NURSE PRACTICE ACT AND MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION

Nurse Practice Act and Medication Administration

Nurse Practice Act and Medication Administration

Introduction

The Scope of Practice defines your role as a nurse for the locality where you are presently practicing. This can vary from one state or province to another. If you are a travel nurse, or are moving to a new state, you need to read and familiarize yourself with the NPA and Scope of Practice for that state or province before you begin work.

Nurse Practice Act and Medication Administration

You may not use the excuse that you aren't familiar with your scope of practice as it is part of your role as a nurse to know and understand it. The NPA and scope of practice can be changed as education requirements change. Read your NPA often and stay abreast of changes in your state or province. Take note that just because you acquire a set of skills or knowledge base from experience or observation in the course of your job, it does not mean you may perform them without certain limitations. In addition to your NPA you also need to be familiar with your present job description and the rules of your facility.

For example, the NPA may state that RNs can give IV push medications, but if your facility says that all IV push medications are to be given only by a certain level RN or even a physician, then you are not allowed to give that medication if you don't meet the criteria set by the facility.

Nursing is as old as medicine, in spite of the fact that modern nursing began with Florence Nightingale in the middle 1800s. Nursing has always been aimed toward serving the health needs of people. However, as with medicine, nursing practice has been affected by the particular characteristics of society throughout its history and has transformed based upon the health needs and expectations of society. There is a serious dearth of nurses who are proficient in consulting, diagnosing and treating a patient.

Part of the problem is that basic nursing training is insufficient. Its weaknesses are that it is too theoretical and the program does not match the clinical skills that a nurse requires in primary health care surroundings. In addition, nursing students are also often used as nursing assistants on wards, carrying out chores instead of learning.

Nursing is an applied discipline that requires act, not just knowledge but exercise knowledge is a critical thinking skill. Nurses have an obligation to be proficient, and the care of the patient should be the nurse's primary duty. Nurses work in a wide variety of settings, filling numerous roles. They are bedside clinicians, nurse educators, nurse researchers, nurse managers, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners. The problems facing nursing administrators are compounded than before and of special interest are the clashing requirements of furnishing quality care with scarce resources. Decision making in nursing ought to be an interdisciplinary, inter-sartorial and multi-service approach. The Delphi technique enables communication, while eliminating confrontation or other disputes that ...