Essay Example on Nursing: Defining and Expounding Its Vital Role in Healthcare

Introduction

So integral is the role of nursing in the healthcare arena that it is impossible to design, implement, or monitor any element of change management without their direct input. To understand the vital role played by nurses, especially in taking care of the older members of society, it is important to not only define but also effectively expound the role of nursing as it applies within the confinements of healthcare. Nursing is defined differently from one discussion arena to the next. Even within the healthcare arena, there are different definitions that have been attached to nursing and the foundational role presented therein (Maas, 2001). Although there are different definitions attached to nursing, there are common definitive terms that can be traced to the myriad of definitions. These definitive elements form the backdrop though which a universal definition is painted. Nursing may be defined as a profession or unique line of responsibilities within the healthcare arena focused on improving the quality of life through ensuring in individuals, families, and even communities are catered for in light of attaining, recovering and maintaining optimum health (Taylor, 2005). In caring for the older members of the society, nurses are set apart from other professional healthcare providers by the scope of their practice, their unique approach to training and patient and community care, and their interaction with different entities within the community setting.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The nursing responsibility

Unlike other practitioners within the healthcare arena, nurses are tasked with attending to individuals, groups, families, and communities who are well as well as those who fall sick. The role of nurses is presented in their responsibilities in promoting health, caring for the ill, dying, and disabled people, and preventing illness. The nursing responsibility outdoes any other in medical practice due to the unique tasks and roles assigned to nurses in light of advocating for safe environments, create and participate in health system management, and be at the forefront with regards to shaping up, implementing, and monitoring policies within the healthcare arena.

Medical needs in the older members of society

Compared to young people, older members of the society present unique medical and related challenges to nurses and have unique health needs. In an environment of excellent healthcare and caregiving, the interaction between nurses and old people is one of the most conspicuous qualities to be observed (Hooker, 2016). Traditionally, most primary healthcare systems are not designed with investments on the unique health needs presented by older people. Such investments should not only focus on identifying, but also approaching and investigating the unique needs of older people effectively. The nursing profession bears the brunt in ensuring that excellence in dealing with older people is established and constantly improved over the course of time (Buseck, 2015). Although there are numerous differences and variations presented in the unique medical and related needs from older people, the nursing profession is equipped with the necessary training and related investments to effectively research, recommend action, institute policies, monitor the policies, and create a system of feedback to constantly better the various systems designed to address health needs of older people.

Need for robust tools and techniques in measuring the health of older people

Measuring the health of older people is at the heart of improving healthcare systems to engage and excellently carter for the unique needs presented by older people. Unlike young people, most health systems have not been designed with in-built robust tools and techniques designed to measure or research older people (Resnick, 2004). In light of this, young people continue to enjoy wellness and robust health for longer periods while the older section of society continues to suffer in both the short and the long terms. In developing a tool to address the unique health needs presented in older people, it is important to begin by working with the old people and what they perceive to be excellence in health status. Healthcare systems have tools and techniques which have been primarily designed to defined excellent health status for people in varying age brackets. Such tools and techniques are the backgrounds through which medical practitioners define and approach health status for the varied age brackets within the community setting. For instance, the tools and techniques may be employed in not only defining the excellence in the health status of children aged below the age of five but may also work as one of the guides in administering a vaccine within a specific area or even designing a health intervention to deal with a new or existing health need. In the case of older people within the society, such tools and techniques may be existent, but they are hardly robust in their nature and functionality (Ellis & Hartley, 2019). Due to this, efforts geared towards addressing the unique needs presented by the older section on of the community become challenging to effectively identify, approach, address, monitor, report, and constantly make improvements on. One of the measures that can be taken by nursing to address this challenge is creating an environment where the wellbeing of older members in societies is matched to their functional ability. People within different classifications of the older members of society have varied levels of functional ability.

