Nursing Profession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing Profession - Essay Example Additionally, they create and monitor nursing plans, advice patients and their families in proper care, and help individuals and groups to take steps towards improving or maintaining their health. In practice, there are several types of nurses: hospital nurses, office nurses, nursing home nurses, home health nurses, public health nurses, occupational nurses, nurse supervisors, and advanced practice nurses (APNs). To become a nurse, one must graduate from an approved nursing program and pass a national licensing examination. For APNs, they must meet higher educational and clinical practice requirements beyond the basic nursing education and licensing required of all other registered nurses (RN). More so, they are specialists who offer basic primary healthcare through diagnosis and treatment of common acute illnesses and injuries. Nursing has its hazards especially in hospitals and other facilities where nurses may care for individuals with infectious diseases. Thus, nurses must observ e strict guidelines to protect themselves against diseases and other dangers such as those posed by radiation, chemicals used for sterilization of instruments and anesthetics. The value of registered nurses The next part of this paper will discuss the nursing profession within the context of Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). CNA was established in 1908, and now it is a federation of 11 provincial and territorial nursing associations and colleges representing almost all registered nurses in Canada (CNA, 2011). According to the fact sheet on The Value of Registered Nurses, nurses are associated with saving lives, promoting health, and reducing costs to the health system. First, RNs through their skills and interventions, improve the quality of care and aid patients in getting better health outcomes. Secondly, they shorten length of hospital stays, reduce rates of medication errors and wound infections, and reduce waiting time by providing timely access to care. Thirdly, by increasing the number hours of care provided by RNs, the in-patient deaths and the adverse outcomes among residents in sensitive areas can be reduced significantly. Fourthly, by involving RNs in health promotion and prevention care among the patients, there can be improved mental and physical functioning, a reduction in depression, lower costs per person for prescription drugs, increased number of patients who quit smoking, and better management of chronic diseases (CNA, 2011). More so, home visits by RNs have been shown to improve child and maternal outcomes. Finally, by increasing the number of hours of care provided by RNs, there can be net cost savings through reduced length of hospital stays and avoided adverse outcomes (Needleman et al., 2006). Nurses offer solutions for cost effective health care According to the factsheet on Nurses Offer Solutions for Cost Effective Health Care, nurses are well positioned and work in all parts of the health system, thus they can offer innovations that reduce costs and enhance effectiveness of the health system. First, studies have revealed that by reducing nurse turnover, there can be a reduction in costs and improvement of nurse, patient, and system outcomes. This can be