Roles & Responsibilities of a Nurse

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1. Caregiver/ Care provider - the traditional and most essential role

• functions as nurturer, comforter, provider
• “mothering actions” of the nurse
• provides direct care and promotes comfort of client
• activities involves knowledge and sensitivity to what matters and what is important to clients
• shows concern for client welfare and acceptance of the client as a person

2. Teacher - provides information and helps the client to learn or acquire new knowledge and technical skills

• encourages compliance with prescribed therapy.
• promotes healthy lifestyle
• interprets information to the client

3. Counselor- helps client to recognize and cope with stressful psychologic or social problems; to develop an improve interpersonal relationships and to promote personal growth

• provides emotional, intellectual to and psychologic support
• focuses on helping a client to develop new attitudes, feelings and behaviors rather than promoting intellectual growth.
• encourages the client to look at alternative behaviors recognize the choices and develop a sense of control.

4. Change agent- initiate changes or assist clients to make modifications in themselves or in the system of care.

5. Client advocate- involves concern for and actions in behalf of the client to bring about a change.

• promotes what is best for the client, ensuring that the client’s needs are met and protecting the client’s right.
• provides explanation in clients language and support clients decisions.

6. Manager - makes decisions, coordinates activities of others, allocate resources, evaluate care and personnel

• plans, give direction, develop staff, monitors operations, give the rewards fairly and represents both staff and administrations as needed .

7. Researcher - participates in identifying significant researchable problems

• participates in scientific investigation and must be a consumer of research findings
• must be aware of the research process, language of research, a sensitive to issues related to protecting the rights of human subjects.

Expanded role of the nurse:

1 Clinical Specialists- is a nurse who has completed a master’s degree in specialty and has considerable clinical expertise in that specialty. She provides expert care to individuals, participates in educating health care professionals and ancillary, acts as a clinical consultant and participates in research.
2. Nurse Practitioner- is a nurse who has completed either as certificate program or a master’s degree in a specialty and is also certified by the appropriate specialty organization. She is skilled at making nursing assessments, performing P. E., counseling, teaching and treating minor and self- limiting illness.

3. Nurse-midwife- a nurse who has completed a program in midwifery; provides prenatal and postnatal care and delivers babies to woman with uncomplicated pregnancies.

4. Nurse anesthetist- a nurse who completed the course of study in an anesthesia school and carries out pre-operative status of clients.

5. Nurse Educator- A nurse usually with advanced degree, who beaches in clinical or educational settings, teaches theoretical knowledge, clinical skills and conduct research.

6. Nurse Entrepreneur- a nurse who has an advanced degree, and manages health-related business.

7. Nurse administrator- a nurse who functions at various levels of management in health settings; responsible for the management and administration of resources and personnel involved in giving patient care.

Other Nursing Articles you may want to look at:

• NURSING AS A PROFESSION Profession - is a calling that requires special knowledge, skill and preparation. An occupation that requires advanced knowledge and skills and that it grows out of society’s     needs for special services. Criteria of Profession: To provide a needed service to the society. To advance knowledge in
• Planning involves determining before and the strategies or course of actions to be taken before implementation of nursing care. To be effective, the client and his family should be involve in planning. Purpose: To determine the goals of care and the course of actions to be undertaken during
• NURSING PROCESS by: one of our best professor in NCM (Mrs. Cubon, RN, MAN) The term NURSING PROCESS was first used/mentioned by Lydia Hall, a nursing theorist, in 1955 wherein she introduced 3 STEPs: observation, administration of care and validation. Since then, nursing process continue to evolve: it used to be a 3-step process, then a 4-step process (APIE),
• Stages of Illness Behavior Stage 1: Symptom Experience The person is aware that something is wrong. A person usually recognizes a physical sensation or a limitation in functioning but does not suspect a specific diagnosis. Stage 2: Assumption of the Sick People If symptom persist and become severe, clients assume the sick role. At this point, the illness becomes a social phenomenon,
• Assessment - First Step in the Nursing Process it is systematic and continuous collection, validation and communication of client data as compared to what is standard/norm. it includes the client’s perceived needs, health problems, related experiences, health practices, values and lifestyles. Purpose: To establish a