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HLTEN401A WORK IN THE NURSING PROFESSION. ASSESSMENT AND SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS. Q1. In the earliest forms of nursing, men were the carers of the sick and dying. The hospitals were founded by the military, and little equipment existed to enable the wounded to recover. Throughout the 16th to early 19th Centuries, nursing was carried out by both men and women, in overcrowded wards, training for nurses was non-existent, and many nurses were of bad character. By the middle of the 19th Century, the first training school for nurses was established in Germany by Theodor Fliedner.
This training centre became famous for its nursing standards of both training and quality of care. Post 1853 Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War set about establishing clean water, personal hygiene programs, nourishing food chains, medical supplies, as well as using the natural sunlight to help the soldiers to recover. “With Nightingale the focus was on nurses working systematically in the environment of healthcare, healing and restoring people to health. “(Potter and Perry 1993,pp. 08-209) Present day nursing has changed from one of task orientation to one of accountability and responsibility for one’s actions. Nursing looks at the whole part of a person rather than just the part that is ill or diseased. Currently nursing is done at universities , technical and further education centres and at registered training organizations. This is a major shift away from all the training being completed in the hospital setting. Today, clinical placement is done within a range of healthcare settings, eg.
Aged care facilities, community health centres, hospitals and mental health centres. Q2. Nursing theories are important to our practice because they “can inform the way in which we view the person, health, the environment and nursing itself”(Funnell, Koutikidis ; Lawrence 2005, p. 25. ) Nursing theories also tell us the “why and when nursing takes place and give us an understanding of how the nursing practice progresses, as well as learning when we need to make any changes to the application of our nursing practices. (Funnel, Koutikidis & Lawrence 2005, p. 18). Q3A. Confidentiality is defined as “the non disclosure of information about a person unless consented to by that person, or by another authorized person, or under statutory authority. ” (Harris, Nagy, & Vardaxis 2010, p. 417. This means under no circumstance can we speak, write about, print or use any form of electronic means to share or discuss information given to us by any person without their consent. Q3B. Duty of Care.
Mosby’s Dictionary states duty of care to be a “legal obligation of one person to take reasonable care to avoid causing harm to another, the scope of duty being limited by principles of forseeability of harm and proximity of the parties, including all the circumstances of the relationship between the parties. ” (Mosby’s Dictionary p. 562. ) Bailliere’s dictionary agrees with Mosby’s definition of duty of care as it states in part “the law has developed a set of rules on the expected standards prevailing at the time of any case questioning the issue. ” (Bailliere’s Dictionary p. 126. ) Q3C.
Mosby’s Dictionary states Primary healthcare to be “a basic level of healthcare that includes programs directed at the promotion of health, early diagnosis of disease or disability, and the prevention of disease. “(Mosby’s Dictionary p. 1409. ) Brown and Edwards agree with the above definition as they state Primary healthcare’s main focus “is to keep the individual and community as well as possible, and it uses a range of programs eg. Education, immunizations, baby monitoring through maternal child health clinics to help the people to retain and/or maintain their health to an optimal level. (Brown and Edwards 2007 p. 49. ” Q4. Nurses deliver healthcare in many places besides the hospital environment. Some other health delivery environments are as follows: Aged care environment, Community environment, Rural environment, Universities, Technological and Further Education environments, and Doctor’s Surgeries. Q5. The six principles of wellness include: Intellectual, Spiritual, Emotional, Social, Occupational, and Physical wellness. When all six are working well together “the individual experiences a higher level of functioning and there is an optimum balance between internal and external environments. (Mosby’s Dictionary p. 1837. ) Spiritual wellbeing can be defined as “inner harmony that stems from a strong sense of satisfaction with self and with life. ” (Funnell, Koutikidis & Lawrence 2009 p. 125. ) Intellectual wellness is keeping the mind active by learning new things, meeting new people, understanding different cultures. Occupational wellness is having job satisfaction and work that gives meaning to one’s sense of worth Social wellness is friendships and good relationships with neighbours and colleagues and kindness to strangers.
