Nurses occupy an important position in the lives of the people. This is because after the doctors, nurses look after the medication needs of the patients. Nursing relates with the provision of quality cure and treatment to the patients, especially the disabled ones. The disabled people suffer from imbalances, which broadens the demarcation between the right and the wrong actions.
Training is the component, which can be linked with good actions, which the nurses are expected to perform. Self-experiment with the limited knowledge can prove detrimental for the disabled patients, staining the personality of the nurses in terms of their cure. It is because of this lack of understanding that nursing is required in order to provide them with the support (Stuart 2014). The concept of support attains different perspective in terms of the past and the present times. This assignment speculates the transformations in the roles and responsibilities of nurses from 1980 till the present times. Introspection into the past can be considered as adding a historic context to the functions of a nurse.
As a matter of specification, learning became more diverse from the earlier times. The focus of this assignment would be on the different specifications, which have come within the field of nursing. Further optimizing the search, the assignment would look into the courses, which the government organizes for the nurses, aspiring to enhance their career in the medical field (Black 2016). The variable “learning” can be correlated with these courses, which enhances the professionalism of the nurses.
In the era of 1980, quality was lacking in the medicines and the other equipments. This aggravated the complexities of the nurses in terms of healing the wounds of the patients especially the disabled ones. However, the provided treatment was not enough for curing the illness and diseases of the disabled ones, which compelled them to encounter tragic death. Moreover, the storage of the medicines was also not in a proper condition, which created many infectitious diseases within the patients, that is the disabled ones (Chinn and Kramer 2013). Proper cure of these diseases was next to impossible as there was no technology. Even these machines were defective, which made the treatment process a prolonged one.
By 1980, the immigration policies already attained predominance in Britain. As a matter of specification, these policies were in full swing. The effect of these policies was seen heavily on the migrants. The state government promised to protect the individual rights of the minority group. In order to accommodate more people, communities were developed (Gerard et al. 2014). Shabby rooms created suffocation among the people, giving rise to many diseases. Striking fact is that many of the people died from the incapability to bear with this suffocation. At that time, nursing only meant serving the community people by providing them the required medication. Herein lays the appropriateness of the term “public health nursing”.
The dearth of latest technological means acted as an obstacle for the nurses in providing quality medication to the patients, especially the disabled ones. This is why many of the patients encountered tragic fate of death. However, deep inspection of the literature of that period projected the financial and facilitative assistance to the nurses and the medical institutions for extending the needed help and support to the patients including the disabled people (Egenes, 2017).
This is only a part for the massive roles and responsibilities, which the nurses were expected to perform in the era of 1980. Maintaining the good health of the patients was the most important responsibility of the nurses. Along with this, the nurses were in charge of governing the personal health services of the patients. Here, patients include the disadvantaged schoolchildren, high risked pregnant women and the people suffering from long-term diseases.
Apart from this, supervising the performance of the other nurses was one of the other functions of the nurses in the period of 1980. This function projects the roots of partnership working from a very early stage in the workplace environment. Supervision here meant ensuring the provision of the needed resources by the colleagues in case of the nurses (Duncan, Thorne and Rodney 2015).
In this process, the nurses shared their preconceived knowledge, skills and expertise with their colleagues regarding health. This relates with the transfer of skills from one nurse to another, filling the gaps or lack of knowledge. This sharing of knowledge, skills and expertise is another functions played by the nurses during the era of 1980.
Along with this, the nurses at that time recorded and analyzed health data for individuals and groups. These recordings were manual, as there were no technologies. Manual recording generated stress among the nurses, which worsened their own health. Therefore, the analysis process can be considered time-consuming and prolonged, affecting the other works of the nurses (Black 2016). Coordination and unity were the two most important attributes, which were needed in the performance of the nurses. This was to maintain the community feeling between the nurses and the patients. This coordination was crucial in terms of providing a healthy environment to the patients, so that they can enjoy a quality lifestyle.
One of the most important functions of the nurses was to assess the health needs of the community. This assessment seemed to be important in terms of the providing quality treatment to the patients for their speedy recovery.
