Should nurses still be making beds, delivering trays, giving baths and doing bedpans? Or should these tasks be delegated to nursing assistants?
I'm in nursing school and I can see the value of these duties as opportunities for pt assessment, but the physical demands of these duties wear me out and at times lead the patient to see me as a servant. On days when I've had a nursing assistant to perform these duties I've enjoyed nursing and my workload felt managable.
What do you think? Should nurses duties be redefined?
I know that the techs are just as overburdened as I am sometimes. When we only have one tech, I do as much as I can to help out. If the tech has a lot to do, I'll take vital signs while I'm doing my assessments, bathe while a patient while he/she is on the commode, grab an blood sugar while I'm giving meds, etc. It's not only that I'm trying to help out the tech, but also I'm taking responsibility for my patients being clean and having updated vitals since it ultimately is MY responsibility. I'm on a rehab floor so it's not necessarily a lot of heavy lifting, but someone has to be with the patients pretty much any time they get of bed or use the bathroom. We all answer each other lights on my floor and try to help each other as much as we can. I think it's the best way to do it.
grentea
221 Posts
I know that the techs are just as overburdened as I am sometimes. When we only have one tech, I do as much as I can to help out. If the tech has a lot to do, I'll take vital signs while I'm doing my assessments, bathe while a patient while he/she is on the commode, grab an blood sugar while I'm giving meds, etc. It's not only that I'm trying to help out the tech, but also I'm taking responsibility for my patients being clean and having updated vitals since it ultimately is MY responsibility. I'm on a rehab floor so it's not necessarily a lot of heavy lifting, but someone has to be with the patients pretty much any time they get of bed or use the bathroom. We all answer each other lights on my floor and try to help each other as much as we can. I think it's the best way to do it.