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During a recent visit to the hospital, I was privileged to observe, first-hand, the crucial role that nurses play in patient hospital care.

I accompanied a family member to the hospital for a neurosurgery procedure and was impressed by the multiple tasks performed by skilled registered nurses during admission, pre-operative preparation, surgery, post-operative recovery and on the neurosurgery hospital floor. My family member received excellent care due to compassionate, competent registered nurses.

It is no wonder that doctors depend so heavily upon nursing to play such a central role in each patient’s healing process.

In our case, nurses interviewed my family member to insure that all previous instructions had been followed prior to us arriving at the hospital. These instructions included not eating or drinking that day, not taking certain medications, not having open cuts or wounds, and not having a fever. After getting settled into the hospital bed, nurses inserted an intravenous line into the patient. This was important for introducing hydration fluids, medicines, anesthesia, and anything else the doctor or nurses required for the patient.

Nurses took the patient’s temperature, blood pressure and oxygen levels and accompanied the patient to pre-surgery at the required time, with a record of all pre-op procedures properly notated for the neurosurgeon and anesthesiologist. Nurses constantly interacted with the patient, explaining everything they were doing in preparation for surgery.

Surgical nurses helped prepare and sterilize the operating room. During the procedure, they passed surgical instruments to the surgeon, monitored the patient’s vital signs and assisted the surgeon in numerous other ways. Nurses monitored and guided the patient through the process of waking up from the anesthesia in post-operative recovery.

Back in the hospital room, my family member received round-the-clock care from both male and female nurses. They provided both oral and intravenous medication, along with the continuous hydrating fluids necessary for recovery. They also monitored diet, pain levels, mobility, vital signs, and supervised each time the patient left the bed.

Once it was time for my family member to go home, nurses explained the home care procedures, removed the intravenous apparatus, took vital signs again, and provided detailed written instructions to follow, along with necessary prescriptions.

We were amazed at the specialized skills of each nurse along the way. The neurosurgeon was brilliant in performing the surgery; however, the nursing staff freed him to do his job.

There is still a shortage of nurses in many hospitals across the nation.

Hopefully, men and women who are interested in this honorable profession will explore the varied job opportunities and specialties available in this field. Although the first one to two years of nursing study usually take place in traditional college classrooms or in medical facilities, online degree programs are available for bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing following the hands-on training component.

There are few professions that enable workers to daily save and preserve the lives of others.

Yet nursing is certainly one of them.

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