The term “nurse practitioner” was the term, which had gained prominence during the era of 1980. As a matter of specification, the term was used for a nurse, who received training in conducting practical examinations for the health conditions of the patients. The physician, who guided the nurses in these examinations, provided the training (Hamric et al. 2013). These examinations were conducted for the patients suffering from long-term diseases like hypertension or diabetes. The cause of the disease could not easily found. For this, many efforts needed to be put in by the scientists. This generated confusions in the role of the nurses for medicating the patients for curing their diseases. Herein, an interrogative parameter is attached to the roles and responsibilities of the nurses.
Moreover, during 1980s, the healthcare professionals did not feel it necessary to evaluate the applied medical treatment. This led to harmful consequences, aggravating the complexities of the patients in terms of achieving earliest recovery from the ailments and sufferings. The variable “learning” attains a backseat in this context. Countering this, there were courses on nursing at that time, however, they lacked quality in terms of helping the nurses to practice treatment and cure in an efficient and effective manner (Courtney et al. 2015). Herein lays the importance of modern technology, the widespread effects of which are discussed in the following section. The courses can be considered as the thread between the earlier and the modern times. This is applicable for both the nursing field as well as the current essay.
Since the time of 1980, the field of medical has undergone many transformations. The credit for these transformations goes to the advancement of science to some extent. Advancement of science has resulted in the discovery of many machines, which has eased the role of the nurses in providing the required medication and treatment (Stanhope and Lancaster 2015). In the modern era, the focus is on the improvement of the personal health of the patients rather than transforming the health conditions of the community people as a whole.
As a matter of specification, the focus was on the development of policies for the securing the diagnostic tools from the unwanted and illegal instances. This is in response to the increased number of deaths due to the application of wrong treatment methods.
The functions of a nurse in the modern times have undergone not much difference. The introduction of modern and latest technologies has proved beneficial in adding value to the lifestyle of the patients, especially the disabled patients. Moreover, many nursing courses have been introduced to enrich the knowledge of the nurses towards curing the diseases of the patients (Grove, Burns and Gray 2014). These courses are so diversified in nature, that the nurses can select their specializations.
Taking training on these courses from the experts has become very easy due to the provision of access to the social media. Online learning is a typical example in this direction. During the learning process, students aspiring to become a nurse can contact with the doctors and experts online. This communication chain reflects the effects of video conferencing. The advancement of science has eased the process of record keeping for the nurses. Now, instead of manual, the nurses can record and save the patients history, improvements and medications needed automatically in the computers in zip files (Weese et al. 2015).
Now, the physician advice and supervision have increased as more and more research and development have increased the scope and arena of medical health. The major drive behind this is the advent of technological advancement. Along with this, technological advancement has enabled the nurses to track the illness, which the patients are suffering from, with much ease. This ease has proved beneficial in preparing the statistics for the improvements in the health conditions of the patients.
Looking into the internal functions of the nurses, there lies a lot. The modern nurses are in charge of looking after every small need of the patients (Parahoo 2014). In other words, they are like the second mothers. This is applicable more for the disabled patients, as they are in need of more support, care and attention to restore the balance of life. Here, the functions of a nurse relate to feeding the patient at the right time, giving the medicines according to the prescriptions of the doctor, bathing them, taking them for walks in the evening, ensuring that the patients sleep at the right time among others. Along with this, the nurses are also to ensure that the patients are given healthy and nutritious foods, the bed sheets are clean and the cleanliness of the washrooms and the hospital rooms as a whole (Houser 2016).
Regular cleaning of the bed sheets is also accounted as an important function of the nurses. Ensuring that the quality is maintained in the foods reflects the conscious attitude of the nurses towards the speedy recovery of the patients.
For the disabled patients, the responsibilities of the nurses are to take them for counseling and therapy sessions. Presence of the nurses in these counseling sessions is crucial as the patient gain assurance and confidence to voice out the issues, which they are facing in the treatment provided by the nurses. On the contrary, absence of the nurses can lead to injury of the counselors from the patients (Chinn and Kramer 2013). Herein lays the true examination of the nurses in terms of projecting the appropriate attitude for controlling the disabled patients. Deviating the attention of the patients from the incident adds value to the roles and responsibilities of the nurse in terms of alteration in the health condition of the disabled patients.
On the other hand, consulting the doctors and experts, in such situation, acts as a wise step taken by the nurse towards controlling the patients. Self-attempts in such circumstances worsens the situation and the entire blame goes on the incapability of the nurse towards handling the situation in an efficient and effective manner (Courtney et al. 2015).
