Depending on the field in which a nurse chooses to work, there are innumerable duties that these professionals are responsible for. Nonetheless, the core duties and responsibilities are, in general, the same for all nurses. Here’s more.
In the medical profession, nursing jobs are hailed as one of the most reputed and renowned career choices for students. Nursing has evolved as a brilliant career option for medical students, thanks to the immense opportunities it offers to its aspirants. Although nursing duties are supposed to be restricted in the domains of working as assistants to doctors, the job responsibilities and duties of nurses entail many other activities.
Job Duties of a Nurse
There are many faces of the nursing profession. Nursing careers offer different sets of duties and responsibilities, and so every task requires specific skills and training. Nurses are at the helm of all patient care activities, and they are an integral part of hospital staff.
Nurture Patients
A nurse acts as a basic care provider, comforter, and healer for patients. They comfort patients and provide them emotional support in dealing with diseases. They are just like mothers, and a caring nurse has the potential to make a drastic difference in the health of a patient. Nurses must have an inherent sensitivity and knowledge to deal with issues related to the client’s health.
Spread Awareness
A nurse works as a teacher and guides patients in managing treatment processes and therapy related to the disease. A nurse promotes a healthy lifestyle and makes the patient aware about various steps that the patient must take to decrease the intensity of pain or the aftereffects of a disease. In short, nurses interpret medical knowledge to clients in a simple and lucid manner, so that the patient can comply with various changes he has to make in his lifestyle.
Counsel Patients
To promote physical health and ease tension of patients, nurses also act as counselors. They provide emotional, psychological, and intellectual support in matters related to dealing with diseases. As a part of their duties, nurses help candidates to develop a positive attitude towards disease so that with good emotional health, the patient can be treated easily. A nurse has to learn to be friends with the patients, and provide them love and care. Nurses encourage patients to develop a sense of achievement every time the patients are able to follow some dietary recommendations or exercise schedule. This keeps the patients motivated and they work for the betterment of their health.
Hospital Manager
Managing some activities in the hospital also forms a part of their duties. Senior nurses look after the hospital staff, and delegate responsibilities to various other nurses. Monitoring the health of all patients by taking reports from every nurse and addressing any of the patient’s problem to senior doctors timely is an essential duty of nurses. Overall, senior nurses act as a liaison between hospital management and various nurses. Effective utilization of various available resources in treating patients is another duty that they have to perform.
Salary Range of Nurses
Depending on the type of hospital and their work responsibilities, the salary varies significantly. More than that, salaries depend on work experience, educational qualifications, and working location of the city. The salaries of nurses can vary from USD 50,000 to USD 90,000 depending on various factors.
The career development path in the nursing field offers a steady growth opportunity. Since there is lot to learn, nurses who have very good work experience move on to become nurse managers or senior nurses in health care units, thereby commanding decent salaries. A lucrative career choice for students, nursing is now a popular choice among medical careers.
Many medical students also work as interns or on an hourly basis as nurses to learn the basics of professional set up in a hospital. The nurse duties, as we have seen in this article, requires certain personality traits like effective communication skills and a compassionate heart to understand a patient in trouble. Therefore, students must analyze their aptitude for this job and then only they should march forward to pursue this field successfully.