What's the general role of a nurse?

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I am planning to apply to university to do nursing. I applyed last year but failed to get in as I had to research more the role of a nurse. I now have that much information on the role but would like to ask "What you think the general role of a nurse is"?

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

advocate for the patient; carry out MD orders (always with advocacy in mind); continue to learn so that ---- see #1

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To put it simple........the nurse is the air traffic controller for their patient.

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Specializes in Hem/Onc, LTC, AL, Homecare, Mgmt, Psych.

go to the library and get your hands on some books about nursing. research is key. but if you want my opinion,

"nursing is giving of yourself to support others through their process of illness and healing"

a while ago, i read that above description of nursing on a post and it has been stuck in my head since that day.

here: https://allnurses.com/community-spotlight/daytonite-provides-expert-227031.html

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Specializes in VA-BC, CRNI.

The chief patient advocate and leader of the interdisciplinary healthcare team to achieve the patient's health goals in a hollistic manner through the lifespan in an evidence based manner.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Hang on just a minute there!

Why isn't anyone mentioning anything about the intellectual aspects of nursing? We ARE NOT task-oriented handmaidens, driven to sacrifice our lives in the service of others.... We are highly educated, very well trained knowledge workers. We apply our knowledge of physiology, psychology, physics, math, etc... to continously analyze and treat (YES - we DO) human response to illness. True, some of the work is collaborative and/or interdependent, but nursing actions are always based upon independent judgement.

GAH

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Specializes in Nursing Education.
Hang on just a minute there!

Why isn't anyone mentioning anything about the intellectual aspects of nursing? We ARE NOT task-oriented handmaidens, driven to sacrifice our lives in the service of others.... We are highly educated, very well trained knowledge workers. We apply our knowledge of physiology, psychology, physics, math, etc... to continously analyze and treat (YES - we DO) human response to illness. True, some of the work is collaborative and/or interdependent, but nursing actions are always based upon independent judgement.

Amen! Maybe this question/discussion is a great example of the misunderstandings an stereotypes surrounding the nursing profession. And until we as nurses can all agree on what we do, we will never be able to defend ourselves from gradually losing our role to other, perhaps less-trained, personnel.

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For a realistic look at the nursing profession from an outsider's point of view, I would highly recommend reading Nursing Against the Odds. It really helped me learn about the field and helped to explain and dispel most of the stereotypes of nursing, as well as taking an honest look at the challenges and awesome parts of the job.

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