Lackadaisical attitude towards the quality of food and hygiene adds negative tone to the roles and responsibilities of the nurses. In modern times, most of the nurses are negligent towards the maintenance of hygiene. This deprives the patients from attaining a speedy recovery. After the recruitment of the nurses, they are trained regarding the basic ways and means of providing quality medical services to the patients and their families. Along with this, the training courses include communication skills, abilities, and effective utilization of the modern machines. After receiving training, they undergo post-training tests, which helps in assessment of their capability in terms of making practical application of the learnt skills for executing the workplace operations (Schmidt and Brown 2014).
In most of the medical institutions, hospitals and care homes, there is a dearth of safe and comfortable workplace. This has entrapped the nurses from exposing their preconceived talents, exempting the patients from getting quality medical services. According to NHS reports, most of the hospitals, nursing homes and care homes receive complaints regarding the provision of poor quality services. These complaints reflect the careless attitude of the personnel, especially the nurses, towards the wellbeing of the patients. One of the other issues is the storage of the medicines. Improper storage of the medicines worsens the health conditions of the disabled patients.
Some of the cases highlight the lackadaisical attitude of the nurses regarding giving expired medicines to the patients (Duncan, Thorne and Rodney 2015). However, advent of modern technologies has enabled the nurses to maintain records regarding proper storage of the medicines. These records are frequently updated for providing quality treatment to the patients.
Technological advancement adds value to the current functions of a nurse. Attending nursing courses have exposed the nurses to different avenues. Through these courses, the nurses have been provided with the access to the utilization of the different latest and modern machines (Bogaert et al. 2013). Involvement of the nurses in these training programs has enriched their preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge.
This knowledge has enabled the nurses to make effective utilization of the new machines for providing the patients with a modernized care. Effective and judicious utilization of machines like scanners, ultrasound, infusion pumps and others have assisted the nurses to detect the presence of illnesses in the patients in an efficient and effective manner.
In case of the disabled persons, the nurses now are responsible for ensuring their proper cure and treatment in terms of bathing, feeding, taking for walks, ensuring their security, taking them for counseling sessions among others. Education has played a major role for making the nurses aware of the right and wrong means of treatment for the disabled patients (Huber 2017). Effective utilization of the learnt skills have provided the power to the nurses to make spontaneous decision in the absence of the doctor. Herein lays the appropriateness of video conferencing, which results in the virtual presence of the doctors, even though they are physically absent in the place of operation or provision of treatment.
Viewing it from the other perspective, the nurses, using the video conferencing, can take suggestions from the doctors regarding the treatment of the patients. This intensity of this activity is high in terms of the cure of disabled patients, as there are high chances of emergencies (Finkelman 2017). Herein lays the extended scope and arena of the medical- the PhD and DNP courses, which have upgraded the preconceived knowledge of the nurses regarding the efficient ways and means of providing modernized care and treatment to the patients, especially the disabled ones (Varcarolis 2016). In the era of 1980, medical field was not so much developed, which deprived the patients to encounter the tragic fate of death. This was due to the unavailability of effective ways of treatment.
Conclusion
This assignment provides an insight into the dynamic functions of a nurse from the past times of 1980 till the present times. Technological advancement has taken the role of the nurses to an advanced level In other words, if the role of the nurses is viewed from a deeper perspective, modern times attain more significance. Along with technological advancement, education, training and more broader access have enabled the nurses to choose their goals.
This extension has assured the family members of the patients regarding the provision of quality care and treatment. Delving deep into the perspective, collaboration of the variables of “learning” and “nursing” mitigates the intensity of the incompleteness of the variable “disability”. Eagerness from the nurses to upgrade their knowledge can prove beneficial in terms of mitigating the instances of disability in case of the patients. The aspect of technology clearly defines the roles played by a nurse in 1980s and the present times.
The activities highlighted clearly states the fact that each day the nurses had to work hard for curing the diseases of the patients especially the disabled ones. The intensity of stress has increased largely in the present times. This is due to the varying lifestyles of the people. Getting a holiday is a matter of luck for the nurses. However, this does not mean that they are on their toes from day till night. Introduction of various shifts acts as a relaxation for the nurses, when they can concentrate on their personal life.
References
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