Nursing Writing Services - Blog

-Nurse Student Companion-

Are  employers  missing  the  boat  on  nursing  benefits?

Are employers missing the boat on nursing benefits?

Research shows that hospitals with a satisfying work environment and nurse staffing give better nurse outcomes. The nurses report less job dissatisfaction, burnout and intention to leave a job.

A study on employer-provided benefits shows that they play an essential role in achieving nursing satisfaction. They are also a necessary part of the compensation that nurses receive, and most of them are happy about it. However, a significant number of nurses do not have complete satisfaction with the benefits it receives because they feel that their employer does not ask about their interest and some of the things they offer does not make nurses happier.

Wage contributes much to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction depending on whether the nurses feel that the amount of pay they receive is enough. Salary also has much influence on an intention to leave but does not change burnout. Work environment and patient to nurse ratio have a considerable effect on nurse satisfaction and patient outcome. Wage is essential to making nurses, but some employers do not know that it does not mean everything to nurses. The pay that nurse receives still does not diminish a significant influence of the staffing and work environment.

Are  For-Profit  Nursing  Schools  a  Good  Choice?

Are For-Profit Nursing Schools a Good Choice?

For-profit nursing schools are those without any funding by state or another agency. They are in the business of offering education and provide offer nursing training to make a profit.

There are many for-profit colleges around the world exceptionally most developed countries such as the United States. Some have a wide range of degree choices, but some focus on specific fields within nursing.

Most of the programs are customized for the working class that needs the flexibility to balance their career responsibilities and earning a degree mostly online without minimal on-campus interaction. Some of these for-profit nursing schools might not have a campus. They provide everything online except administration and testing. Most of the private nursing colleges use the claim of providing programs that enable students to earn their degrees in less time. They can fulfill the promise, but it comes at a higher cost.

A challenge for many students is that some for-profit nursing schools are expensive and the cost of pursuing a course might be expensive than studying at some four-year universities. It is essential to consider some factors before selecting a for-profit nursing school even if it offers accredited degrees in a shorter period because the approach to education might be different from what you require.

These are the factors that potential students should consider when comparing for and non-profit nursing schools and also side by side with other private institutions offering similar programs.

 difference  between  progressive  care  and  intensive  care

What’s the difference between progressive care and intensive care?

Hospitals admit patients who require critical care in regular or intensive care units. Both units serve critically ill patients who need special care, but they are different in these ways;

Progressive Care

Hospitals might use progressive care for varying purposes in different facilities, but most utilize it as an intermediary step between an ICU and a medical/surgery floor. The patients in this still need a high level of specialist nursing surveillance and care although they are more stable than the patients who require critical care. They receive care in a specialized facility called the progressive care unit. Others refer to it as step-down, transitional, intermediate care or telemetry unit. PCU is a unit specializing in treating surgical and medical patients who are in a condition that is too complex for attention at regular hospital floors but not serious to warrant admission at intensive care unit.

The nurse to patient ratio at PCU is higher than in ICU standing anywhere from 1-3 to 1-5 patients which is still lower than a med.sug unit. Some hospitals offer general progressive care, but others have more focus on specific conditions such as cardiac care. PCU patients receive treatment for various pulmonary and cardiac problems. It includes the patients who have begun taking potent drug regimens requiring monitoring. Other patients who are likely to need progressive care are those with:

1.Stroke

2.Defibrillators

3.Myocardial infractions

4.New pacemakers

The nursing care that PCU patients require is more than what they can get at general nursing units. For a reason for more attention, PCU personnel must work in close-knit environments with more support staff that those in general care units. PCU has an additional nursing staff including nursing assistants, unit clerks and patient care technicians. Progressive care in different hospitals might vary. Some of the progressive care units offer specialized help with a design that focuses on caring for a specific segment of patients like those with respiratory or cardiac problems.

Others have a design to eclectic focusing on care for a wide assortment of patients.

The name of a PCU might also vary in certain hospitals. Some hospitals might call them by other names like intermediate care unit. The units might also vary in size. Some hospitals might have 12 or fewer beds while others have up to 30 beds. Patients receiving progressive care get extra nursing care for their medical conditions and close monitoring but not for the same level of intensity of patients in ICU. The health status of the patient in PCU often is improved to the extent that the patients under close monitoring can start eating, stand and probably move around.

