Confidence Levels of Nurses Before and After an Emergency Department Reform - Paper Example

The aim of this research was to ascertain the confidence levels of nurses before and after an Emergency Department reform. The hospital where this reform was being conducted was Kanta-Hame Central Hospital. The human being is an emotional being. It is very normal to experience emotions such as doubt and nervousness particularly in the Emergency Department where the life of the patient lies in your hand. Such a situation is bound to attract some tension even to the most qualified and professional nurses.

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The method employed by this research was continuous practical sessions in the new Emergency Department. The education was meant to improve the transition skills for the nurses as well as enhance their knowledge of new instruments and medical technology. In this training, the nurses were obliged to come up with lists of skills and measures useful in the Emergency Department. The compiled lists were then handed over to the physicians for evaluation and assessment. The doctors, in turn, developed a questionnaire to estimate establish whether the nurses needed the medical education or not. The questionnaires were handed to the nurses, and each was asked to answer it with the utmost honesty.

The findings of the research confirmed that there was an improvement in the professional skills of the nurses upon taking these classes. However, some classes proved more beneficial than others, and they were eight out of fifteen. The eight classes were:

Urinary catheterizations

Cardiac patients

Patient monitoring

Cannulation

Equipment

Triage and nurse practicing

Infection risk

Psychiatric patients

The conclusion of the study was that continues medical education for the nurses improved their professional skills significantly.

Cost-effectiveness of patient education for the prevention of falls in hospital: the economic evaluation from a randomized controlled trial.

In the hospital setting, falls are the most common accidents among the elderly seeking recovery. Aged inpatients need to have a nurse assigned to them for their beck and call. The usual movement of older patients admitted to the hospital poses a major risk for fall. Falls, especially for the elderly, can be fatal. Such falls can result in both immediate and long-term effects. These results attract extra charges and extended stay at the hospital. In worst case scenarios, these falls can be life threatening. However, most trials in effect to this have not been put into a practical shape. This study seeks to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these tests and preventive measures.

The method used to assess these tests were taken from the perspective of the hospital management as they were responsible for implementing the same. One way to achieve this was having a patient education concerning the same by trained professionals. The patients were to be taken step by step through the entire process of reducing if not preventing such falls. The results obtained from the study indicated that a single fall from a patient could attract a short-term cost of up to 14, 591 Australian dollars. On the other hand, an education program was estimated to cost approximately 526 Australian dollars. The conclusions of the research showed that the program was worth the cost for the hospital management. In return, the patients would save a lot on costs that would have otherwise been incurred during the fall.

E-Learning education program for registered nurses: the experience of a teaching medical center.

Nursing is a demanding career. Once in the nursing field, nurses rarely have time for themselves, let alone professional medical classes. The nurses work a lot of hours and under a lot of pressure especially those in the Emergency Departments. A single case of negligence could prove to be fatal, and for this reason, nurses should always be on their toes. With all these going on for them, it makes it almost impossible to attend classes to further their skills. It is for this reason that E-learning comes in handy where the nurses can learn online at the comfort of their homes without the need of being physically present in classes and seminars.

Valuable information is shared on an online forum and can be accessed by just about any nurse interested in the same. E-Leaning education program for registered nurses is the way to improve the professional skills of nurses without interfering with their ever busy schedules. The research was conducted in a teaching medical center in Taipei. The facility had the capacity of 776 beds and provided professional registered nurses who could be used as participants. The study was conducted in three stages namely: planning, implementation, and evaluation. The participants were 42 nurses who were on voluntary terms. The nurses were assigned to either classroom based learning or online learning randomly. Data was then collected, recorded and analyzed.

The research findings were that online learning was as effective as classroom learning and the nurses displayed a 97.6% satisfaction rate.

Simulation-based medical teaching and learning

To simulate something is to make an artificial representation of the real thing. Simulation is mostly used to educate and offer practical knowledge to students. When it comes to medicine, simulation is the process through which aides are used to imitating clinical setting for teaching purposes of medical students. Medical simulation is a rather new teaching technique and has not been put much into practice. It is a rather effective teaching and learning technique because it gives medical students a chance to put into practice the theoretic information taught in class.

Perhaps one of the most frightening thing about medical practice is experimenting with human beings. Students feel nervous testing their skills on the human specimen, and this kind of tension is likely to lead them into making mistakes. Furthermore, real patients tend to avoid interns as they dont want to be experimented on. There are those patients who cannot be handled or consulted by an intern for fear of making mistakes. On the other hand, medical students become so self-cautious around real patients that they fear to practice even when they are right. Medical simulation is the answer to this tension. Research has shown that medical simulation has been known to increase medical competence as well as boost the confidence levels of the medical trainees. Other advantages include improving patient safety.

