THINGS A BEGINNER MUST KNOW

When a young girl enters the nursing institution for the first time she has no idea what is in store for her. It is all an unknown territory. And the ignorance produces in her the uncertain fear an anxiety. What will happen now? How will she go through the period she is required to stay to get the necessary education? From the overall security of her family to an environment which expects her to be held responsible for all her actions all the time is a big jump and not everybody is strong enough to brave it successfully without anybody’s help.

As the beginner would find out, each good institute treats the beginner in the most appropriate way so that she has the least amount of difficulty in the most appropriate why so that she has the least amount of difficulty in adapting herself to the regular, strict routine of the institute.

In May cases, the senior students of the institute lend a helping hand and the transition becomes very easy. With the help of the seniors, the beginner knows where she stands and how and in what direction she must proceed to be able to take to routine successfully.

A NURSE HAS A UNIQUE PLACE INI SOCIETY

We have gone into some of the basic aspects of nursing and what goes into the making of a nurse. However; what can we say in terms of the functions that a nurse has to perform/ A nurse has a unique functions without which society. For she perform? A nurse has a unique place in society. For she perform some unique functions without which society would be a much painful place. While noting down some of the quotations at the beginning of this chapter we have already found out that the nurse’s uniqueness lies in her ability to help and support the patient in all those activities which would eventually result in his/her complete recovery. Nursing another basic function lies in the same direction – it helps and supports the patient in all those activities which help him face his imminent death with helps and supports the patient in all those activities which would eventually make him/her completely free of her.

The nurse, however, is no magician. Neither is she a specialist in any one branch of medicine, surgery or therapy. If she is a specialist it is only in her ability to care for those who need to be card – the sick, the suffering.

What are those activities which eventually work out to be beneficial to the patient and towards which the nurse’s care must be geared to the fullest? When we come down to it, these activities have none of the glamour of exclusivity. They are all normal, ordinary activities. What a nurse does to help the patient is make conditions in which he can perform the following activities without any help or support or if help and support is needed it is maintained at the minimum level.

THE COLLEGE OF NURSING

Once the candidate has been successful in getting admission to the college or school of nursing, her first encounter may be with the administration section of the institute. In this section of the institute, she may find a number of personnel looking after matters closely connected with what is going to be studied.

The head of the school may be in charge of both the administration as well as the actual teaching in the institute. This arrangement has the advantage of the same person taking decision on both the counts and so is able to maintain a kind of equilibrium which is beneficial to every one connected with the institute.

In some institute, the functions of the course director and the person looking after the general administration are divided between two persons. In this case, both will have to work in close collaboration with each other to bring out best results.

BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES

A nurse deals with human beings, specially the ailments they suffer in their body and mental make-up (which has close relation to what happens in the body). It is thus extremely important that she has a fairly accurate knowledge of the human body and the functions of all its organs and parts. She must also know how a certain part reacts in a given circumstances. All this is taught to her through the science of anatomy and physiology. This knowledge makes it possible for her to be a nurse since through it she can be familiar with what ails her patient. She can also use the knowledge to make it possible to keep her free from any disease or other things which can be detrimental to her career as a nurse.

Good wholesome and nutritious food is important not only to keep oneself healthy it also helps to bring oneself back from illness and into the healthy life one was leading earlier. Each one of us require a minimum of certain vitamins, minerals and proteins needed for a healthy, trouble free life. Since food is the single most important medium through which our body takes in the substances needed by our bodies, it is important that what we eat must be rich enough in these substances to give our bodies all that we need. Dietetics is an important subject taught to the student nurse to let her be familiar with all the relevant aspects of food and nutrition. She guides not only the health of her patient, but also her patient’s family as well as her own health. Thus dietetics is an important subject taught as part of her training.

HEALTH TIPS - WHO CAN BE ADMITTED

Whatever kind of institution the college/school is there are certain minimum requirements which each of them adhere to. These include;

In general admission to such institutes is open only to Indian citizens. In case there is a foreigner she will be government transfer. Such a student may also come as a recipient of scholarship. The minimum age requirement is 17 years. Nobody can be admitted if she is below this age. The upper age limit is concerned more with courses which are minor in nature. For example, a woman of 30 years or more is not likely to be admitted to a course leading to a B.Sc. (Nursing) degree. But such a person will be greatly welcome if the course is such which leads to the license of midwifery. One has to take into consideration this entire criterion, before finding out whether or not she fulfills the age requirement of a specific course. In many courses of study, it is preferred that the candidate be unmarried. If such a thing is not possible then it is imperative that the woman should be without any children at the time of admission and should remain so during the full duration of the course. This is strictly adhered to in case of exhaustive courses, requiring more than full days work in the course of training.