Intensive Care

This type of care as the name indicates is for the patient who requires the highest level of care that stabilizes the condition. Patients receive intensive care in an intensive care unit (ICU), a special facility in a hospital or other healthcare facility to serve the extremely ill. People also refer to ICU by these other names.

  • Intensive treatment unit
  • Critical care unit (CCU)
  • Intensive therapy unit (ITU)

A patient admitted in an intensive care unit requires constant monitoring. The monitoring involves the use of specialized equipment that might include cardiac monitoring, mechanical ventilation and multiple IV lines.

ICU patients are unstable and might be relying on a range of equipment such as artificial ventilators for patients who cannot breathe and most of the machines beep or set off an alarm to alert staff if the condition of a patient changes. There might be much medical staff in ICU, but each patient is likely to have a dedicated specialist nurse to check any life support systems and other equipment regularly. The patients in the unit cannot feed without help. Most rely on several tubes for input of nutrients or fluid while others remove fluids out of the body.

ICUs usually have a large care team that might not provide care at the same time, but each of them provides service that complements the care beach professional to save the life of the patient and enable healing. The specialists who make up the team of an ICU team include:

  • Physicians
  • Nurses
  • Patients care, technicians
  • Physical therapists
  • Pharmacists
  • Dieticians
  • Respiratory therapists
  • Critical care coordinators

Since the patients at ICU are in critical condition, the nurse to patient ratio is low with most hospitals assigning one nurse to one or two patients only. They work in shifts to offer round the clock monitoring.

Both progressive and critical care requires a team that offers extra care and surveillance. The intense care in these units is responsible recovery from life-threatening illnesses and injuries.

How  to  Perform  IV  Insertion  on  Very  Fragile  Veins

How to Perform IV Insertion on Very Fragile Veins

IV insertion is inserting a needle into a peripheral vein to administer fluids, medications or blood. IV allows venous access also to enable sampling of blood, parenteral nutrition and chemotherapy.

A nurse must be ready for challenges that occur during IV insertion and build skills to overcome them. One of the difficulties that they encounter is patients with moderate to severe fragile veins. Some patients also have thin, dry skins complicating insertion further and increasing the risk of injury as well as susceptibility to infection. Many instances will require IV insertion and the patient trusts you as the nurse to insert without complications. Nurses should develop tips and strategies to insert an I.V device without causing harm to the patient.

1.Apply only minimal friction

Avoid applying too much friction as you prepare the skin if it fragile due to factors such as age. Too much friction on a sensitive skin might damage the surface tissues and put them at more risk of bacterial infection.

2.Avoid tourniquet much as possible

Do not use a tourniquet to facilitate IV insertion in a patient with very fragile veins unless it is vital. It is essential to be careful when handling older patients because many of them have dilated veins and tourniquet in such instances should be out of the picture. Choose light material tourniquet if it is necessary to use it. Apply it lightly but remove son after you notice some backflow of blood in a cannula. Improper use of a tourniquet on a patient with very fragile veins may cause venous "blow," skin damage and formation of a hematoma.

3.Use the smallest size of catheter available

The type of therapy that a patient should receive determines the gauge of a catheter to use for IV insertion. Nonetheless, health practitioners should choose the smallest size available to prevent possible damage in patients with fragile veins. The standard practice for IV therapy is that patients with delicate veins according to infusion nurses society should only get gauge 22 or 24. A catheter that is too large for vessel lumen can cause irritation as well as mechanical phlebitis and possible thrombus formation.

4.Insert the catheter slowly

Inserting an IV device for patients of all ages should be slow and steady. There should be no rush when inserting. You should use a bevel-up approach to slowly insert the needle on top of a vein to ensure that it stays stabilized. Try to keep it almost flat with a patient’s skin or at an angle of 20 to 30 degrees. Start by penetrating the vein with a single short stroke then slowly advance the needle and cannula. It is essential to begin by determining the proper needle-skin angle to use and provide good skin traction for stabilizing the vein before you proceed to IV insertion. You should from here use a bevel-up approach by slowly inserting a needle on top of a vein making an angle that is almost flat with the skin especially for dilated veins that are visible through the skin surface. You should take your time to insert to avoid causing more damage and harm to the veins.

5.Use a paper type tape to secure the catheter.

Dry skins can get unnecessary damage if you use silk or plastic adhesives for securing the IV catheter. Paper-type tapes are the best method to maintain IV safe insertion for patients with unstable veins and sensitive types of skin. Use an adhesive solution to simplify the process of removing the adhesive with ease and without causing more damage to the skin.