The significant limitation about medical simulation is that it is an expensive teaching method. To replicate an exact medical scenario is not only expensive but also time-consuming. Another disadvantage is that the simulation may not be accurate as the desired therapeutic scenario and end up misleading the medical students.

Simulation-based learning in nurse education: the systematic review.

The following study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation-based education on nursing students. The report included quantitative evidence using manikins to study nursing as compared to other teaching techniques. The practice of nursing has had many methods of teaching and learning over the years. However, simulation-based learning is the most recent method. The aim of simulation-based learning is to equip the student with the ability to repeat and consolidate the skills learned in class without fear or tension. When it comes to nursing, simulation-based learning is active as it helps improve four key areas:

Assistance that is tailored to the students needs.

Improved technical proficiency through practice.

Within context learning.

Incorporation of emotional appeal to learning.

The methods used to come up with this research project was through a systematic search of similar quantitative studies that were conducted over a period of 10 years between 1999 and 2009. These quantitative studies sought to establish the effectiveness of simulation method as compared to other teaching and learning methods. The design adopted by this study was quantitative and used randomized controlled trials. The 12 studies compiled in this research showed that this method reported improvement in knowledge and skills among the nurses. Through this technique, student nurses were able to improve their critical thinking ability and confidence at the same time. The conclusive findings of the research were that when the best practices were adhered to, and guidelines followed, evidence shows that medium and HFS through the use of manikins is adequate and efficient.

The importance of Nurses in the Medical Field.

Although much credit is given to the doctors, the nurses role in delivering health care services are too significant to be overlooked or downplayed. Nurses do more than just implement the physicians order and administration of medicine. There is a common misconception that nurses are doctors personal assistants who are not only wrong and misguided but also demeaning to the noble professions. Their roles are imperative, and they are the hospital staff that spends most of the time with the patients and provides round the clock care ensuring everything is running fine as well as assessing the health status of the patient in response the care plan offered. There are a couple of recommendations for the future of nursing and this a personal reflection on how I see myself fitting in the same.

Increasing the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80% by 2020 (Recommendation 4) will increase the number of specialized nursing respectively. The field of nursing has many options and specialization based on preference and interest. With a baccalaureate degree in nursing, my options range are certified dialysis nurse, legal nurse consultant, nurse midwife, nurse anesthetist, nurse care manager, nurse educator, among others. In the current job growth trends in the field of nursing, certified dialysis nurse has recorded the fastest growth rate of up to 26% by the year 2022. It is also the best paying nursing specialty with an annual salary of 63,500 dollars. Following closely is legal nurse consultant who clocks an average of 62,100 dollars annually. It also has a growth rate of 26%. However, my area of interest in nursing is baby delivery, and thus nurse midwife would be my specialty of choice. Baby delivery is by far the fascinating thing in a hospital. It is a process characterized by mixed feelings. It is almost the only time where a person can experience pain and joy simultaneously.

References

Cant, R. P., & Cooper, S. J. (2010). Simulationbased learning in nurse education: systematic review. Journal of advanced nursing, 66(1), 3-15.

Chang, W. Y., Sheen, S. T. H., Chang, P. C., & Lee, P. H. (2008). Developing an e-learning education programme for staff nurses: Processes and outcomes. Nurse Education Today, 28(7), 822-828

Haines, T. P., Hill, A. M., Hill, K. D., Brauer, S. G., Hoffmann, T., Etherton-Beer, C., & McPhail, S. M. (2013). Cost effectiveness of patient education for the prevention of falls in hospital: economic evaluation from a randomized controlled trial. BMC medicine, 11(1), 1.

Hollenbach, P. M. (2016). Simulation and its effect on anxiety in baccalaureate nursing students. Nursing Education Perspectives, 37(1), 45-47.Palomaki, E., Innamaa, T., Perttu, M., Lehto, P., & Palomaki, A. (2013). Improvement in self-reported confidence in nurses professional skills in the emergency department. Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 21(1), 1.

Tamang (Thanju), S. (2009). Integration of Knowledge and Practice of Nurses Primary Health Care Roles in Hospital. Journal of Nepal Health Research Council, 6(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jnhrc.v6i2.2216