses are also educators, supervisors, administrators, and independent practitioners.
Assessing and adapting educational information and approaches to the needs and preferences of the health care support workers enhances the success of educational efforts. Not all individuals are comfortable in class settings or in support groups. Educational programs that use these methods should have other educational opportunities available to the health care support workers that needed to be educated. Nurses must at all time also remain creative and responsive to other health care workers when providing education.
Nurses are responsible for making accurate and appropriate clinical decisions. Critical thinking is very important as no two clients have the same needs. The nurse after assessment and diagnosis has to employ critical thinking skills for a client’s particular condition.
Intuition is simply a result of common experiences and applied to new ones. After a nurse has been exposed to a certain situation and is exposed to another similar situation, the nurse uses her intuition along with her critical thinking skills to develop an approach for the client. Intuition in nursing thus develops as a nurse’s clinical experience increases.
A nurse is always challenged to observe each of his or her clients closely, search for and examine ideas and judgments about the problems that the clients face. Additionally the nurse has to consider scientific principles that he/she have learned and relate this to the clients’ problem, recognize the problems, and develop the right approach to nursing care as appropriate to the situation and problem of the client.
Intuition is thus considered by authors as a trigger which brings about in the nurse an analytical process that leads them in a search to acquire data that confirms what they have sensed in the client or in a particular situation. Intuition thus triggers the nurse to apply his/her critical thinking skills in a situation in order to come up with the right thing to do or the right answer to a problem being presented. Nurses must not make snap judgments just by their intuition alone. This could jeopardize the client’s situation and perhaps affect the nursing quality of care for the patient.
As a student nurse, knowing and understanding what critical thinking is and its importance very important. (1995) points out that a student nurse has to develop this skill. Critical thinking begins for a student when the student seriously asks questions, and in continuing way attempts to answer questions like “what do I really know about this nursing care situation?” or “how do I know it?” This is actually a process which is developed within the student nurse with the aid of other individuals like the educators.
Students in nursing must learn nursing by consciously practicing reasoning skills needed in nursing. Students in nursing must also critically reason their way through nursing principles, concepts and theories as much as possible so that appropriate and accurate application of knowledge occurs naturally in clinical practice.
According to (1995), the purpose of reflective, critical thinking is to ensure that the nurse has the depth of knowledge necessary to immediately comprehend the practice situation so that safe, effective, quality nursing care is provided to the clients. Intuitive practice and critical thinking can significantly affect the quality of care delivered by the nurses to their patients.
It is important to remember that the quality of nursing practice depends on the nurse’s ability to use all types of cognitive and emotional cues associated with a situation to trigger critical thinking and then to select effective nursing interventions. A nurse cannot safely act on intuition alone that is why critical thinking and intuition both have to go together in order to achieve expertise in the nursing profession. Intuition requires critical thinking as much as critical thinking needs intuition.
Practicality-wise, the recent increase in demands for nurses here and abroad and the prospect of financial gains are motivating factors why I took up nursing. But it is not only about the money and being “in.” Being a nurse entails a lot of patience, dedication and responsibility. To succeed in the nursing profession, one must love what he or she does. It counts a lot. The opportunity to help and influence the lives of other people is something worth cherishing and something to be proud of. The nursing program will require a lot of hard work and patience. A nursing student must go through these and all other obstacles and challenges. Student nurses must also strive hard and do their best to succeed in the nursing program.
This paper has emphasized that nursing is not a static, unchanging profession but is continuously growing and evolving as society changes, as health care emphases and methods change, as lifestyles change – and as the nurses themselves change. Nursing at present continuously draws on the social sciences and other fields as the focus of nursing care expands.
In conclusion, the nurse therefore has various responsibilities and roles. Aside from providing care and comfort to the patient, they also carry out other nursing functions. Over the years, the nursing profession has evolved to include many functions. Nurses are active in social policy and political arenas. Nurses and their professional organizations lobby for health care legislations to meet the needs of the clients, particularly those who are medically underserved. Nurses are also active in local government planning to ensure that health care resources are available in all client communities.
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