The declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic brought much attention to the healthcare sector and its significance in our health. Medical professionals became the most important resource during the period as it became easy for the virus to be transferred and its effects manifest in patients. Healthcare workers are vital because they treat and prevent illnesses that affect individuals (Levine et al., 2019). They help patients overcome illnesses, lead healthy lives, and prevent diseases. Nurses are at the core of care provision through the various activities that they engage in when treating and providing other forms of services. To understand the role of practitioners in society, one needs to understand the process of becoming a nurse and their responsibilities in the healthcare sector. This essay is based on information acquired from a practicing nurse who shared insightful knowledge of the profession.
Becoming a nurse entails a process of education and training that ensures that only qualified individuals engage in care provision. The practitioners begin learning at different levels, each offering an opportunity for advancement. Training is a comprehensive process that requires a lot of time and effort. Training is a crucial process in becoming a qualified nurse since this is when one learns the basics of care provision and enhances (Mlambo et al., 2021). It also allows trainees to get their first experience of being professionals and have a view of what to expect when they begin providing care to patients. However, learning is a continuous process for the practitioners. The healthcare sector experiences continued evolution in various elements of care. Changes are frequent because of the changing patient population and needs. These changes demand that nurses engage in a continuous learning process that ensures they are updated on new knowledge, skills, and trends in care provision.
Nurses join the profession at different levels based on their qualifications at entry levels and can progress to higher levels of the profession and education. A significant section of professionals has basic qualifications as practitioners. Care providers experience several barriers to advancing knowledge and skills due to reasons like family (Fawaz et al., 2018). However, the profession offers nurses the opportunity to continue their education to higher levels, guaranteeing advanced roles and compensation for practitioners with the highest qualifications. The government has also adopted various measures that help encourage nurses to continue their education. Continuing skills enhancement is crucial in the sector since it helps to equip professionals with the relevant skills to address the various challenges practitioners experience.
Nurses are part of care provision from the moment a patient is admitted to their discharge and they offer various services to communities. Unlike other healthcare professionals, nurses are part of the whole care provision process due to the need for their services at each level of treatment. The practitioners get to engage patients from admission by collecting vital information that will support the development of a treatment plan when a patient is discharged and requires post-admission care or follow-ups. The care providers also provide community members with services like health education on healthy living. The professionals are part of society, and the provision of various services in their capacity as healthcare practitioners helps enhance health among society members. The role of care providers was particularly evident during COVID-19 when their services were in high demand. Nurse shortages during the period exposed the challenges experienced in healthcare and called for policies to address the issue.
References
Fawaz, M., Hamdan-Mansour, A., & Tassi, A. (2018). Challenges facing nursing education in the advanced healthcare environment.International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 9, 105-110.
Levine, S., Malone, E., Lekiachvili, A., & Briss, P. (2019). Health care industry insights: Why the use of preventive services is still low. Preventing Chronic Disease, 16, E30.
Mlambo, M., Silén, C., & McGrath, C. (2021). Lifelong learning and nurses’ continuing professional development, a metasynthesis of the literature.BMC Nursing, 20(1).