NRS 430 Topic 2 DQ 2 Describe ways to educate the general public on the professional nurse’s role and scope of nursing within a changing health care system

NRS 430 Topic 2 DQ 2 Describe ways to educate the general public on the professional nurse’s role and scope of nursing within a changing health care system

Topic 2 DQ 2

Apr 11-15, 2022

Describe how the nursing profession is viewed by the general public. Discuss factors that influence the public’s perception of nursing? Describe ways to educate the general public on the professional nurse’s role and scope of nursing within a changing health care system.

REPLY TO DISCUSSION

In your opinion, how has COVID changed the perception of nurses? There have been many ups and downs in the last 2 years in the perception that the public has of nurses.

In my opinion I have found working as a ER nurse throughout COVID that people and the general public are very thankful for nurses and their everyday work. I think COVID has opened the eye of the general public about what nurses do and what our day to day work is. I think people were able to see just how real COVID was based off of the news and information they learned throughout the COVID pandemic. I have found that overall people are grateful and I have even earned a couple of “front line worker” discounts in my day to take life which is pleasant. I think that COVID was a window for the public to see what its like to care for somebody that is ill or dying. I found that the public had a new appreciation for what we do.

Thank you for sharing your experience which honor the nurse. I believe that nurses rose to the occasion during a time of uncertainty.

In my opinion, COVID has changed the perception of nurses. There were many situations where nurses had to endure up to 24 hours of continuous work while the general public were not allowed to be in contact with the patient due to fear of transmission and death. Nurses contributed much more in caring for the sick compared to other professions. Some nurses remained at the hospital for several days to avoid spreading the virus to their family members. In many countries, nurses were considered essential front-line workers. Some were awarded for their dedicated services by higher authorities.

Thank you, Rose. Nurses did give of self, risked infecting self and family, but continued to work along side patients. Nurses are amazing peoples.

I think that COVID has increased the awareness of importance of nurses and health care in general. The impact the virus has had would have been so much worse if the healthcare system, including nurses, didn’t react the way we did. Being flexible, dedicated and simply showing up for our patients in a time of such uncertainty, while managing life in a pandemic, shows how strong and essential nurses are. One out of every 100 people in the United States is a nurse adding up to over 4 million nurses nation wide (American Nurses Association, 2022). Since nurses are so common in our communities, I think our friends, family and neighbors were able to see how the nurses role changed and became so important when visitations became minimal. Nurses because not only the eyes and ears for the doctors, but for the patient and their loved ones as well. Although I do think the community values and appreciates nurses a bit more due to the pandemic, I don’t think they understand the impact the pandemic had on nurses mentally, emotionally and physically.

American Nurses Association (2022). What is Nursing? 

Carly, you put into words exactly what I have been feeling. Yes, the public genuinely appreciates us as nurses but no, they really do not have a clue what the pandemic has done to us mentally and emotionally. I can remember getting a SOS call from another manager one night d/t multiple impending codes and not enough nurses to handle them! I spent I don’t know how many hours running from one code blue to another, consoling staff nurses and just feeling helpless. I will never forget that when I finally left the hospital that night, when I got to my car in the parking lot I looked back at the hospital and what I realized was how calm it looked from the outside. Our small community had no idea the chaos that was ensuing on the inside, and to be honest, a lot of them would not want to hear about it much less believe it.

I agree, you have a very valid point about how the pandemic has affected nurses mentally and emotionally and overall had a large effect on the mental wellness of nurses. Yes, the general public was able to see a small window into what we did every day and they had an appreciation for our work, but what they didn’t see was the hours on end in full isolation gear, working in understaffed environments, overtime shifts and seeing people in severe health states without their family support at the bedside to help give history and support for the patient, the walls lined with chairs to accommodate more patients than we had ever seen, a military tent outside that we worked in 85 degree weather in the day and 40 degree weather in the night, thats what the public didn’t see, and how that could have taken a toll on our mental wellbeing. Thank god for vaccinations, and thank you for all you do as a nurse.

Billie, I do believe the perception of nurses has changed since COVID. In my own experience, we went from being frontline heroes who go above and beyond, to something a tad different as the pandemic continued. I’ve heard it all, from “nurses are exaggerating the numbers” to “people really aren’t as sick as what is portrayed on the news”. My own experiences in the hospital were being questioned as “untruths” by people in my own community. My family on the other hand, saw what the pandemic was doing to me on a personal level so they completely understood. I will never understand how the public can go to supposedly “trusting” a group of professionals to questioning everything we do…of course everything “COVID” related.

Regardless of which side of the political fence one is on, the fact that COVID has become a political issue should never have happened. Many nurses are not experiencing PTSD due to what occurred during COVID.

I feel COVID has created a window into the world of what we do as nurses and the trauma we experience but in the eyes of healthcare professionals. The nurses can see a newsreel displaying an ICU full of covid patients or regular patients, and it doesn’t take a pandemic to know what we are seeing. I feel the publics’ ability to make an educated view on the same clip is greatly fogged by disinformation, the newfound confidence they got when they Googled the “real” information, and political identity.

We are in great turmoil with the general public, politics, media, and science, and it will take years to re-establish trust in medical science.

It’s hard on a personal level for all of us. I have a friend that refuses my knowledge, expertise, and experience as a nurse during covid. She doesn’t want the vaccine, fine, we all have our opinions and principles views, but she also goes out in public with no regard to protecting herself or others. I want to mention she had five people in her circle die from covid. At what point did we stop caring about our community, our neighbor, a little extra compassion for the person next to us? Why is it so hard these days to make a little sacrifice for the common good these days?

Our world is so openly divided now that the public’s perception post-pandemic will be even harder to sway in the right direction of healthcare and the nursing profession. Thank you for your post. You bring up quite a valid point…at what point did we, as a society, stop caring about our communities. I am not sure I have the answer for this. I do hope that someday, with God’s guidance, we can get back to caring for others.

In my opinion, the COVID-19 pandemic had a huge significance for everyone both within and outside the health section. It is one disease that leaves an indelible mark on the world especially the health care system.

The pandemic actually brought to light the hidden potentials of the nursing profession. Nurses who were once relegated and regarded as a subservient role with limited or no education in most part of the world became heros who responded by standing in the gap as frontliners for terribly sick and the dying.

The perception of those who had a first hand encounter with nurses at the peak of the pandemic gave the world a clearer view of what nursing really is. The stereotypical idea of nursing held for years changed over the course of the pandemic.

Nurses are now seen as life savers who abandon their loved ones to care for others. It is often said that nurses remain and continue to care for the sick when other health care workers leave.

The world was thrilled by the courage and bravery exhibited by healthcare workers particularly nurses. Most parts of the world showed their appreciation in varying ways at the peak of the pandemic and even now,

I believe the pandemic shaped the world in some ways and revealed the hidden potentials of the nursing professional.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

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I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

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Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource