Nurses' Role in The Health Care Industry

by: Karen Williams

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Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 Time: 8:12 AM - 0 comments

Since the very beginning, nurses have always been the crucial part of the health care industry. Surveys have shown that there are more than 2.6 million nurses currently working in USA, and nursing happens to be the largest employer in the health care industry. With the rise in population, the demand for nurses is rising gradually. Nursing has been traditionally dominated by women, however, in recent times men have become a growing segment within the nursing community. To many, flexible shift timings and the ever-increasing demand seems as a promising career.

Technically, we can assume that the nursing community is the supporting structure of the whole health care industry. The nurse's role does only end up in ensuring the well being of the patients. Their responsibilities extend to dispensing medications to the patients, take daily report of the patient's condition and immediately report to the doctor in case of the slightest sign of complication; keep a check on the patient's mental condition and also make the patient's family aware of the procedures and treatments that are or will be given to the patient. Pointed out below are some roles that nurses play in different sectors of the health care industry.

In a hospital setting: Nurses are specially trained for observing and assessing medical conditions. While it is the physician's job to diagnose the disease or the ailment, it becomes the nurses who are actually involved in the proper implementation of the prescribed therapy. Nurses take notes on individual patients and observe their vital signs as well as any other changes in their body, either emotional or physical. Hence, it is the nurses who are responsible for taking care of the patients before as well as after the operation. We all know how relieving the presence of a nurse can be when it comes to taking care of women and babies. The nurses who have been in this profession for quite some time realize that they cannot just keep following the directives blindly. These nurses are very critical thinkers and are capable of solving grave issues related to patient's health. With the advancement of technology and the up lift of health care systems, nurses are nowadays being taken more seriously than ever. This is because their updated knowledge on different types of diseases and illnesses can help in creating awareness about the prevention and cure of diseases.

In a rehabilitation care: The nurses in a rehabilitation center and highly skilled and trained to help the patient to accept and adapt to his or her disabilities, encourage the patients to achieve their maximum potential and then also help them work towards their productive lives. Their main aim is to aid the patient in maintaining or regaining the quality of life as well as their individual independence. If rehabilitation is started at an early age it can be of better help because it can help maintain the patient from the very beginning.

In researches: Nurses also play a very important role in researches related to health care. The main areas of researches include primary care of patients, interpretation of research in real practice and also quality of care. Nurses are exclusively skilled to integrate clinical, administrative and communicative skills, and these form the basic factors of clinical research.