6 comments to my peers – Nursing Leadership and Interprofessional Collaboration
I need to post 6 comments to my peers. Responses to peers or faculty should be 150 min words and include one reference and citation. All sources are to be from 2019-2023
Comment 1:
The differene in practice competencies for LPNs, RNs, and APRNs are the skills and knowledge that each level of nursing requires. LPNs focus on direct patient care tasks and providing essential care. RNs have a wider scope. They deal with different kinds of patient care and integrate critical thinking, care planning, and leadership. APRNs posses advanced skills and clinical judgment. APRNs have higher decision-making abilities and do what doctors do such as prescribe and diagnose.
The Standard 12 of the nursing standards of practice highlights the nurse’s part in education. This includes patient, family, and community education. Professional growth through lifelong learning ensures nurses maintain competence. It is important to learn new skills and stay updated and adapt to evolving healthcare. Continuing education, specialty certifications, and academic achievements will enhance nurse’ abilities to fulfill the performace expectations mentioned in the standards. This will ultimately result in better patient outcomes.
Comment 2:
Nursing in general is a lifelong learning experience. Liscense Practical Nurse or LPN is a one-year vocational degree. LPN must work directly under a Registered Nurse. Registered Nurses can either be ADN (a two-year degree) or a BSN (4 year degree). Advanced Practice Registered Nurse refers to a nurse who has education and experience beyond basic nurse education. They have at least a master’s degree and provide direct patient care, this would include nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetist, certified nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialist. There are 5 standards of practice for an RN. These standards are assessment, diagnosis, outcomes, identification, planning and implementation. The higher the education and experience obtained the better these standards can be implemented.
Social media is everywhere and is the way most people stay in contact with each other. Nurses are allowed to use social media but must be aware of the content that they use. A social media post must never provide direct or indirect information that may possibly identify a patient. This would be a violation of patient privacy and a HIPPA violation.
According to the American Nursing Association’s Code of Ethics, Professional Accountability is defined as being answerable to oneself and others for one’s own actions. Nursing is voted one of the most trusted professions. In order to maintain this trust we must be accountable for our practice, work environment, and patient safety (Davis,2017).
Comment 3:
LPNs, RNs and APRNs all have differing scopes of practice and varying roles. While some roles of the LPN and RN can be utilized interchangeably (I’ve worked as an LPN where it could be filled by RN or LPN and we worked as equals in that role), RNs typically work with more critical patients. In fact, it’s reported that hospitals employ over two thirds of the RN population, according to Flaubert, et al., (2021). LPNs provide focused assessments, take vital signs, administer medications (with some limitations per state/institution policy), reinforce education, etc. LPNs are typically deligated to, by RNs and licensed independent practitioners (LIPs). LPNs can also delegate to CNA’s, CMAs and other unlicensed support staff. RNs have a more broad scope of practice, where they provide the comprehensive assessment, initial education to the patient, and beyond. APRNs are graduate level trained RNs, which include nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), midwives (CNM), nurse practitioner (NP), and certified nurse specialist (CNS), (ANA, 2015). These APRNs have the ability to operate with no regulatory oversight, diagnose patients, see over their care, and write presciptions, just to name a few (ANA, 2015).
According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), Standard 12 of the Standards of Practice refers to the nurse and their responsibility in continuing education (2015). There are so many different options when it comes to continuing education as a nurse. There are advancement in degrees, educational conventions, and certifications. According to Nurse.org “An RN certification is an optional and voluntary specialty nursing certification that a nurse can achieve independently and that represents a standard beyond minimum licensure” (2024). There are so many different certifications that you can add as supplementation to your RN license . I would say, one of the most well known certifications is the Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN), but there is dozens of other options out there found on Nurse.org’s (2024) website.
Comment 4:
Professional accountability as a RN, in my opinion, is one of the top core values that should be maintained by all RNs. I strive to maintain accountability in all aspects of my life, not just in my career.