Some factors can make a vein to be too fragile to pass an IV catheter. Aging, use of illicit drugs, long-term use of particular prescription drugs, heredity and exposure to UV rays are among the factors that cause fragility in a vein.

It is impossible to change the state of a vein immediately hence the need to use the above strategies to make it simpler to perform IV insertion. A long time measure is to educate the patient on how to improve the condition over time. Patients can reduce and prevent veins from becoming fragile by these ways;

  • Avoid excessive exposure to the sun
  • Use moisturizers
  • Eat a balanced diet with much protein
  • Take an adequate amount of fluids

Practice and learning how to perform IV insertion on very fragile veins simplifies nursing work .it also reduces discomfort and risk of infection to the patients.

How  to  Deal  with  Non-Compliant  Patients

How to Deal with Non-Compliant Patients

The term non-compliant patient refers to someone who does not take medicine according to prescription or fails to follow the prescribed course of treatment. The failure to comply can sometimes occur because the patient refuses to adhere to instruction by a healthcare provider.

It is difficult to deal with non-compliant patients due to the frustration of trying to help someone who has no concern about the effort and danger of failing to take medication according to prescriptions. Those who are not careful can lose their professionalism and rationality making it even harder to convince a patient on the need of compliance. An individual who is non-compliant feels more powerful and in control of the verbal interaction if the caregiver becomes emotional.

1.How to Deal With Non-Compliant Patients

The first thing by a professional who is dealing with a non-compliant patient is to make the person understand the dangers of deviating from instructions by a medic. It is a bonus to make the person comply. These approaches guide professionals to deal with non-compliance.

2.Determine the reason for non-compliance

It is simpler to find a solution for a patient has a reason for failing to comply than someone who is adamant. Nursing is a resourceful profession and the training together with experience can yield to alternative solutions.

Here are the frequency reasons for failing to comply with medical instructions that enable a nurse to determine if a non-compliant patient requires help or is just stubborn.

  • Failing to get proper education and does not understand the medical issue and risks that might occur after failing to comply
  • A condition in the patient like a mental condition or hearing disability that causes misunderstandings
  • A patient does not have the money or insurance to pay for recommended tests, medications and treatments
  • A patient thinks that treatment is uncomfortable, painful, embarrassing or a cultural taboo.
  • Forgetting

Other patients will stretch patience because they fail to comply deliberately and are unlikely to meet for these additional reasons:

  • A habit of stubbornness without care for explanations that medical staff provide
  • Lack of faith or trust in the health care facility, diagnosis and treatment.

After determining the reason for non-compliance, these steps will help to manage the patient especially when failure to comply was a stubborn action.

3.Maintain rationality

It is essential to stay rational because losing your cool will cause a power struggle that does not guarantee a win by persuading the patient to change. An increase in frustration and irrationality by a professional makes the non-compliant patient more stubborn.

4.Explain the directive

Sometimes it might be wrong to assume that a patient knows the meaning of medical instruction. It might be that the person does not understand and deserves the benefit of a doubt by clarifying the importance of a medical directive.

5.Place responsibility at the rightful place

The responsibility for refusing to comply with medical directions should lie with the patient, and a caregiver should not agree to shoulder the burden. For instance, a patient can insist on knowing the ways that a nurse can use to cause compliance. It is essential to inform him that there is no action to enforce submission but explain the medical consequences of failing to take medications or treatment and then he will carry the blame for the inaction.

6.Set reasonable limits

Some non-compliant patients want to test the ceiling to see if the healthcare provider will budge and change the original instructions on medication and treatment. Setting reasonable limits and consequences is essential. The person will think that nothing will happen if he limits are unreasonable. You should be ready to enforce some results when setting the boundaries. The action could be something simple like telling the patients to leave the room, or you get help to remove them if they are not going to comply with treatment or medication recommendations. Enforcing the limits makes it simple to manage such persons in future because they know you will take action if they are unreasonable.

Charting and documenting when dealing with a non-compliant patient is very crucial because it will provide evidence if there is a future inquiry about a failure to complete treatment. It feels great when those who know how to deal with non-compliant patients succeed in changing their attitudes. However, it should not be a reason for self-blame when patients choose not to comply after an explanation on the need to change their stubbornness.

Chat on WhatsApp?

Trustpilot