

By providing basic and routine care, they ensure the wellbeing of patients throughout the whole of the health care journey Key Responsibilities Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN), also known as Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs), support the core health care team and work under the supervision of an RN, APRN or MD.

What types of nurses are there?Īll nurses complete a rigorous program of extensive education and study, and work directly with patients, families, and communities using the core values of the nursing process. Through long-term monitoring of patients’ behavior and knowledge-based expertise, nurses are best placed to take an all-encompassing view of a patient’s wellbeing.

The key unifying characteristic in every role is the skill and drive that it takes to be a nurse. Responsibilities can range from making acute treatment decisions to providing inoculations in schools. In a field as varied as nursing, there is no typical answer. This ensures that every patient, from city hospital to community health center state prison to summer camp, receives the best possible care regardless of who they are, or where they may be. Through the critical thinking exemplified in the nursing process (see below), nurses use their judgment to integrate objective data with subjective experience of a patient’s biological, physical and behavioral needs. However, nursing has a unifying ethos: In assessing a patient, nurses do not just consider test results. Due to the vast range of specialisms and complex skills in the nursing profession, each nurse will have specific strengths, passions, and expertise. This is supported by the mind, in the form of rigorous core learning. At its heart, lies a fundamental respect for human dignity and an intuition for a patient’s needs. Nursing can be described as both an art and a science a heart and a mind. From ensuring the most accurate diagnoses to the ongoing education of the public about critical health issues nurses are indispensable in safeguarding public health. Across the entire patient experience, and wherever there is someone in need of care, nurses work tirelessly to identify and protect the needs of the individual.īeyond the time-honored reputation for compassion and dedication lies a highly specialized profession, which is constantly evolving to address the needs of society. 21 st Century nursing is the glue that holds a patient’s health care journey together.
