The role of a registered nurse
Registered nurses’ global role is multifaceted, dynamic, and vital to healthcare systems (Jackson & Anderson, 2022). Nurses perform a wide range of patient interventions, underlying the diversity of their skills and knowledge. According to Oldland et al. (2022), the role of a nurse is essential for promoting, maintaining, or restoring the health of individuals, families, and communities. This paper will delve into the role of a registered nurse and how the coronavirus disease pandemic of 2019 (COVID-19) has revolutionized the role of registered nurses. All actions nurses perform in Australia are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Board Australia (NMBA) (2016) and the Australian National Safety and Quality Health Standards (NSQHS) (2021).
The primary role of a registered nurse is to provide holistic, direct patient care. Holistic nursing care is the kind of care that considers the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of patients (Frisch & Rabinowitsch, 2019). Within this role, registered nurses must administer medication as prescribed and monitor their patients’ vital signs. Moreover, this role includes wound care, helping with bed washing, and changing drains attached to patients. Additionally, nurses liaise with the doctor and the patient to develop care plans for patient care, as required by NMBA standard 5 (NMBA, 2017). Holistic care can also be achieved through collaboration with other healthcare professionals, including doctors, psychologists, social workers, and community leaders.
Besides providing direct patient care, nurses advocate for the patient in most situations. Using effective communication, nurses can elicit the needs of their patients and interventions that could improve their comfort and communicate these needs to the doctors and other healthcare team members (Roman & Pineiro, 2022). Roman and Pineiro (2022) note that effective communication is an essential skill that every nurse must have to provide safe, competent, and effective nursing care.
Education is another crucial aspect of the role of a registered nurse. Registered nurses are required to provide health education to patients and their families. Health education empowers clients, enabling them to make informed decisions about their health (Pueyo-Garrigues et al., 2019). This aligns with NMBA standard 3.2, which requires registered nurses to provide information that enhances people’s control over health (NMBA, 2017). The registered nurse also participates in health promotion education in the community. The nurse must also approach the profession as a lifelong learning experience and update their knowledge and skills continuously to keep up with advancements in the health field (NMBA, 2017).
The registered nurse is required to maintain accurate and updated records of patients. Nurses keep records of patients’ progress, using vital signs, subjective assessment, and objective data to gauge management effectiveness through proper documentation. Accurate nursing records are essential in identifying and responding to acute deterioration in hospitalized patients (NSQHS, 2021). The Australian National Safety and Quality Health Standards (NSQHS), standard 8 provides that nurses must document monitored vital signs to enable clinicians to identify a deteriorating patient and respond appropriately (NSQHS, 2021)
Beyond clinical practice, registered nurses contribute to research. By participating in research, nurses help drive advancements in the medical field (Dagne & Beshah, 2021). An essential aspect of research that registered nurses contribute to is evidence-based practice (EBP). Evidence-based practice uses evidence from research, clinical experience from registered nurses, and patient’s health outcomes and preferences to identify practical, safe interventions that align with patient preferences (Dagne & Beshah, 2021).
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the role of the nurse?
The coronavirus disease pandemic of 2019 (COVID-19) has affected many medical professionals; nursing is no exception. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nurse’s role has changed to caring for patients, their families, and caregivers. Nurses were instrumental in distributing resources and essential supplies used during the pandemic and maintaining the essential equipment. Responsible management of resources is a critical prerequisite to delivering high-high-quality acco,rding to (Elmhurst University, 2022). French et al. (2021) report that the pandemic stretched healthcare facilities and resources, such as personal protective equipment, which could affect the ability of hospitals to treat patients. Nurses had a duty to coordinate PPE supply chains and educate staff on prudent PPE use to reduce wastage and promote efficiency (Elmhurst University, 2022)
Creating public health awareness of COVID-19 was also a dominant role that nurses had to play in the pandemic. (Casafont et al., 2020) Reports show that nurses educating people on coronavirus and its variants helped control misinformation and politicization of information. This was evident in 2021 when nurses went on local news stations in the United States to counter myths about the delta and omicron variants that were ravaging the USA, as reported by (Elmhurst University, 2022).
According to (Sharma et al., 2020), nurses were more susceptible to burnout during the pandemic due to shift duty, which can result in higher stress levels. At the time of the pandemic, nurses could not go on vacation. Longer hours at work with no possibility of vacation are associated with higher occurrences of burnout syndrome (Sharma et al., 2020). Nurses had to use alternative techniques to manage stress levels- deep breathing techniques, taking breaks to rest, and seeking professional support were among the methods used (Sharma et al., 2020).
References
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