The primary duty of every nurse is to provide effective patient care. While effective nurses must have certain personal qualities such as compassion for patients, knowledge also plays an important role in their work. This paper presents a few ways in which a nurse can use knowledge to provide effective patient care.
Nurses receive training in many aspects of medical care. Their training focuses on continuous patient care during convalescence. Nurses also provide the first line of medical care for patients who visit medical facilities. Patients first see a nurse who measures their vitals before proceeding to consultants. Apart from this, nurses in inpatient facilities manage the treatment of patients based on instructions from doctors. They ensure that patients follow the treatment regimens prescribed by doctors. This may include giving medicine to patients, supervising physiotherapy sessions, among other duties. Nurses also ensure that patients are comfortable.
Nurses can use their knowledge to provide effective patient care in the following ways. First, nurses can use their knowledge to provide effective care in the administration of medicine. A case in point is the administration of antibiotics. The world is currently dealing with resistance to antibiotics because of improper use of antibiotics. Nurses understand that the effective way of using antibiotics is by taking them on schedule and by completing prescribed doses. In this regard, nurses can use their knowledge of resistance to antibiotics to provide effective care.
Secondly, nurses have a good understanding of how to care for patients. Usually, patients leave hospitals before full recovery as soon as they no longer need full-time monitoring to convalesce. In some cases, terminal patients may choose to go home to spend their last moments with their families. Family members often provide care to convalescing relatives at home without prior knowledge of what patient care entails. This can put the patients at risk especially if they need full-time attention. Nurses can help to provide effective care to such patients by advising the people providing home-based care.
Nurses can also use their knowledge to provide effective care to patients who have physical injuries. Nurses take courses in human anatomy. The courses give them a good understanding of how the human body functions. Based on this knowledge, nurses are able to nurse patients who have physical injuries. In some cases, mishandling a patient who has physical injuries can aggravate the situation. For instance, a massage can help a patient who has painful muscles relax. However, it can be very detrimental to massage a torn or injured muscle. Nurses can tell the difference between these two situations. Therefore, nurses can use their knowledge in human anatomy to care for patients who have physical injuries.
The final situation in which nurses can use their knowledge to provide effective patient care is in the provision of first aid. First aid can make the difference between life and death in case of a medical emergency. First aid training for nurses gives them a good understanding of the measures needed to save lives in the event of an emergency. In this regard, nurses can help to provide effective patient care by giving first aid to patients in remote locations, or patients who need immediate attention to stabilize them.
In conclusion, the training of nurses makes them very valuable members of any community. Their knowledge can help to improve patient care both inside and outside medical facilities.