Registered nurses, no matter area of expertise or work setting treat patients, educate patients as well as the general public with regards to various medical conditions, and give advice and emotional support to patients' family members. Registered nurses help with patient follow-up and rehabilitation, keep track of patients' medical histories and symptoms, administer treatment and medications and help do diagnostic tests and study results.
While taking care of patients, Registered nurses set up a treatment program or contribute to an existing plan. Treatment plans can include quite a few activities, for instance administering medication, including careful checking of dosages and avoiding interactions; observing the patient and recording those observations; consulting with physicians and other healthcare clinicians; and starting, maintaining, and discontinuing intravenous (IV) lines for blood, fluid, blood products and medication. Some RNs offer direction to Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) in addition to nursing aides about caring for patients. RNs with advanced educational preparation and training may do therapeutic and diagnostic treatments and may also have the authority to write prescriptions.
Actual responsibilities vary from one RN to the next. A registered nurse's duties and title usually are determined by their work setting or patient population served. Registered nurses concentrate on one or more aspects of patient care. There typically are four ways you can specialize. Registered nurses can work a certain setting or type of treatment, for example perioperative nurses, who work in operating rooms and give a hand to surgeons. Registered nurses might focus on specific disorders, as do diabetes management nurses, who assist patients to manage diabetic issues. Other RNs concentrate on working with one or more organs or body system types, for example dermatology nurses, who help patients who have skin conditions. Registered nurses could also specialize with a well-defined portion of the population, such as geriatric nurses, that help the elderly. Some Registered nurses may blend specialties. One example is, pediatric oncology nurses handle children and adolescents who have cancer.
There a variety of options for Registered nurses who specialize in a certain work setting or form of treatment. Persons who specialize in transplant nursing deal with both living donors and transplant recipients and look for indications of organ rejection.
Trauma, or emergency, nurses work in hospital or stand-alone emergency departments, offering initial examinations and medical care for patients having life-threatening situations. Some of these nurses become qualified to function as transport nurses, that provide medical treatment to individuals which are transported by helicopter or airplane to the nearest health care facility.
For people requiring therapy of their spiritual and mental health, there are holistic nurses.
Like the name suggests, home healthcare nurses offer in home care for individuals, many times as follow up care after release from a hospital or from a long-term care, skilled, or rehabilitation facility.
Hospice and palliative care nurses provide medical care, most often in home or hospice environments, dedicated to preserving quality of life for those people that are terminally ill.
Ambulatory care nurses deliver preventive care and also deal with patients having a variety of illnesses and injuries in doctors' offices and clinics.
Medical-surgical nurses offer health promotion and basic heath care treatment to people with many surgical and medical diagnoses.
Those who are perioperative nurses assist surgeons by managing bleeding, suturing incisions along with choosing and handling instruments.
Individuals enduring diagnostic radiation procedures like radiation therapy, ultrasounds, and magnetic resonance imaging for oncology diagnoses are under the care of radiology nurses.
Tending to individuals with personality and mood illnesses is the responsibility of a psychiatric-mental health nurse.
Patients who have temporary and permanent disabilities fall under the care of rehabilitation nurses.
RNs who have decided to specialize in an individual disease are employed in nearly all work settings, including hospitals, physicians' offices, outpatient treatment facilities and home healthcare agencies. Wound, ostomy, and continence nurses offer postoperative care for those individuals who have openings which permit alternative methods of elimination of bodily waste; treat those individuals who have fecal and urinary incontinence; and treat patients with wounds attributed to ulcers, arterial disease, or traumatic injury.
Many people require help with some type of addiction. No matter if it's for drug, tobacco, alcohol, or other addiction, they're able to seek the counsel of an addictions nurse.
People with diabetes wanting to find out more about controlling their condition with proper nutrition and learning how to test blood sugar levels are going to be helped by those specializing as diabetes management nurses.
HIV/AIDS nurses handle patients diagnosed with HIV and AIDS.
Those wanting treatment for cancer will seek the care of the oncology nurse. These nurses help in the administration of radiation and chemotherapies and follow up monitoring.
RNs devoted to treatments for a certain body system or organ are often working at specialty clinics, outpatient care facilities and hospital specialty units. It is the job of nephrology nurses to attend to people having kidney disease resulting from substance abuse, diabetes, or hypertension.
Cardiovascular nurses treat patients who have had surgery on their heart and those with heart disease.
Nurses specializing in dermatology will handle patients with skin conditions, like cancer of the skin and psoriasis.
The responsibility of a Gastroenterology nurse is to attend to people who have intestinal and digestive disorders, like ulcers, acid reflux disease, and abdominal bleeding.
Neuroscience nurses treat those with dysfunctions of the central nervous system, like seizures and spinal cord injuries.
Ophthalmic nurses give medical treatment to people who have disorders of the eyes, which include glaucoma and blindness.
Nurses who choose to specialize in the field of urology attend to patients who have disorders of the kidneys, urinary tract, and male reproductive organs, including infections, kidney and bladder stones, and cancers.
Orthopedic nurses treat individuals with skeletal and muscular issues, including arthritis, bone fractures, and muscular dystrophy.
Those nurses operating in the otorhinolaryngology field attend to those patients who have nose, throat and ear disorders, like cleft palates and allergies.
RNs who become specialize based on a segment of the population give preventive as well as acute treatment in all of the medical settings to the segment of the population in which they focus, which includes newborns, adolescents and children, adults, and the elderly. Registered nurses can also provide very simple health care to individuals outside a healthcare setting in such areas as including summer camps, correctional facilities, the military and schools. Some Registered nurses travel across the U.S. as well as around the world providing health care to men and women in places with shortages of healthcare workers.
The majority of Registered nurses work as staff nurses as members of a team providing critical healthcare. However, some Registered nurses make the decision to become advanced practice nurses. Clinical nurse specialists provide direct patient care and expert consultations in one of many nursing specialties, such as school health nursing, oncology nursing and perinatal nursing. Nurse anesthetists provide anesthesia and related care before and after obstetrical, surgical, therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. Nurse-midwives offer primary care to females, which includes gynecological exams, family planning advice, prenatal care and assistance in labor and delivery. Nurse practitioners function as primary and specialty care providers, giving a mix of nursing and healthcare services to patients and families. The most common specialty areas for nurse practitioners are women's health, pediatrics, acute care, and geriatrics. Advanced practice nurses can prescribe medications in every state and in the District of Columbia.
There are many nursing roles that require an RN license, yet require little, or no direct communication with patients. Nurses doing work in infection control identify, track, and control infectious outbreaks that occur in healthcare facilities and put together solutions for preventing outbreaks and response to biological terrorism. Nurse educators evaluate, plan, develop and implement educational programs as well as curricula for the development of student nurses and Registered nurses.
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Are you ready to learn how to start in a satisfying career as a registered nurse? Read more about the steps to becoming an RN and search for and compare RN programs that can help you get moving on your path to a new job.
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