What Do Nurses Do? (LPN)

00:01 So what do nurses actually do? It seems like the public's perception of nursing is all about caregiving.

00:08 Now, I'm not saying that that's not important, because of course it is.

00:12 It's a big part of what we do.

00:14 But that's not all we do.

00:17 Thankfully, I feel like the image of nursing is evolving now more than ever, and mainly due to just how much nursing has been brought to the forefront of the public's attention.

00:27 First thing I want to say, as a nurse here is, "Hey, let's just get real for a second." We get bodily fluids on our scrubs, pretty much every shift.

00:38 Our feet hurt, our back ache for moving patients, we are mentally and emotionally exhausted from stress.

00:46 We take care of the very sick, complex patients that come into our hospitals and in our facilities.

00:53 We complete so many multiple tasks, we have to work with other parts of the healthcare team.

00:58 We address concerned family members, we deal with doctors, and guys just honestly, the list goes on and on.

01:06 So, are we tired? Yeah.

01:09 But does this still sound appealing to you? Well, I hope so because you're still here listening to me.

01:15 And if you are, you're in the right place.

01:18 Now to understand our role as a nurse, I've heard the expression that nurses are like iceberg, you only see part of what they do.

01:26 Now, when you see a nurse walk into a patient's room, they're usually doing a lot more than you think.

01:31 When we walk into a patient's room, we can figure out a lot just by what we call eyeballing our patients, or by visual inspection.

01:40 And when we enter into a patient's room, we can really see very quickly if they're breathing okay.

01:46 If the signs of good or bad circulation, we can even see if there's a neurological change or not.

01:53 And even depending on the treatment, sometimes due to our very sharp observation skills, we can even see that if that earlier treatment was effective or not.

02:03 Now I like to say that nursing is a team sport.

02:06 You don't work solo.

02:08 And if you are only about working by yourself, this is probably not the career for you.

02:14 Now, as a nurse, you work with a team of nurses day in and day out.

02:18 You work with doctors, physical therapists, mid-level providers, many other departments in your facility.

02:26 And this all needs to happen to take care for one single patient.

02:31 You as a nurse won't be writing the orders for the patients or doing it all your own.

02:36 But you are responsible for using those keen observation skills to assess, teach patients and families about necessary treatments, we have to notice important trends or changes.

02:51 We've also got to alert other members of the team of patient needs.

02:56 We have lots of treatments that we implement.

02:59 We give medications and promote safety in that and we implement and perform procedures and evaluate the effectiveness of care.

03:08 Not to mention promoting a safe environment emotionally and psycho-socially for the patient and coordinating care amongst others.

03:18 Now, remember that the LPN scope of practice in most states require that you will be working under the supervision of an RN during the shift.

03:30 Now many times as an LPN, you're going to be giving direct bedside care, reporting findings, and contributing to the overall plan of care with the RN.

03:40 Let's talk about now all the hats as a nurse that we wear, that can be anything such as coordinator, communicator, teacher, critical thinker, obviously a keen observer, a team player, we talked about that, and advocates very important, and not to mention emotional and psychosocial support for all of our patients.

04:05 Here's the important point, I just listed off a lot of responsibilities, and we often time wear these hats simultaneously to provide care for those who need it.

04:16 Now keep in mind, these are common roles as a nurse.

04:19 And you will need to familiarize yourself with the LPN scope of practice in your state, and identify what your duty is to fulfill these roles.

04:29 But let's discuss some of these roles now, shall we? Well, let's talk about being a coordinator.

04:35 You may have something to do with this, you may do this in your everyday life.

04:39 But as a nurse, during a nurse's day, we are caring for multiple patients at one time, this is pretty common.

04:45 Now as a coordinator, a nurse has to decide based on need and priority what patient issues has to be met first.

04:55 And also, sometimes we need another person to meet this need, and who is that best person? Maybe it's the physical therapist? maybe it's the doctor or maybe it's us as the nurse? Now we have to use our training to decide the safest and most effective route to take care of this patient.

05:14 Coordination of care could include anything from getting a patient to surgery, calling a doctor to obtain treatment for a patient, or even coordinating with other departments in the hospital.

05:27 It could be for something such as obtaining a scan of a patient's head, because we're worried about concern for stroke.

