Nurses are one of the essential workers in the medical world, but they are often looked over. Most of them who work in hospitals tend to work 12-hours shifts and move from patient to patient’s room throughout the day. There is a lot behind being a nurse, and you should consider these if you consider this career path. So, without further ado, let’s dive into this blog and let’s learn some of the activities that a nurse does every day.
1. Administer medication
A doctor usually prescribes medications to patients, but they aren’t usually the ones who administer them. In your typical hospital or clinic, doctors will send the medication request to a nurse, and they are the ones who are going to visit the patient and administer this. If a patient is at risk of having an allergic reaction to a certain medication, then the resident nurse will stay with them for some time for observations.
For people who are hospitalized, medical professional will be the one who has to administer their medication whenever necessary. They do this by following a strict schedule and ensuring timely and exact dosage of said medication. They also have to check the list of medications patients are under and make sure that they don’t have potential interactions.
2. Manage patient care
Nurse play a major managerial job in most clinical and hospital settings, ad they are the ones who are in charge of managing patients’ cases. They are usually the ones working with physicians to implement and plan patient care based on how someone responds to treatment. They will also communicate their assessment with the physician and suggest a potential change in care plans.
Case management is always a team effort, and nurses play a vital if not integral part in this team. In most hospitals, patient case managers are registered, nurses. Most physicians also make a medication changes based on the nurse’s input, and they also implement the changes and observe the patients see any potential improvements.
3. Maintain medical records
This is a critical part of patient care, and they have clear records which allow both doctors and nurses to maintain a good quality of care. This also ensures that care notes are passed around without any issues from one shift to the next. They also help with basic hygiene ask and wellness checks, which must also be recorded.
They also maintain medical records on computers rather than paper nowadays. This allows patients’ medical records to be recorded easily and move from one care provider to the next without any hiccups. Maintaining medical records also requires some basic technical understanding.
4. Recording and monitoring vital signs
Almost every time a nurse has initial contact with a patient, they measure the patient’s vital signs- blood pressure, temperature, and pulse. These values are a clear indicator of the patient’s well-being for the nurse and the physician. If a patient has high blood pressure, it may indicate distress.
If a patient has a fever, it may indicate an infection. In a hospital setting, nurses need to take readings on a set schedule and record them every few hours or so to ensure a patient remains healthy. This may include a visual assessment of the patient’s well-being.
Nurses are very skilled at assessing a patient’s condition from head to toe, even without the patient’s prior knowledge, so that they can alert the physician to signs of serious illness. Every interaction with the patient gives the nurse the opportunity to look for signs of illness or other problems, and these often need to be recorded after observation.
5. Provide emotional support for patients
Finally, nurses are essential when it comes to emotional support, especially for patients and their families. The healthcare world can often be scary for patients, especially when they are affected by serious illness or injury. Physicians are pressed for time and may not be able to sit down with patients while they process the severity of their diagnoses.
Nurses must have the strength to provide emotional support to patients and families. Often, the nurses stand by a patient and provide emotional support after a frightening illness or diagnosis. The nurse usually holds a patient’s hand during a difficult medical procedure. It is the nurse who reassures a patient who resists care.
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