Equipping a student nurse

[riki.db]

These three areas of learnings are the most important aspects for nurses. They are the chronicles of being a nurse: KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ATTITUDE. The first two are easily acquired through books, internet, teachers, and self. The third one makes these two challenging; it is also the hardest to restructure. Attitudes of a nurse are going to be put at the end of this work because they are harder to learn, needing more efforts and time from learners.

Quoting this famous line from a TV personality, "Knowledge is Power," will start the travel of a student towards becoming a real nurse. All endeavors, all professions need a specific area of interest or topic that they study. For example, doctors treat patients by studying medicine, lawyers study human behaviors and human laws to be able to defend their clients; actors need to learn to act to be effective performers. Same with nursing, the profession has a central core of study, the human caring. Unlike other professions though, nursing includes the totality (holistic theory) of the person in planning to collaborate care with the client.

The vague term caring and the extent of the nurse's responsibilities affect all aspects of the individual's being. Students need to study about human behavior, human responses to illness, physiologic and abnormal changes of the human body, every individual's unique mental health, client's individuality from others. A nurse must understand the effect of the environment to the client's health, a nurse must make sure that each individual receives proper care and treatment given by other health professionals; nurses have the responsibility to know what is happening to their clients in all facet of their being.

Having all the proper knowledge about these will affect the student's perception about just being a nurse. Nurses play a very important role in the society - their humanistic approach to every individual must be adept, respectful, and expert. It is the nurse's power actually, the knowledge that he/she could impart to the society. Health teaching as major part of the nurse's duties should be able to address the client's needs. Different theories must be learned by the student so that he/she will have his/her own pattern to apply these nursing knowledge to people.

To care for the society by profession is a very big responsibility to human and to God... this oath or study should not be taken for granted. Learn as much... know everything.

A skillful nurse is able to provide adequate care without hesitation. There is the sense of 'being acquainted' with what is going on and at the same time having the professional mind to act, as the situation requires. The nurse must provide care that does not harm the client, nor harm the nurse him/herself. The skills of decision-making, the skills for nursing procedures, and the skills of being a good nurse can be practiced as time goes by. It is not developed easily or 'in one sitting.'

A student may fail, make mistakes, or not able to comply with the basic structure of nursing care but these should not stop the student from learning... instead, the instructor must be an instrument for the student's development. Four years is not enough to learn everything a nurse should have so the student shall be reminded that learning about human caring takes time and it is not rushed... critical thinking is not based in 'rushing'... it may actually contribute to harming the client being cared for.

A student is not expected to be as skillful as a registered nurse does, but a student is expected to be ideally-driven to provide the best simple nursing care to their clients. Techniques in therapeutic communication and understanding the human behavior will be sharpen by experience. Students then should practice these theories-based and books-based nursing skills to provide care.

Attitude is molded throughout lifetime. It is sharpen by time, experience, parents' way of childrearing, interactions with people, friends and authority, etc. It is a complex innate part of humans and it is difficult to change if needed, and hard to break. A good nurse's attitude is always compassionate and empathetic, kindhearted, soft, firm and consistent depending on the situation, and most especially, understands own profession.

A good nurse can deliver all these good nurses' attitudes by starting to know oneself, especially the nurse's own limitations, beliefs, ethics, principles, and strengths. The student should prepare him/herself not only to study the society and individuals but also to learn as much about oneself. Providing an unbiased, holistic care can be facilitated by activities as self-awareness, self-improvements, and seminars for self-development.

A quality needed by the world today is an inspiration, a role model, a good person... a nurse must be all these. In dealing with humans, nurses having the proper dispositions and personality affect the overall relationship of the individual/society to the nurse.

:argue: