How Nursing Roles Are Changing

Question #1 

Unlike in the past when nursing was considered a modest practice that could only be made efficient in the presence of a medical doctor, the practice has significantly evolved. In the contemporary world, nursing practice has taken a different dimension in regards to training, responsibilities, ethical considerations, culture of the practice and the general understanding of the entire endeavor. An apparent observation is that in the modern world of nursing practice, nurses are expected to be highly trained professionals with the ability to think and implement nursing decisions critically when prompted with complex clinical decisions as compared to the past when such responsibilities were exclusively expected to be undertaken by a doctor. Despite the nursing practice recording a significant change in training and education over time, the regulatory and policy frameworks guiding the performance of nursing in attending to the population’s healthcare needs have evolved (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). It is worth acknowledging that the ethical code of conduct of nurses has been amended over the years to include the health needs of the modern society while at the same time providing a favorable environment for nurses to work in. These changes have expressively contributed towards refining the nursing practice in its entirety thus creating an avenue for the delivery of patient centered care and enhancement of patient’s safety. Moreover, the evolution has changed the scope of nursing practice and the approach to treating individuals in the modern society by inculcating the basic principles of communication, delegation, teamwork, cooperation and accountability in the process of providing healthcare. 

Question #2 

Competence refers to the ability of an individual to undertake a particular responsibility effectively and it is defined by a combination of individual skills, knowledge and character. In a broad spectrum, it can be argued that an associate nurse is a technical nurse in the nursing practice while a baccalaureate nurse is a professional nurse. The differences between the two are brought into context by the education characteristics the nurses undergo through. For instance, the education of an associate nurse focuses on training them on the clinical skills while the education of a baccalaureate nurse focuses on instilling leadership skills, imparting nursing management skills and equipping the nurses with the most relevant research skills extending their nursing practice scope to a broader scale ( Auerbach, Buerhaus & Staiger, 2015 ). In a healthcare setting, an associate nurse and a baccalaureate nurse perform similar duties of daily care but the scope of practice changes when it comes to responsibilities associated with designing and coordinating a comprehensive plan of nursing whereby a baccalaureate nurse takes responsibility. 

Question #3 

An example of a patient care situation is as follows: A 65 year’s old male patient diagnosed with melanoma a skin cancer is received and admitted into the oncology department of a hospital. Although the patient had been diagnosed with the condition prior to this visit, the situation was not as dire as it is in the moment. It is the responsibility of an ADN-prepared nurse to welcome the patient, orient the room in which the patient will use, check the initial signs and symptoms of the patient, introduce other staff members such as cancer technicians to the patient, and assess the general patient condition while taking note of the major issues. It is at this point when a BSN-prepared nurse takes charge and coordinates all patient care activities including assessing the patient’s needs and the family needs. It is also the responsibility of a BSN-prepared nurse to critically analyze and asses the patient’s healthcare needs and to link him to a responsible physician and a social worker if necessary. The complex healthcare needs of the patient are handled by a BSN-prepared nurse. 

Question #4 

Applying evidence ‐ based practice to nursing care is important especially in the modern world nursing practice because of its efficacy levels in handling patients and delivering high quality healthcare services. In the process of making decisions as an associate nurse or a baccalaureate nurse, evidence based decision making is important because it facilitates the use of skills and knowledge derived from factual nursing theories and research. It is also imperative to highlight that evidence based practices recommend for the consideration of patient’s needs, patient’s preferences and the available resources before a nurse makes a conclusive decision ( Schmidt & Brown, 2017). The academic preparation of the RN ‐ BSN nurse supports the application of evidence based practice in that they are prepared in such a way that they always consider best practice evidence, the preferences of the patient’s they handle, and the levels of their clinical expertise. 

Question #5 

Contrary to the traditional methods of training nurses which focused on training nurses in isolation away from other nursing disciplines, the contemporary training methods integrate interdisciplinary teams by introducing them into other scopes of nursing practice. This strategy was informed by the need to enhance cooperation, communication and coordination between the nursing fraternities so as to enhance service delivery. It is imperative to highlight that to provide safe, efficient and quality healthcare services, all members of a healthcare team should work together regardless of their discipline to satisfy patient’s needs ( Mao & Woolley, 2016) . In order for such a team to work together effectively communication needs to be improved through effective coordination of activities and cooperation. The advantage of communication is that it helps all team members to understand the scope of practice, levels of skills and knowledge and the levels of clinical expertize their colleague’s possess thus enhancing performance. Such a combination helps prevent duplication of duties and improves the general process of provision of healthcare services for the benefit of the patients. 

References 

Auerbach, D. I., Buerhaus, P. I., & Staiger, D. O. (2015). Do associate degree registered nurses fare differently in the nurse labor market compared to baccalaureate-prepared RNs?.  Nursing Economics ,  33 (1), 8. 

Mao, A. T., & Woolley, A. W. (2016). Teamwork in health care: Maximizing collective intelligence via inclusive collaboration and open communication.  AMA journal of ethics ,  18 (9), 933-940. 

Salmond, S. W., & Echevarria, M. (2017). Healthcare transformation and changing roles for nursing. Orthopedic nursing, 36(1), 12. 

Schmidt, N. A., & Brown, J. M. (2017). What Is Evidence-Based Practice?.  Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses , 1.