05:35 Now, when you are the nurse, you were the leader, and the closest to the patient who coordinates with all other departments.

05:43 So you can see where this is gonna get really complicated.

05:47 And as the coordinator, the patient's needs would not be addressed efficiently if it wasn't for someone coordinating.

05:55 So this could mean that they may not get a test or treatment that they needed on time.

06:02 So that was a lot of talk.

06:03 But let's talk about an example of how maybe we coordinate care.

06:07 So let's say our patient's going to surgery.

06:09 Now us as the nurse, we've got to make sure the patient's ready for surgery.

06:13 This takes coordination with the doctor, the patient themselves and the surgery department.

06:19 Sometimes we have to assess as a nurse, is it even safe for the patient to go to surgery? Or if we do feel like it's unsafe, such as maybe an abnormal lab, for example, that the patient has to go to surgery, is it safe for them or not? Or maybe the patient ate breakfast and was not supposed to eat after midnight before their procedure.

06:42 Now let's talk about another really important role as a nurse or a characteristic you might say.

06:48 So strong and assertive communication skills are sometimes necessary for patient care.

06:54 Now as nurses, we are trained in identifying what is important information that needs to be communicated to other healthcare team members.

07:04 Now, this could be physical therapy, or the doctor, for example.

07:08 And this is all important in order to keep the patients safe.

07:13 All of the above, of course, requires critical thinking on our part, is the problem needing to be addressed a priority? Is it safe for the patient to go to surgery, for example? Is this observation that I see with my patient normal or is it not? Do I need to call in for help, so a patient doesn't experience any other problems.

07:37 Now much of this requires a nurse's decision making to be accurate and timely.

07:43 This is why nursing school training is so hard.

07:48 We have lots of autonomous decisions to make regarding the patient's best interest and their safety.

07:55 Now, during a patient's treatment course, this can include multiple lab draws, procedures, treatments, medications with really uncomfortable side effects, not to mention the lack of sleep, the noise, and just general discomfort, and sometimes bad news that the patient may experience during their hospitalization.

08:19 Now without nurses to advocate for them, patients would be alone in navigating a very scary and a confusing time.

08:28 Now, advocacy of a patient can also include not only what we just mentioned, but providing accurate and important education to the client.

08:38 This teaching role helps the client to understand why compliance and maybe the medication we just started, the treatment, the procedure is important to improve their overall illness.

08:51 And without it, research has shown the patients have poor outcomes and even readmit back to the hospital more quickly if we don't advocate and provide quality education for them.

09:04 Now do to have all of the multiple demands on being a nurse.

09:08 Being a team player with those who you work alongside is absolutely vital.

09:15 We've got to learn to play well with others just like the school playground and support each other.

09:21 And many times do more than is asked, do more than is asked of you to ensure patient safety and treatment is done.

09:29 This is not to mention just to simply create a better working environment with your peers.

09:35 Now think back when you had to do a school project or any project with multiple people.

09:39 And if that one person didn't pull their weight or fulfill their role, this can create so much more work, stress and just chaos among the team.

09:50 Now, let's talk about that caregiver role briefly.

09:54 As a nurse, you may be with patients during their absolute worst time and less maybe you work In the OB department and help bring babies in the world.

10:04 But most likely, you may be taking care of those who've had a stroke, a heart attack, complications from their disease processes, or just someone who suddenly ended up in the hospital and they weren't expecting it.

10:17 This could be patients who are sick, scared, and sometimes even those who pass on.

10:23 Now, this is really hard on you as a nurse, and it's hard on the family.

10:27 But remember, as a nurse, we're the rock to help guide the family or patient during a really difficult time.

10:34 We're the emotional and psychological support of those who we're responsible for.

10:39 We as a nurse, identify safety issues, workflow problems, and use our voice to say, "Hey, we can do this better." We also use our voice to change facility policies and improve patient outcomes.

10:53 And these roles are just a glimpse of what nurses really do.

10:57 And you can imagine how difficult it can be at times and why nurses get so burnout simultaneously wearing different hats and caring for multiple patients.

11:07 But it is a rewarding and fulfilling career if this is for you.

11:12 And just remember one of the advantages of nursing is there are so many options out there for you to explore and find your home.