Elective in the US

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Hi,

I am a male 2nd year nursing student in England and in the Spring of 2007 i am required to find a placement anywhere in the world in any field that i am interested in.

I presonally would love to come and study these few weeks in America, preferablly in Texas! I was wondering if anyone on here could let me know what nursing is like in the US. I had read on another forum that you have to gain the doctors consent to carry out the most basic nursing care; is this true? Also, is there much paperwork involved? What is the nurse's role?

Any help/guidance would be greatly appriciated.

Goose

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU (Cardiothoracic).

Check out the international nursing forum......

To answer a few of your questions:

1. No, you don't have to have an order to perform duties that are in the RN's basic care areas, such as hygiene, teaching, etc. Now the MD does order special diets, meds, procedures,test, etc, that the RN carries out. Depending on the area/unit you are working in, some MD's allow more autonomy to the nurses. A lot of units, especially ER's and Cardiac units have "care pathways" in which the MD's orders are "prewritten" eg...a pt comes into the ED with abdominal pain, so the nurse grabs the "CP", which tells him to start an IV, hang this fluid, order these tests etc etc...all before the MD sees the pt. Paperwork is going to suck up a lot of your time as a nurse no matter where you work. Most hospitals are using computer charting that interfaces with monitors, so it saves time. The nurse's role is spelled out in each state's nurse practice act. Check out Texas' state board of nursing for their NPA. Most nurses (RN) role includes assessing, teaching, collecting samples for lab studies, administering drugs, performing (allowed) procedures, eg catheterization, dressing changes, analyzing rhythm strips, assisting in code situations, managing ventilators, suctioning, administering o2/resp tx, etc. This by no means covers it all. I hope this helps!

Stevern21

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Thanks Stevern21, that was a really helpful insight into nursing in the US!

I will definately check out the NPA of the Texas' state board of nursing.

Thanks again

Goose

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