Registered Nurses (RN) based in the community care setting need to have prerequisite skills in order to execute their duties effectively. These skills are essential to them because on average, RNs bring a wealth of advantages, such as interaction-driven patient care to nursing care provision. One imperative skill is interdisciplinary and communication skills ( Kee, Hyes & McCuistion , 2015). The former is paramount because the RN gets to work with patients who they have limited information about. As such, they need to exercise critical thinking and clinical judgment to determine which care is essential to the respective patient. Additionally, the RN has to exhibit effective communication skills in the respective location they are working in because it encompasses associating with many people in the community. Accordingly, people in these setting sometimes do not know how to express themselves. Thus, the RN should offer a decisive path for them to open up to them.
The skills of a RN in an acute care setting differ from those of one in a community setting. In essence, working in an acute care setting calls for a person to enjoy both the excitement and pressures that come with such work ( Pillitteri , 2013). As such, this kind of work setup best fits a RN who possesses a different personality archetype as opposed to the one that would best fit a RN in a community setting. For example, the nurse here has to be high-energy, focused and committed to working with an ill-patient population.
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Moving forward, infection control is one of the challenges that a RN faces while providing health care in the community setting. To counter infections, they should promote good hand hygiene, including the use of alcohol-based hand rubs (AHBR). Alternatively, they could encourage the cleaning of soiled hands with clean running water and washing soap (Doenges, Moorhouse & Murr, 2016). Additionally, the RN should wear personal protective equipment (PPE), and this should otherwise be geared towards protection from exposure or getting in contact with infectious agents. The PPE’s can include face masks, gowns, gloves, respirators, and goggles. Notably, they should be worn when dealing with blood, body fluids, non-intact skin, mucous membranes, or contaminated equipment. Finally, RN’s should ensure that their environment is cleaned on a routine basis as part of infection control plan. As such, they should select EPA registered detergents or disinfectants that have label suggestions for use in the hospital setting. When using these detergents, a RN should also succinctly follow the guidelines for the use of the detergents, including the contact time, amount, safe use, dilution, and disposal.
References
Kee, J., Hyes, E., & McCuistion, L. (2015). Pharmacology: A patient-centered nursing process approach (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders.
Doenges, M., Moorhouse, M. F., & Murr, A. (2016). Nurse's pocket guide: Diagnoses, prioritized interventions, and rationales (14th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.
Pillitteri, A. (2013). Maternal and child health nursing: Care of the childbearing family (7 th ed .). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