Emotional wellness is developing self awareness and how you respond emotionally eg. I say I love you to someone, and they say I love you too. Q6. Basic nursing care is one of two styles of nursing care. It consists of “attending to the patient’s subjective and objective needs. ” (HLTEN401A Work in the Nursing Profession Careers Australia College of Healthcare 2010 Working Document p. 7. )A subjective need is the nurse’s own gut response and speculation about what might have happened occurs but we don’t actually see what happens. Eg. A patient is found on the floor bleeding from a head wound by a nurse.
The nurse did not witness the accident for herself. An objective need is when the nurse sees for herself what actually happened to the patient, and can identify it. Eg. John loses his balance and falls and breaks his left arm. The nurse sees John fall and the arm has a bone penetrating through the broken skin. John is moaning at the same time and he cannot move his arm. Q7. Nurses can ensure they are up to date with current nursing practice and increase their job employment opportunities through making use of professional development opportunities that arise throughout any given year.
Some of these opportunities could be: attending nursing seminars, conferences, checking notice boards at the workplace for job vacancies in areas of specialization and/or expertise, and keeping abreast of the latest nursing journals, periodicals, books, websites, and ongoing research skills. Q8. Some of the different health issues faced by people from developing countries are “the unjustified distribution of resources which divide the world into “have” and “have not” countries. (Info@trcb. com p. 1. ) Often there is a lack of good sanitation and hygiene, poor nutrition, poverty, lack of education information and/or the understanding of it and lack of communication skills. In developing countries, clean water and sewerage systems are often inadequate to handle the number of people living in different areas of the country. Poor nutrition comes about through the lack of an adequate diet, caused often by the lack of means to pay for the staple dietary needs.
Lack of educational information keeps the people entrenched in traditional beliefs alone, and does not help their health needs to be alleviated through the best practice methods. Communication is often difficult for people in developing countries because of traditional practices, and/ or their expectation that the healthcare professionals should be able to diagnose their health problems without input from the patient. On the other hand, people in western societies are often faced with health issues such as obesity, diabetes, immunization and smoking.
The difference here is that western cultures usually have an abundance of food, their diet is rich and contains much fat content. Meals are usually served on large plates and in large size proportions which are eaten in one sitting. This can lead to both obesity and diabetes becoming evident in a large proportion of the population. Communication can still be difficult for some westerners, but there is a tendency to attend hospital outpatient departments or doctors surgeries much more readily than in developing countries. Q9.
The traditional Haitian concept of health is based on the balance and equilibrium of several factors: physical health, emotional health, familial relationships, spiritual wellbeing, natural causations and supernatural causations. Haitians believe in a proper diet, cleanliness, exercise and adequate rest. Emotional health is kept equally balanced by not having excess anger, sadness or fear. Spiritual wellbeing occurs when the person has a life of prayer, and many Haitians believe that God is the “ultimate decider of death and life, health and illness. ” (Colin & Paperwalla 2003, p. . ) Supernatural causations of illness are attributed to the person having vexed a spirit, and many Haitians believe that illness often results from disrespect for elders. Respect for Haitian beliefs would include the following: greeting everyone in the patient’s room, helping to put the patient at ease when communicating with them, as they often do not communicate with healthcare providers because of illiteracy or confusion. It is important to remember that female elders “often weigh heavily in health decision-making” (Colin and Paperwalla 2003, p. 17. so allowing them to speak would be helpful in order to formulate an overall healthcare plan for the patient. Q10. Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care; Queensland Department of Health; Health Quality and Complaints Commission; Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australian Health Practice Regulatory Authority; Royal Australian College of Nursing; Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council; and Australian Nursing Federation. Q11. Occupational health and safety is the process whereby the workplace needs to be a safe place in which to work for all staff. The purpose of Occupational health and safety legislation is to promote those within the workplace against risks to health and safety. ” ( Nursing Australia. com. ) This would entail physical safety for all staff as well as patients each day, the working environment would need to be free from clutter, equipment would need to be appropriate and modern for the tasks at hand, furniture should be well designed to meet the needs of the healthcare worker, patient, visitors and others to the healthcare facility.
