Nursing

The ideal nursing work schedule is a hotly debated topic in the nursing community. Registered nurses hours in the past were often made up of 8-hour shifts. But these days, most nurses work 12-hour shifts.

Many facilities and nurses favor working 12-hours for many reasons. Yet, advocates of 8-hour shifts tout facts about the lack of effectiveness and safety for shifts that stretch longer than 10 hours. 

There are benefits and risks for both nursing shifts. Read on to get the inside scoop of 6 of the main considerations to think about when creating your nursing work schedule. 

If you work hard and dedicate enough of yourself to the field, there’s no telling how far you could go as a nurse. There are always ways to progress in this industry; it’s just down to you to devote your time to the profession in order to pull yourself up the career ladder. More importantly, it’s down to you to take every opportunity for growth that comes your way.

Nothing is going to be handed to you as a nurse — the rewards that you get will be all down to you, and the effort that you put in. This doesn’t mean that you can’t accept a bit of help along the way, though. Rest assured, such assistance can be found below in the form of guidance.

To find three things you can do to progress in the field of nursing, make sure to read on.

Earn an advanced degree

To become a nurse in the first place, you had to devote years of your life to education. If you truly want to progress in the field, you’re going to have to seriously consider devoting a few more going forward. When it comes to climbing the nursing career ladder, having an advanced degree on your resume will open up so many more doors for you in comparison to not having one. Going back to college or university and enrolling on such a course should, then, be one of your main priorities in the foreseeable future.

When it comes to choosing the advanced degree that is right for you, it’s important to take your schedule into account and how much of your time you can realistically devote to studying. As a working nurse, what with the number of hours you work each week, time is likely to be at a premium for you, which is why you have to consider taking a remote degree in this instance. By going down this route and taking an ADN to BSN online course, you will be able to fit your learning into your schedule. You’ll be able to learn and revise in your own time and at your own pace, simply because you won’t have to go out of your way to head to a classroom — whenever you get some free time away from the hospital or surgery that you work at, all you need do is simply connect to the web and take your lessons. The end result? You can better your tomorrow without having to fall behind with regards to today’s responsibilities.

Nurses are at the forefront of the care delivery system. Moreover, unlike other healthcare fields, the role of a nurse is much more challenging and demanding as well. From providing hands-on care to educating patients, spreading public awareness, and monitoring medical equipment, nurses do it all with dedication and sincerity. In the U.S., there are more than 4 million registered nurses adhering to growing care demands.

With their top-notch judgemental and critical thinking skills, nurses ensure that patients receive the best possible healthcare services. To better understand how the nursing process work, let us have a look into the five stages of nursing:

Stage 1: Data Collection through Assessment

The nursing process begins with the assessment process. Before delivering care to the patient, it is essential for a nurse to assess the situation using their critical thinking capabilities. This helps in fetching valuable information and data about the patient and their health condition. 

All the registered nurses (RNs) begin with a detailed assessment of the patient, taking note of every necessary health data that can help further in the diagnosis and treatment. The assessment process that nurses perform in hospitals in the USA or any other region involves physical examination of the patient including measuring blood pressure, height, weight, temperature, and other vital signs. These data either comes from the patient or may come from family and friends and in most of the cases from primary caregivers. Even electronic health records (EHR) data may also assist in understanding the patient’s health history and present health records.