Introduction
A nurse is described in layman language as a person who takes care of people in need. In a more detailed definition, nurses are described by Stone (1) as:
“men and women who are responsible (along with other health care professionals) for the treatment, safety and recovery of acutely or chronically ill or injured people, health maintenance of the healthy, and treatment of life-threatening emergencies in a wide range of health care settings”.
This analysis will be the main philosophy of this study.
As the definition puts it, nurses have a big role to play in people’s lives and the community at large. Nursing as a profession will enable me to have an impact on people I come into contact with since it is my passion to help others. Nurses work in conjunction with other professionals such as physicians, nutritionists, policy makers, patients and their families as teams (Scribd 4). Such powerful teams (in the sense that each member gives valuable contribution) work together with local communities with a sole aim of promoting health and also alleviate health problems as well as the factors that lead to the development of such problems (Stone 1). As a nurse, I will be focused on doing the same since this is what is expected of me by the society. I can accomplish this and much more of what is expected of me in a number of ways.
Nutrition
Firstly, from the nature of my profession, it would be my goal to work with families as well as individuals in helping them make wise decisions regarding their food choices. Most people are not keen on what they eat; hence they end up suffering from certain health problems such as diabetes, cardiac complications, and stress among others. The valuable information I would give them would ensure they have good eating habits and this will go a long way to save their lives.
Living Conditions
With regards to living conditions, I will also put an extra effort to initiate, as well as help improve the standards of living of the community. This is majorly important because the environment t where people dwell should be safe and clean for all to enjoy good health. For instance, unsafe water can cause diseases or even death to people. Using my nursing skills, I will ensure chlorination and fluoridation projects for drinking water are undertaken as a water treatment method by the local authorities, since it is their responsibility to the community to ensure safe drinking water is available for all.
Workplace Safety
Workplaces often pose hazards and risks to people. These include, poor ventilation, lack of proper drainage systems, and dust among others. Such risks can be detrimental to people’s health and therefore as a nurse, I will make sure safety measures are taken to ensure working conditions are improved. In addition, I will ensure necessary workplace changes are done by the relevant authorities to improve the workplace environment for the good of all.
Postnatal Care
Another core area I will look into is assisting young and first time mothers know more about child health. In most cases, new mothers have little or no knowledge on health issues concerning their newborns. Some of these issues include proper feeding and handling of infants. I will organize meetings and have a forum where I can get to know their concerns and offer them basic information needed to bring up a healthy baby. I can also offer some essential services such as immunization and check on their infant health progress from time to time. Another valuable piece of information I can give them in my capacity as a nurse, is how to take care of themselves as mothers since they need to be healthy and strong in order to take care of their young ones.
Other people who would largely benefit from my skills as a nurse would be families taking care of people suffering from terminal illnesses such as cancer, leukemia, epilepsy among others. Such families require help in caring for their loved ones as well as advice on how to deal with negative health developments in the absence of a nurse or a physician. I can make home visits to those who seek my help and deliver such services to ensure the sick at homes are well taken care of.
Women’s’ Health
Women’s health is also important in my career as a nurse and therefore I can start an initiative to organize clinics for women who need my help. The aim of these clinics would be to conduct a wellness program, by means of giving free information, advice, as well as conducting check ups relating to both general and sexual health. This is important since women will benefit from my advice on family planning. They will also benefit from sexual and health tests that I’ll do to help them identify certain conditions much earlier in order to control them (some conditions such as breast and cervical cancer can be fatal if not detected early) (Scribd 1). An example of such a test is pap smear that screens for cervical cancer and helps women with positive results to take immediate action hence saving lives.
Conclusion
The nursing profession is very important to society since the wellness of the society is its main principal goal. As a nurse I can have a great impact on other people by working with professionals such as physicians to promote public health. Also, other activities such as, involvement in community projects such as water fluorination as well as giving valuable advise and timely tests for diagnosis are greatly beneficial to the members of the community.These among other activities earlier mentioned serve to emphasize that as a nurse, my impact will be positive and beneficial to all members of the society.
References
Scribd. Roles of the Community Health Nurse. 2010. Web.
Stone, josh. Importance of Nurses: Health care CommunityNurses. 2011. Web.