A survey conducted from October 2002 through December 2002 involving 1386 registered nurses and focused on the subject of clinical errors and ethics revealed that these nurses felt that they had compromised their standard of practice because of the nursing shortage. For example 78% of these RNs reported that they had either given an ordered medication or had given the medication to the patient at the wrong time.
Changing duties, responsibilities, and conflicts amidst nursing shortages and public concern over patient safety and quality of care characterized present day practice. These changes require professional nurses to have care competency in critical thinking, communication, interdisciplinary team collaboration, assessment, leadership, and technical skills as well as knowledge of health promotion/disease prevention information technology, health system, and public policy.
In addition to the issues of access, cost, quality and accountability in health care, nurses today are challenged by an aging population, complex consumer health values, and an increasingly intercultural society. The IOM released in may 2003 recommended partnership of academic institutions, local and state public health to establish training for medical and nursing school curricula. The future of public health in our nation depends on a competent, well trained public health work force.
RAISING NIGERIA’S NURSING STANDARD.
The solutions to the challenge lie in nurses’ hands and in those of policy makers. It is the responsibility of all to join hands to provide adequate funds for regular in-service training and seminars to update nurses knowledge and skills, provide funds to improve existing health institutions and modern equipment, continually focus on delivery of care that is safe, comprehensive and effective, appropriation of funds by the government to Departments/Schools of Nursing for scholarship for nursing students in order to attract more people into the nursing profession, as well as help those already in the profession to have higher education without much financial burden. A blueprint targeted at quickly situating all nursing education programmes in higher institutions will greatly enhance the educational image of the profession and consequently improve remunerations. Nurse researchers should continue to develop and refine nursing knowledge and practice through the investigation of nursing problems. Mentorship in nursing should as well be encouraged.
Continuous training and development that leads to good leadership and better skills in nursing care services should be encouraged; and this will in turn promote the image of the nurse in the society. The status of nursing in our society has not promoted good professional image, for the nurses largely because of poor facilities in the training institutions and lack of commitment to practical teaching on the ward by all cadres of nurses. Nurses leaving professional care to student nurses or pupil midwives Nurses must practice to show the learners how to do it, nursing professional training is hospital based. All cadres of nurses must be committed to this apart from clinical instructors.
The nurses need to learn to regulate their own services not leaving it for others to decide upon, by extension, there is a need to professionalized the career, nurses in Nigeria should fully operates within the ambit of a code of professional conduct for Nurses as put together by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria like making it possible for nurses with first degree to practice along those with Diploma trainings. This is supposed to be strength for nursing care in Nigeria. If intra professional rivalry is removed nurses would learn from each other and subsequently nursing care would be improved in this century. Nurses at leadership position should consult their learned and experienced fellows nationally and internationally to be able to acquire both theoretical experience and practical skill needed for improved services. Consultation now made easy with computerization. E-mailing each other on ideas about care in hospital settings that are more advanced than ours. Use of internet facilities to improve nursing care in Nigeria. Nurses need to read newspapers, journals and internet articles to be more informed about current issues in Nursing Services.
As nurse we must not confine ourselves to nursing alone we must read wide, socialize well and work as assertive individuals to promote our image and the image of nursing profession in Nigeria. We must be seen to be here and there in health services and must contribute maximally in our areas of interest or specialization in care apart from administrative skill used in office as Nurse Administrators. Nursing informatics are essential for application of computer into nursing care, lack of knowledge in this area can cause declining care as nurses will fail to utilize computer technology to the advantages of clinical nursing care recipients.Nurses should also imbibe the following simple steps as part of their profession;
1. Show other persons that you listen and understand the situation/problem.
2. Say what you think or feel
3. Suggest what you want to happen
4. Ensure that you do not manipulate unnecessarily
5. Say things honestly and be self confident.
And they should put-off and shun common types of behavior among theirselves that can be contributory to declining services; such behavior includes passive or lazee fair attitude, aggressive or autocratic behavior, assertive behavior etc. By assertiveness, over confidence should be avoided.
Entry level into nursing permits aspiration to top level in the career structure, not running from clinical setting to school of nursing to teach. Clinical setting requires nurse clinicians for appropriate rivalry inter professionally in the health care setting. Nurses are to teach themselves as well, as the public, these days the public is well informed, they need informed nurses too. In all these areas senior nurses or nurse leaders may be copied positively or negatively by the junior ones or nurses in training. It is necessary for nurse leaders to serve as good example by practicing appropriately having appropriate, education and ensuring same by others. Adequate dressing promotes the image of nursing so also is the professional rivalry
There is also a need to review procedure manual nationally and steps in the procedures should be implemented appropriately in all hospitals. This would always improve the quality of care rendered by nurses. Quality assurance units must be established to ensure auditing of nursing services. Nurses need to be closely monitored to ensure quality care and accountability.
Nurses should most times give room for negotiation to press home their demands. It has been discovered that embarking on industrial strike paralyze a lots of activities in the sector, and this bring about the death of many in the society.
Finally, I must stress that the nursing profession must remain dynamic in its attempt to meet health care needs of the society. In an address by His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the West African College of Nursing Conference on the Theme: Reforms in Nursing Practice in the 21st century in Abuja, March 2005, stated that “the 21st century nurse should be one that is equipped not only with the basic requisite knowledge and skill to function in the clinical aspect of health care provision, but must also possess the requisite knowledge and skill to function as a team leader, manager of resources, counselors and advocate to patients”. With this in mind, let us strive to make nursing practice in Nigeria, a supportive profession that is interested in meeting the health care needs of its people. There is also a need for nursing to fashion out its own philosophy in the light of this present challenges to quality nursing practice and high level of professionalism. This includes all nurses, irrespective of their qualifications, to come out and speak with one voice. There should also be proper periodic education to sensitize them on the changes in the socio-cultural environment, the increase and growing sense of their responsibilities to recipients of care, the new clientele in the health industry/new concept of man and her relationship to the world around him, the rise in literacy level/ advances in medical science and technology, the complexity of knowledge and skills required to give safe and hazard free nursing care to consumers of healthcare services, the greater awareness of individual’s rights and obligations of human worth of dignity among other things.
With over 2.6 million members, the nursing profession has risen to the challenges of the 21st century by writing efforts to shape health care and the profession. Numerous coalitions have been formed to addressed the critical nursing shortage; increased political liaisons have influenced health policy; and involvement in evidenced based practice is more prevalent than ever and continues to improved health outcomes for individuals, groups, communities, and the nation. God take us to the Nursing of our dream.
Jamda B. J. is a Nurse/Midwife
Comments
Post a Comment