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Job Description
A registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a university or college and has acquired a nursing license. Registered nurses fulfill various roles and services that they offer to patients and community as a whole. One of the services they provide is taking care of minor injuries, illnesses and providing consultation services to patients in a health institution. It is the role of a registered nurse to administer medication and ensure that everyone in the institution maintains the desired level of personal hygiene. A registered nurse should also conduct training in areas of family planning, personal hygiene, health-related matters and medication administration. He/she is a team player and should participate in all team related activities such as inpatients admission programs and discharge (HSC0003: Health care career paper, n.d.).
It is the duty of a registered nurse to interview patients, evaluate patients care plan, and document diagnosis. A registered nurse should also participate in research activities to help make the institution he/she is working in better. It is also the role of a registered nurse to provide safe and comfortable environment for patients. It is the duty of a registered nurse to monitor safety and effectiveness of equipment used during treatment.
The legislature recognizes nursing as a dynamic career and changes now and then to accommodate various care activities. A registered nurse has a right to dispense drugs as instructed by a surgeon or licensed physician. The nurse is not supposed to perform dispensing roles only, and they are not supposed to open a pharmacy or drugs shop. A registered nurse can administer any drugs or those related to hormones; this includes both self-administered drugs and injections. He/she can administer hormones only approved by federal Food and Drug Administration. It is only the licensed nurses that have proved to be competent through training and experience that are allowed to administer and dispense hormonal contraceptives.
The primary commitment of a registered nurse is the patient. The patient can be a member of the family, community or group. A registered nurse should work to protect and promote the rights of patients and enhance their safety. A registered nurse should offer optimum care to patients by observing accountability and delegating duties appropriately. The nurse should continually enhance his/her knowledge through professional growth to ensure that they maintain competence and provide quality services as required. They should observe integrity and ensure patients’ safety at all times. The nurse should work as a team with other health professionals and the public to promote community health. He/she should actively participate together with other members in expressing their thoughts and ideas on how to improve nursing values and maintain integrity in the nursing profession. A registered nurse should actively participate in making healthcare environment a better place. A registered nurse should provide healthcare services with dignity and without any discrimination. They should give equal treatment to patients regardless of the economic background, nature of the medical problem, or personal characteristics.
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Education/Registration/Certification
Just like any other professions, in the job world like accounting, engineering, teacher and much more, being a registered nurse also requires qualification proofs. Some of the requirements for this occupation include current license for registered nurses. The license is given to the nurse after internship where he/she has practiced and undertaken the professional practical. After a student completes the nursing course in college, they indulged into an internship where they are trained on the real activities of the profession. After completion of the internship and successful assessment, a license is granted. The license is offered together with the health certificate of which must be updated into the current year and the BLS card. These documents make one a qualified registered nurse and eligible to seek employment (“Registered nurse – RN,” n.d.). Medical practices are very sensitive activities. Therefore, the training institutions for this profession have to be the ones accredited and highly recommended by the health departments of various countries. Some of the institutions offering the registered nurse training and teachings include; medical training colleges accredited and certified by different states and countries, for example, Kenya Medical Training College, Association of American Medical Colleges and much more. These types of college offer medical training only, and no other courses are available. The other institutions offering this course are the universities. Many universities in the world have departments and faculties that deal with medical practices only. Faculty of medicine or as some universities may refer it as a school of medicine offers different medicinal and nursing practices (“Educational institutions,” n.d.). Examples of the universities are Toronto Faculty of Medicine and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine that is located in Philadelphia in the United States.
In order to complete the nursing program in the named institutions, one is required to study for four years in college and six years in the university. These class works include theory and lab practical which enhances the student to gain knowledge regarding the field (“Educational institutions,” n.d.). After the class and practical courses, nurses are indulged into a two-year program worth of internship. In the internship, nurses get to interact with the working environment which includes patients, doctors and other nurses.
The cost of the education in these institutions varies among the public and private students and also variations depend on whether a student is a resident and non-resident. For the public residents, the cost is 122128 and for the public nonresident students the cost is 214180. The costs for the private students are a little bit higher. For the private resident students, the cost is 198168 while that for private nonresidents is 199592. The costs represented above are for the Association of American Medical Colleges in the four-year course for the stated categories. The cost for studying the whole course in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine which goes for six years is 473,928 (Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, 2014).
Upon completing the four years course in the college, the student achieves a certificate in nursing and can decide whether to receive further education in the university or start working. If the graduate wants to further get the education, he/she can undertake a degree in a university that will take some more years, but on a private basis and acquire a degree. For the university students, upon completion of the six years either public or private, one acquires a degree in nursing.
Mostly for any professional body, it is required that the experts in those fields are registered, and certificates are issued to them in order to clarify for better services. American Nurses Association is one of the bodies that register nurses in order to verify their competency and diligence in work. In order to be registered as a nurse in these associations; one has to complete the supervised work in the hospitals and license granted upon completion (“What is nurse certification?,” n.d.). They should have completed their bachelors or the associate degree in nursing (ADN) and licensure done on the same.
Employment
Jobs in registered nursing are highly available. As compared to other occupations in the year 2012 out of 145,355.8 total employment opportunities, 2,711.5 were for registered nurses opportunities. It is projected that by 2022, registered nursing opportunities will increase to 3,238.4 while total job opportunities will increase to 15,628.0. This means job opportunities in registered nursing will increase by 19.4 percent. Job openings due to replacement of need, between the years 2012 to 2022 is estimated to be 1,052.6. This data relates to unregistered nurses who have attained a minimum of associate’s degree in the field (“Selected occupational projections data,” n.d.)
When compared to the United States, Florida is expected to have an increase of 23% while the United States of America is estimated to be 19% (“Employment trends by occupation,” n.d.). Jobs are advertised weekly in the Sunday Herald and other websites such as Employ Florida Marketplace. Approximately 70 registered nursing jobs are advertised locally per week.
When applying for a job as a nurse, working experience is not required but the nurses are required to have completed their internship program and license issued. However, some hospitals ask for at least one year experience which is regarded as an added advantage.
Salaries for the nurses are determined by an agreement between the nurse and the employer. Some are paid hourly while others may have monthly salaries. The average starting salary for a registered nurse in the USA is $45,040 while for the experienced averages to 94,720. The salary difference is determined by the level of education and experience in the job (“Registered nurse: Salary,” n.d.).
Advancement opportunities are open for the nurses who want to further receive their education. In order to cope with this and have updated knowledge in the nursing field, nurses are advised to add on to their knowledge. All the advancements may it be educational ones or not are encouraged so long as they are focused on improving the healthcare sector.
