a Nurses’ responsibilities are the same in that they support the physicians in
rendering medical assistant to patients, but the setting in which they do so, and
their disciplines are different. Different fields of nursing are: Registered, Cardiac,
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Clinical Specialist, Critical Care, ER,
Family Nurse Practitioner, Geriatric, Perioperative, Mental health, Nurse
Educator, Nurse Manager, Midwife, Practitioner, Administrator, Oncology,
Orthopedic, Pediatric, Public Health, and Travel Nurses. All these disciplines
require Nurses to perform different task, and work with different types of
technology.
a a A Certified Nursing Assistant is responsible for the monitoring of patient’s
vital signs, and their hygiene. An LPN changes bandages, and collect laboratory
samples, a Registered Nurse assist with diagnostic testing and providing
emotional support. ER Nurses perform triage, record treatment and progress, and
assist in consults. A Nurse that works in a cancer treatment facility will know
how to operate a dialysis machine, but not how to set up an operating room for a
procedure. A Nurse Anesthetist can safely give anesthetic to a patient but not
know how to manage the software for physician’s schedule.
a a Some Nurses are directly involved in the treatment of the patient, others are
versed in the documentation, and tracking of the patient’s care plan. Medication
administration and contraindications of drugs are also different depending on the
Nurse’s training. Not all Nurses are able to utilize Electronic Health Records, In
the clinics that I worked at the Nurses had no idea how to fully use the Armed
Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA). This system was
used for the charting of all patient encounters, the only ones who utilized it was
those who had direct interactions with patients. Everyone new how to read the
documents entered, but the specific ins ad out was underutilized by some Nurses.
AHLTA is being replaced by a server MHS GENESIS which as caused a
slowdown in patient care while the integration is being integrated. With this
change everyone who has anything to do with a patient interaction will have to
have access and knowledge on its operations. This has caused wait times on
phones to be over 45 minutes to get an appointment, longer times for
documentation, and more user errors for submission of medication and labs.
a a Nurses have a countless number of responsibilities that surrounds patient
care, but realistically they are not all expected to be masters of every field. Just as
surgeons and physicians specialize in different fields, so does nurses. a
References:
Types of nursing specialties: 20 fast-growing nursing fields. Types of Nurses: 20
Growing Nursing Specialties to Start Your Career. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15,
2022, from https://www.gmercyu.edu/academics/learn/types-of-nurses
Rebecca LeBoeuf May 12, 2022, Jun 3, 2022 H., May 24, 2022 H., & May 17,
2022 H. (n.d.). Infographic: 16 types of nurses including job descriptions
and salary. Southern New Hampshire University. Retrieved June 15, 2022,
from https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/health/types-of-nurses-
infographic
