Comparing Nursing between the Past and the Future
Nurses are the primary caregivers when it comes to healthcare settings including hospitals. It is therefore mandatory to define the role of nurses working at different tiers as well as clarify their scope of practice. Nursing is an ever-evolving field no matter which part of the world you live in. Nurses have to embrace changes in the technology on a continual basis and to achieve this they need to take special training courses and attend workshops.
Past nursing practices relied on female nurses as about 90% of the entire nursing community comprised of women. The perspective has changed since men are also considering nursing as a full-time profession in Australia and they are acquiring the required degrees and diplomas. The issue of workforce shortage would be addressed effectively if more men will join the nursing community.
In the past, there was no standardized care that meant more human error in drug administration and treatment. In future, this practice would change because there would be more standardized care and the nurses would be consulted for important decision making and strategic planning. This would ensure better care and consistent processes throughout the healthcare industry.
Modern nursing practices have given birth to more nurse practitioners, which mean better service and more staff available to work in rural areas. Now the latest trend is to introduce process improvement in all hospitals and other healthcare facilities that works in the similar manner as assembly line production. With this process, the traditional role of nurses would have to be changed to accommodate the advancements in technology.
Enrolled and registered nurses are now able to use digital tools for medication calculation and other important mathematical work. Drug administration has greatly improved in recent years because of this reason. Modern nurses are now equipped with the latest knowledge of the industry and they know what treatments are more appropriate. They are now able to make decisions based on this knowledge even without the supervision of a doctor or surgeon. Timely decisions have to be made to save a life and in this context the role of nurses has greatly improved.
Nursing in Australia has evolved into a clearly defined profession where the roles given to enrolled and registered nurses are documented and understood. In the past, the scope of practice was not clearly understood either and therefore important duties like drug administration and monitoring were often given to enrolled nurses.
Related Blog: Why Nursing? Saving the future with a Career in Nursing
