Intro: I interviewed my aunt Nancy who was a Nurse Practitioner (NP) for Sutter Health Roseville Medical Center.
1. What are some of the common public goals you and other nurses work toward?
A. Nurses advocate on behalf of the patient
B. Nurses promote health both psychologically and physically
C. Nurses seek to be a role model In what way? “Nurses seek to be a good role models in health” They practice what they preach.
2. How effective are you in personally impacting these goals?
“I feel that I make an impact simply by doing my job the best way i know how, and in the end, saving lives gives me any satisfaction I could ask for”
3. As you well know, good intercommunication is necessary for about any profession out there. What are the different ways that information is exchanged, and how crucial is good communication in nursing?
The most common ways: email, text, and IM.
Very popular ways used by large groups: Webinars and Teleconferences.
“From personal experience, the most easy and fast way to get ahold of people is by IM and email”
4. More importantly, what kinds of information are being exchanged?
Nurses exchange lots of information: best practices in nursing, changes in patient response to treatment and intervention, constant evaluation, hemodynamic patient statuses.
Also, nurses must encrypt any messages containing patient information.
5. In a related question, what are the forums that nurses use to communicate? Where do nurses collaborate with each other?
Like above, forums include email, IM, Webinars, and Teleconferences. Other places nurses can get feedback is through meetings, lunch time, and blogs.
6. What are some of the texts and or genres that nurses use in their profession? When I ask about genre, I am referring to any sort of text such as an email, a book, or even a handwritten document written by a nurse or doctor.
Nurses use charts, database programs, kiosks, white boards, and electronic learning modules, which are courses for nurses to learn about certain areas of expertise.
7. Now for the nerdy part, could you give me a few examples of terminology you would use as a nurse within your profession?
Hemodynamic-relating to the the dynamics in blood flow pressure
Walkie-Talkie patients vs Total-Care patients- relating to patients who can walk and talk vs patients who are totally helpless
Severity of Illness-relating to how sick a patient is and the severity of the ailment
(ranked from minor-major)
ROM aka Risk of Mortality-relating to how much risk there is for a patient to die
ROM is determined by nurses and doctors while accessing age, health, type of care needed, and other diseases
Co-Morbidity-relating to any additional sickness that is not causing the patient’s signs and symptoms at the moment
8. Besides yourself of course, could you name for me anybody that you would consider an expert in the field of nursing? Is there anyone that nurses consult when there is a question about something?
Nurses are held accountable to Patients, Peers, Nurse Managers, and Physicians. Thus, it is important to consult an expert every now and then.
Clinical nurse specialists are specialists in a particular field. This expert comes from the fact that there is too much for 1 person to know about nursing and