The world is changing. Conventional roles and pigeonholing professions no longer hold any meaning. There was a time when nurses were nothing more than assistants to doctors. Now, these experts stand tall and are pioneers in the field. The pandemic also highlighted the critical job nurses had to do. With immense staff shortages, nurses returned from retirement to lend a hand. It Is safe to say without the support of these medical experts. The sector would have fallen apart. Nurses are no longer on the sideline but taking center stage. These experts are using their knowledge and skills to transform healthcare as we know it. As a nurse, what can you do as a modern healthcare expert? Here’s what you need to know:
Thrive In Education
You are no longer contained by primary degrees. Getting a license as a registered nurse is no longer the pinnacle of your career. You can now look into higher qualifications and find ways to achieve them. Technology has made it easier to go back to school and catch up on the new curriculum. You can go online to pursue the next best degree, such as an affordable RN to BSN program that can give you the stepping stone you need to advance as a nurse. This lets you work your way to a terminal degree and get the autonomy you’ve always wanted. Affordable medical programs also save you from succumbing to another hectic loan. You save yourself the trouble of going through another debt that can take years to pay off. So for a reasonable cost, you get the training and the skills you need to dominate your field.
Approach To Alternate Medicine
While treating a patient, you need to have an open mind. You may see many conditions in your textbook, but working with an infected patient is no walk in the park. For example, some patients don’t find relief in painkillers and have high tolerance preventing the medication from helping them. In such cases, you may need to recommend other forms of pain relief. This can include looking at alternative approaches that deviate from traditional medicine. These can be praying with the patient, massaging their aching limbs, and encouraging them to get acupuncture. In some instances, you may inform the patient to take on yoga or aerobics to train their whole body and make circulation smoother. While this technique is neither approved nor discredited by science, it can help patients make a full recovery instead of sticking with methods that don’t work.
Taking On Mentorship Roles
When the new nurse enters the sector, they need guidance. Being a fresh graduate with minimal clinical experience is not enough to work alongside patients. Much work needs to be done before a nurse can handle a patient alone. As a mentor, you can bridge this gap between patients and nurses. Start by informing the fresh nurse what they need to do, how they can help, and what needs to be dealt with immediately. Your interest in assisting nurses in unlocking their potential will benefit not the hospital alone but also the nurse. After all, healthcare professionals are known for their skills and intelligence, not only for their degrees. Mentoring also includes talking to the nurse about the fields they can specialize in. Being a leader also gives you a voice within board meetings and frontlines you for patient advocacy. You can talk about what the current healthcare system lacks and what improvements you wish to see. Review how patients feel getting treated in the facility you work for and what can be done to elevate the sector.
Asset To The Public Health Domain
Public health is all about community wellness, from strengthening the population against infectious diseases to educating them on living better and healthier. The public health sector is fighting many issues. These also include social causes such as gun violence. As a nurse, you can relay your expertise in helping treat those who are not well while also providing awareness of why a particular issue needs to get curtailed. Complex situations like obesity and smoking on a large scale have intense repercussions. By going into their details, you can provide information on how obesity can lead to other health problems which primarily impact the heart and how smoking harms the lungs. You can assist the public health sector set up vaccine centers to administer free vaccines to most of the population. You can help them chart epidemiology graphs to predict what the best health crisis is and how to avoid its impact. Retail clinics can also use your expertise in treating patients.
Addressing Implicit Bias
Implicit biases are stereotypes on which patients get denied healthcare. These have no bearing on medicine and social constraints over facts. For instance, black women get thought to have more pain tolerance and are denied medication. These women also have troubled births, yet their health is not taken seriously. Older adults get looked down upon. There is a culture of mistrusting the patient and assuming they have no idea what they’re talking about. The LGBTQ community is treated with malice and hate while young moms get shamed for early pregnancies. These implicit biases ruin the sanctity of the healthcare system. It pushes patients away rather than bringing them close. You can remedy this by being more receptive to other cultures, not allowing your judgment to get the best of you, and learning about your patients. A friendly chat makes all the difference, and you can pass this on to the doctor, who may also be guilty of stereotyping.
Final Thoughts
As a nurse, your role is essential for a healthy medical industry. The education and training you get now make you an asset to the sector. You no longer have to be overshadowed by doctors but make your pedestal to stand on. The alternate card you provide may be helpful for patients and encourage a more wholesome way of delivering care. Your contribution as a leader and in the public health sector is vital in helping the community improve. New nurses can also count on you as a mentor. By confronting racial bias, you push for a diverse and inclusive, which is the only way to achieve more healthcare goals by treating everyone fairly and equally. A hospital is no place for stereotypes, and you should ensure that.
