Islamic University of Gaza Faculty of Nursing

Islamic University of GazaFaculty of Nursing Trends And Issues Role of Professional Nurse

Nursing as professional is unique because it addresses the responses of individual and families to actual and potential health problem in humanistic and holistic manner. Nurse advocates, teaches, and assumes several roles at the same time.

Role and Function of the Nurse

Caregiver • Nurse helps client regain health through healing process. • Healing is more than just curing specific diseases although treatment skills that promote physical healing are important. • Nursing addresses holistic health needs of client including measures to restore emotional and social well being. • Caregiver helps client and family set goals and meets these goals with minimal cost of time and energy.

Decision Maker • For providing effective care, nurse uses decision making throughout nursing process. • In some situations, the nurse makes these decisions alone or with client and his family while in other cases, nurse works with other health care professionals.

Protector • As a protector, nurse helps to maintain a safe environment for client and takes steps to prevent injuries and to protect client from possible adverse effects of diagnostic and treatment measures.

Client Advocate • It is the nurse responsibility to ensure that patients has all information needed to make informed decisions about health care. • Nurse must protect client's human and legal rights and provides assistance in asserting those rights.

Manager • Nursing coordinates activities of other members of health care team when managing client's total care. • As manager, nurse coordinates and delegates care responsibilities and supervises other health care workers.

Rehabilitator • Nurse helps clients that experience physical or emotional impairments and change their lives to adapt as fully as possible. • Rehabilitative activates range from teaching client's to walk with crutches to helping clients cope with lifestyle changes often associate with chronic illness.

Comforter • It is traditional role but important, so it is added to new roles of nurse. • Nursing care is directed to the whole person rather than simply the body, because comfort and emotional support give the client the strength to recover.

Communicator • The role of communicator is central to all other nursing roles. • Nursing involves communications with clients and families, other nurse and heath care professionals, resource persons, and the community. • Without clear communications, it is impossible to give care effectively, make decisions with clients and families, protect clients from threats to well being, coordinate and manage client care, assist the client in rehabilitation, offer comfort, or teach. • The quality of communication is critical factor in meeting the needs of individuals, families, and communities.

Teacher • As a teacher, the nurse: • explains to the client concepts and factors about health. • demonstrates procedures such as self-care activities, • determines that client fully understand health issues, and • evaluates progress in learning. • Teaching could be planned or unplanned. (formal or informally)

Career Roles (Employment Positions)

Nurse Educator • Works primarily in school of nursing, staff development, and client education department. • Nursing educators in nursing schools are usually required to have graduate degree in nursing education, in addition, they generally have a specific clinical specialty and advanced clinical experience. • Nurse educators in staff development of health care institutions provide educational programs for nurses within their institutions. These programs include orientation of new personal, critical care nursing courses, and instructions about new equipment for procedures.

Clinical Nurse Specialist • Has master degree in nursing and expertise in a specialized area of practice. • Works in a critical care, acute care, long-term and community health care agency. • May specialize in the management of disease such as cancer, disabilities , or cardiovascular or pulmonary diseases pediatric or gerontology. • Functions as a clinician, educator, manager, consultant, and researcher within the area of practice to plan or improve the quality of nursing care for the client and family.

Nurse Practitioner • Provides health care to clients, either in outpatient ambulatory care , or community based setting . • May work with a specific group of clients or clients of all ages and health care needs. • Has the knowledge and skills necessary to detect and manage limited acute and chronic stable conditions. • His educational program preparation includes a practitioner program or a master degree in nursing.

1- An Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP) • Provides primary care, ambulatory care to adult with an emergency acute or chronic illness. • Usually employed in ambulatory care centers or outpatient clinics and work in collaboration with a primary physician.

2- A Family Nurse Practitioner (ENP) • Provider ambulatory care for families , usually in collaboration with family care physician. • He meets the family's general health care needs, manages some illnesses by providing direct care and guides or counsels the family as needed.

3- A Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) • Provides health care to infant and children.

4- An Obstetrics , Gynecology Nurse Practitioner (ONP) • Provides primary ambulatory care to women seeking obstetrical or gynecological health care.

5- A Geriatric Nurse Practitioner (GNP) • This activity includes interventions for health maintenance, illness prevention, or health restoration.

Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) • Educated in nursing and midwifery. • The practice involves providing independent cares for women during normal pregnancy , labor and delivery ,as well as care for newborn. • May include some gynecological services such as "Pap Smear", family planning, and treatment for minor vaginal infections. • Practices with a health care agency that provides medical consultation, collaborative management, and referral.

Anesthetic Nurse • Is an (RN) who has received advanced training in a certified program in anesthesiology. • Provide surgical anesthesia under guidance and supervision of an anesthesiologist (Physician with advanced Knowledge of surgical anesthesia).

Administrator Nurse • manages client care and delivery of special nursing services within health care agency. • may hold middle management position as: head nurse or supervisor. This position usually requires at least a baccalaureate degree in nursing. • Upper level management position includes assistant , or associate director, or director of nursing services. This position requires a master's degree. • Generally , functions of administrators include budgeting, staff strategic planning of programs, and services, employee's evaluation and employee's development

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Islamic University of Gaza Faculty of Nursing