Occupational health and safety when not adhered to often results in injury to the healthcare worker, the patient or the visitor, and can be the means of not having adequate staff to fulfil the duties of nursing, loss of staff because of inadequate equipment, or a long and lengthy court process for compensation for injuries received while in the workplace. Manual handling is the method healthcare providers use to actually move the patient from bed to an ambulatory position, or to turn the patient’s position one way or the other.
Manual handling impacts on nursing care delivery, because the nurse needs to be trained in the proper aspects of lifting, turning, and rolling of the patient, as well as techniques of best practice in transportation of the patient from one place to another within the healthcare environment, so that no injury or further injury is done either to the patient or to the healthcare provider. Infection control means the precautions taken in the nursing workplace environment to prevent any infection that is “considered a risk to others.
These precautions are taken to prevent organisms being transmitted from patient to healthcare providers, healthcare providers to patients and from one patient to another. ” (Brown& Edwards 2007, p. 275. ) Infection control measures help to keep infection to a minimum for all patients and healthcare providers, and special precautions help to minimise the spread of pathogens that “can be transmitted by airborne or droplet transmission or by contact with dry skin. ” (Brown & Edwards 2007, p. 277. ) Q12.
The purpose of a Nursing Practice Decision Making Framework for nursing is to enable healthcare providers to become accountable for their actions and responsibilities whilst working within a wide variety of nursing environments. The decision making framework guards the healthcare environment and the health provider against incompetent practices in nursing; queries whether the organization in which the activity will be performed “has a policy, quality and risk management framework, sufficient staffing levels and access to other health professionals to support the intended activity. (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council Nursing Practice Decision Flowchart. 2007). It also stipulates that the healthcare provider has the necessary knowledge, preparation and supervision available to the in order that the activity can be carried out competently and confidently. Q13. Three specific health needs that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders currently have fall into the categories of ” inequality of access to primary health care; excessive occurrence of middle ear infections (Otitis Media) and high rates of risky behaviours such as substance abuse, excess of alcohol, and tobacco use. (Achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality within a generation ??? A human rights based approach 2005 p. 2. ) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders do not have the same opportunities to visit doctors or hospitals when they are ill because of lack of private health insurance, and remoteness of geographical living areas thus leaving them often with undiagnosed health conditions and susceptibility to a life of chronic pain and illness.
Middle ear infections are often found very early in children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, and this prevents them from learning educationally as well as many times leaving the sufferer with varying stages of loss of hearing at an early age. Substance abuse, excess alcohol and tobacco, lead the young adult and adults with difficulties, of memory, mental health difficulties, kidney damage and often heart problems. These conditions are often undiagnosed and to a large extent are left untreated.
This is definitely not a just and dignified way to treat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who live in a first world country, but are treated as third world people with regards to healthcare issues. Q14. The reason healthcare organizations use policies, procedures, guidelines and protocols to guide their practice is because ” they are accountable for public protection by ensuring that licensed nurses are safe, competent and ethical healthcare professionals and practice by determined standards for education and healthcare practice. New South Wales Nurses’ Association 2009 fact sheet p. 1. ). These standards are set by regulatory framework established by state, territory and federal legislation. Q15. The importance of the professional standards of practice within the healthcare environment expect nurses to “conduct themselves in accordance with the national professional framework and engage in a continuous process of self assessment against the standards included in the framework. ” (New South Wales Association 2009 fact sheet p. 2. The National Competency Standards for Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses and Nurse Practitioners: set entry foundations to practice and continually assess performance. Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Nurses: Set the minimum national standards of conduct and fundamental ethical standards for the nursing profession. The State Nursing and Midwifery Regulatory Authority works ” to produce national standards which are integral components of the regulatory framework to assist nurses and midwives to deliver safe and competent care. ” (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council October 2002 p. 1. ).