Introduction
This has been a long two years that has gone by in a flash. Over the last two years I have grown so much not only educationally but also my understanding of the roles nurses have has improved substantially. There are many roles nurses fill in order to be successful. It is these roles that make a nurse well rounded. There are the roles of being a caregiver, teacher, manager, and advocate. Nursing is an ever-changing field. There are new studies coming out every day that encompass evidence based practice. Nurses must be able to learn and grow as the field of nursing continues to learn and grow.
Caregiver
The role of the caregiver is the foundation of nursing. Nurses are there to provide care to their patients. Nurses provide care …show more content…
Nurses manage a lot of different aspects in a twelve-hour shift. Nurses manage their time, phone calls, family members, other staff, there are many other different roles nurses act as manager. Some manage to fill all the duties a nurse must for an effective shift. I had an opportunity to learn the importance of being an effective time manager. I had an instructor during clinical that required me to have all my charting finished by 9:30 am. As a student, this seemed to be very overwhelming. It was during this rotation that I learned how to manage my time most effectively. I had another experience that I learned the importance of managing myself in a professional manner. During clinical one day, I was around when some of my classmates were being innapropriate. I walked away and went back to my day. I chose not to participate in the behavior that I felt was unbecoming of nursing students. These are important aspects of the role of a manager that a nurse fills and there are many more that I will continue to discover after nursing …show more content…
Nurses must be able to speak up for their patients as many patients don’t understand what or why they need to speak up to begin with. A nurse that is an advocate stands up for their patients and rallies for their health care needs. When I was in the ICU, I had a patient that was really ill. He had a chest tube for a collapsed lung and had not had any labs done in three days. It was during my shift that I persuaded the nurse and doctor to do a sputum sample and a nasal swab for the flu. He tested positive for the flu and positive for bacteria in his lungs. It was because of my advocating that this particular patient received medications in a timely fashion and was on the road to recovery much sooner had I not have had the guts to speak up to his nurse or doctor. I have also had the opportunity to advocate for my father in law. I was able to attend his doctor’s appointment and discuss the medications they were going to place him on and the effect it would have on his diabetes. It was because of my ability to ask questions and speak up for him that they discovered the medication could be harmful. Becoming a nurse teaches us to be advocates for our patients but we also have the ability to advocate for our loved ones as