According to the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses (2015) it states: “Nurses bear primary responsibility for the nursing care that their patients and clients receive and are accountable for their own practice.” If I had been in these nurses’ positions, I would have said to Nurse Jim that we will need to have the medicine returned to the medication dispenser and that I would investigate the chart further in order to determine how to best proceed. This is how I would be able to hold myself most accountable and responsible, as well as Nurse Jim, by returning medications he was not able to pass during his own shift. Handing off medications in this manner has a high risk of leading to medication errors regardless if they were unopened, as that proved true for Nurse Lope. In fact, research has shown that 80% of of serious medical errors are caused by miscommunication among providers during patient handoff. (GRG 2021) While it is possible there were other circumstances involved in this specific scenario that we do not fully know about (i.e. a very busy day on the unit, patient was off the unit for a period of time, etc.), the ultimate goal is to keep patients SAFE, and that simply was not done in this scenario.
Furthermore, given that these medications were showing to be three hours late, I would have done a hard stop to look into factors such as what the medications were, what they are being taken for, how many times per day they get the medication, and if there are any other assessments or pertinent information needed prior to administering them. Based on the information found, I may then have considered the necessity of getting further direction from the provider. In addition, not having a medication scan properly is a major HARD STOP and should never have been passed to the patient in the first place. It is also stated in the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses (2015) that “Systems and technologies that assist in clinical practice are adjunct to, not replacements for, the nurses knowledge and skill.”
If I were a RN manager, I would certainly be looking into both sides to determine what transpired during Nurse Jim’s shift and what led to the delay in medication administration, as well as Nurse Lope’s side to determine what steps she took that led to the medication error. I would then have listened to their feedback on how they felt about the situation, review ways to avoid these errors in the future, and/or determine if there would need to be any corrective action taken.
Comment 5:
Accountability or a willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions — is a cornerstone of nursing. According to the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, nurses are both “accountable and responsible for the quality of their practice.”
Professional accountability is a commitment , in which, I think, Nurse Jim and Lope both failed. While doing bedside hand-off report, Nurse Lope should have opened the EMR, checking all the medications to be given and the last administered time, then should have agreed to the plan. That’s what I would do . Nurse Lope failed to perform 5 “rights” of medications use: the right patient, the right drug, the right time, the right dose, and the right route.
If the barcode of the medication was not scanning for Mr. Johnson’s chart, it means Nurse Lope did override. The idea behind the override option is that the nursing staff should only use it in urgent or emergency situations. Wrong medication administration could cause harmful results – life threatening situation or even death.
If I were the nurse manager overseeing Nurse Jim and Lope, I would ask Nurse Jim if he completed all the assignments for the day or I would check the patient’s chart to make sure Nurse Jim finished the work list. As for Nurse Lope, I would remind her about professional accountability and double checking the EMR before consenting to Nurse Jim’s plan.
Comment 6:
Within the healthcare field, nurses of different levels have a role in providing care to patients, each having their own specific areas of expertise and skills. LPNs primarily concentrate on fundamental nursing duties, including the administration of medication and the monitoring of vital signs, while working under the guidance and oversight of a supervisor. Registered Nurses (RNs) possess a wider range of responsibilities, including doing assessments, formulating care plans, and organizing patient care (Prentice, 2020). Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) have extensive clinical expertise that enables them to independently diagnose, treat, and oversee patients in their specialized positions.
In Standard 12, nurses have a crucial responsibility to guarantee ongoing professional growth through active participation in lifetime learning. It is their responsibility to gain new knowledge, skills, and competencies that are relevant to their profession. Nurses engage in collaboration with their colleagues, mentors, and educational institutions to remain informed about the latest best practices and innovations in healthcare.
Professional development is essential in the field of nursing since it improves competence and the overall quality of care provided. Nurses promote the development of critical thinking, leadership, and innovative skills, enabling nurses to effectively tackle complex situations (Brunt & Morris, 2019). Investing in professional development ultimately enhances the level of nursing practice, guaranteeing that nurses provide optimal care and continue to be highly useful members of the healthcare team.
Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers
Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.
Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS
Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?
Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.
We write plagiarism Free Content
Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.
Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.