THE MAIN DEPARTEMENTS IN A HOSPITAL

The main purpose of a hospital is to look after the patient. All the departments that a hospital has are geared to the achievement of that purpose. It is however true that a bigger hospital would have more number of departments than those found in a smaller hospital. Taking into consideration the average size of an average hospital in an average city, following departments are bound to be found.

Any school or college of nursing will have either of the following two alternatives. It may be attached to a general (normally public) hospital where trainee nurses are able to get first hand, on the spot training-experience. Normally in such cases, the nurse is paid a stipend for the work they do in the hospital as part of their training.

It may be an independent college/school, giving full time training to the nurses. In such a case, the institute whether it is a school or college is affiliated to a reasonably big hospital where the trainee nurses are taken periodically for practical training by their exposure to first hand, on the spot experience of work. In such cases, fees are charged from student nurses all the expenses incurred in their being taken to the hospital are borne out by the student. We will take up this aspect again in another section.

WHAT IS TAUGHT IN THE COLLEGE OF NURSING

Any college or school of nursing of repute will by necessity be connected to some university or some such authority so that the degrees it awards have the value of a university degree or something equivalent to it. These institutes also go in for centralized teaching in which extensive teaching is resorted to on the lines of professional institutes of the country.

Assist the student to become a professional who is committed to the promotion of health, prevention of disease and care and rehabilitation of the sick. Provide a training which is an ideal mix of all the knowledge understanding and skills taken together from all the relevant fields of learning.

Let us see what a typical course in nursing, leading to a degree (B.Sc Hone) has to offer. It is a four year course, run by the College of Nursing. The college was established in 1946 under the name of college of Nursing was renamed College of Nursing in 1947. The course leading to a degree of B.Sc. (Hons) Nursing is of four year duration. The college is a distinct but internal unit of the University.

THE MODERN NURSE

To find her answer, the nurse will do well to remember what we have already found out. That is the patient needs care not only for his physical well being. His whole world gets affected the world which has important parts belonging to his mental, spiritual, cultural, social aspects of his life. All these must be cared for. Only then can the nurse hope to achieve her goal of full recovery of her charge. Also, apart from looking after the health of the individual, the nurse has also to look after the needs (health) of the society she is serving. Looking after the community health as well as the handicapped mentally and physically is part of her job.

As with any profession dealing directly with members of a society, nursing must evolve and improve and grow with every additional stage of development that the society reaches. It is thus that in the Present day (setting) nurses are essential members of health care teams together with member of other professions, including physicians and surgeons, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, porters, ambulance men, and voluntary workers. These are needed as a team because in the modern context what patients need is total care which a nurse cannot give all by herself. She must get and take the help of all the relevant specialists. And that is possible only when they work as a team the health team.

WHERE CAN THE HOSPITAL BE LOCATED

Where a hospital is located depends on many factors. Foremost among them would be the over all appearance of the hospital. It most looks good enough to be a hospital. Such hospitals are built outside the city so that the city pollution in the form of noise smoke etc. does not touch them. However, such hospitals should not be so far away that the patient finds it almost impossible to reach it. The primary purpose of any hospital is to look after the patient. It should never be too far away from the patient pollution or no pollution.

If it becomes imperative that the hospital has to be located at the heart of the city where the pollution is at its maximum, the way is found in the form of multistoreyed buildings. It is a fact that any kind of pollution reaches only a certain level of height after which it is not there. Pollution has the tendency to cling to the earth. Skyscraper hospitals can escape them and still provide the desired medical service to society. This was not so always.

Health Tips - The Therapies

In the treatment of diseases which have non-physical origins, various types of theratpies are available which do excellent work as far as curing the patient is concerned. These therapies seldom use medicines. What they use is games, talks, et c., and with the study of the behavior of the patient in the course of these activities, are able to evolve the ways in the course of these activities are able to evolve the ways in which the patient is brought to his normal healthy self. The work done in various therapies looks experience the nurse would be able to appreciate the knowledge and years of work that has gone into the expertise of a therapist, with whom the nurse works.

After having gone through all these departments, the nurse could call herself the nurse who has the basic knowledge of all the relevant sciences, has developed the necessary nursing skills is qualified and experienced enough to teach other student nurses, and is a competent social worker. However if she thinks that she has trained enough and that there is nothing more to learn, she is highly mistaken. Nursing like all human profession is an everlasting profession, requiring continuous training and experience dealing with human lives and human life in itself is so varied that nobody can master it in a lifetime.