Nursing: A Leading Force for Change

Lemme share my essay entry for our Nurse's Day celebration. I have won? No. I'm not bitter. I have listened to the winning essays and I couldn't agree more that they are far better than mine. I just want to give this a chance to be read by many, that is if I have readers out there.

This year's theme. Photo courtesy of CNA

So, here it is.

The cliche change is the only constant thing in this world is very significant in the health care spectrum. And nurses, being the forefront of health care faces a lot of change. As technology advances and the lifestyle and trends develop, the types and severity of illnesses changes as well, making it an everyday challenge for the health care providers to cope up with the implementation of patient care.

Thus enters nursing research. Nursing research has improved and increased tremendously over the last few decades. Nursing researchers plays a major role in the development of how nurses adapt to this rapidly changing world. In this health care arena, researches such as the incidence of health care associated infections in different hospitals at different levels of care further improves nurses' awareness in infection control. Other researches such as improving the quality of life, promoting health and preventing illnesses, patient's safety, wound care and management, end-of-life care, and many other areas play a big impact on performing and implementing health care especially when those researches were applied into practice.

When it comes to innovation, nurses also plays a vital role. Being the forerunners and being always in the patient's bedside, nurses have tremendous appetite for inventions. From improvise splints to big nursing inventions such as the pedi-nebulizer, which acts a pacifier while delivers aerosol to the nostrils of a sick infant and makes every infant nebulization less hassle, and the Nurse's Joey, a 16-pocketed utility tool belt which was designed purposely for nurses in order to deliver and perform patient care, nurses were known to be inventors too. These inventions help not only for the patients and nurses but also for the other health care team members.

Nursing education doesn't stop when you graduated and finished your degree. There are also post graduate courses such as masteral's degree and doctoral's degree. Apart from that, nurses are required to attend seminars and workshops to further enhance their knowledge and skills in delivering health care. These lectures also plays an impact on nursing services, not just earning the required continuing medical education credit hours. And because nursing has a wide scope, nursing specialization is beneficial so that one can focus on the special area you are in.

Because there is nursing education, there should also be nursing educators. Their contribution in the health care arena should never be forgotten. They were the ones who instilled into the minds of the nurses today the importance of quality care to the patients, as well as the skills and knowledge that they have acquired through out their nursing education. They are one of the few people who are responsible for creating excellent, innovative, efficient, and effective nurses.

Without nursing administrators who helps and guides the nurses today, nursing would also be futile. They develop policies and guidelines in performing health care. They lead nurses towards innovation and towards change. They serve as a role model in the health care profession.

There is a nurse leader in every nurse. As situation arises, it's not just the charge nurse or the head nurse who plays the role of a leader. Leadership means making decision and performing it depending on what the situation calls for. Take for example the Filipina nurse Menchu Sanchez who lead doctors and her fellow nurses in transferring twenty sick NICU patients to other hospitals around the city when hurricane Sandy destroyed Langone Medical Center where she is working. When everything went blank, she didn't even thought that her family and her house is being submerged into deep waters, but thought about how they would save the lives of the sick newborns. She led the team using the hospital stairs and guided themselves with the lights of their cellphones. All infants were transferred safely to other hospitals. She was even mentioned in President Obama's state of the nation address, thanking and recognizing her for her great leadership.

Nurses as advocate for health works not alone, but with all the health care members. She works collaboratively and makes every treatment, recovery, and rehabilitation successful.

As we celebrate nurse'd day, we celebrate nurses too... Leading change and advancing health is not that difficult---that is, nurses' way.

Happy Nurses' Day!

Well, that's it. :)