Need to identify unique functionality needs in older members of the society

Traditionally, most - if not all - tools and techniques created to define and monitor health statuses for older members of societies generalize the various age brackets and treat them in a uniform way. However, excellence demands that the unique wellbeing and functional abilities presented in different members within the same age bracket should not only be identified but also employed as grounds for creating interventions that match the unique needs and address them effectively in both the short and the long terms. Nurses should lead to creating policies and programs aimed at constantly measuring care programs and supporting functional and health abilities in different members of the older age bracket. Evidence-based nursing and minority groups in older members of society

In addressing the unique needs presented by older members, nurses should strive to develop health and care support and services that not only target the minority and those left behind but also respond to evidence. Nurses represent one of the groups within the healthcare arena that is extensively involved in research and related activities. Findings from the research, especially those focusing on the older members of society are the foundation on which excellent health interventions are created and constantly improved.

Nursing interactions and practice

One of the unique attributes of the nurse is that; they are strategically tasked with not only working out of the traditional hospital or health institution environment, but also inside the health institutions such as hospitals, clinics, and related institutions (Boykin & Nursing, 2001). Due to this, nurses have primary and firsthand information and experience birthed from interacting with patients within and outside the hospital environment. The wealth of information obtained by nurses in the various interactions they engage in represents the main tool through which they formulate, monitor, and constantly improve policies governing the provision of healthcare services and related support. For the challenges being faced by older members of the community, nurses are tasked with utilizing the information and experience they possess in coming up with health interventions that are custom made to address these needs.

Needs and preferences of older people

Improving the healthcare services and support offered to older members of the society not only demands that medical practitioners take into account the preferences and needs of older people as well as recognizing that older people have a unique and diverse range of preferences and needs (Boykin & Nursing, 2001). It is unfair for health systems to be designed in ways that allow for the unique and diverse needs of young people to be identified without having similar investments for older people. Nurses represent one of the unique and well-equipped groups of medical practitioners who are not only able to interact with older members of the society in learning about their needs, but also in creating an environment where their preferences can be effectively brought out and researched. Through understanding the needs and preferences of older members within the society, nurses create a backdrop on which they can effectively paint out policies that will be tailor-made to address the unique needs and preferences presented in older members of different communities.

Universal health coverage and income insecurity in older members

Universal Health Coverage and income insecurity represent some of the most important issues to address in light of dealing with the challenges faced by older members of society. For nurses, the challenges birthed from income insecurity and universal health coverage as it applies to the older members of the society not only limits their ability to provide excellent healthcare services and support within healthcare institutions but also outside the framework of hospital and health institution functionality. Compared to any other age bracket, the older members within societies are some of the most affected by income insecurity and universal health coverage (Ball, Hannah, Newbold, & Douglas, 2017). Through their training and interactions, nurses represent some of the best-placed group of medical practitioners to address the challenges birthed from income insecurity and universal health coverage being faced by the older members of society (Miller, 2015). Therefore, in creating policies and provisions to ensure excellence for the health services and support being provided to older members in society, nurses should focus on ensuring that health services and support provided to people in this age bracket are not only affordable but also accessible. Here, accessibility should take into account the mobility and functionality challenges being faced by older members within the community setting.

Integrated, personal-centered, and follow up in dealing in healthcare

The nature of needs presented in older people is effectively addressed through creating and constantly developing health care systems and support that are not only integrated but also founded on person-centered healthcare. Traditionally, health care systems have been designed to function through focusing on the immediate impact attached to health challenges being faced by older members of the society (Brown, 2014). Nurses should be tasked with ensuring that a holistic approach is created and instituted in addressing the challenges birthed from providing care to the older members within the societal setting. Additionally, there should be policies and investments in place to ensure follow-up services are provided to the older members to maintain high levels of excellence in both the short and the long terms. Without creating and instituting policies that address the unique health challenges being faced by the older members of the society, it is futile to address the challenges birthed from income insecurity and universal health coverage. Additionally, nurses bear the greatest responsibility in ensuring health care systems and support are strengthened and constantly developed in light of becoming more person-centered and integrated. This is because they have an attac...