Although the nurse job description is heavily dependent on their specialty, level of training and work setting, there are some commonalities. Below, we’ll take a closer look at the general scope of practice for most RNs who provide direct patient care within hospitals, doctor’s offices and similar settings.
Patient Evaluation
When a patient goes to a primary care office or an emergency room, a nurse is one of the first points of contact. At this stage, the nurse’s primary responsibility is to perform a thorough evaluation of the patient.
This typically starts with asking for the patient’s medical history. The nurse reviews any available patient records and asks about recent changes in medications, supplements and diagnoses. If the patient has previously been diagnosed with a long-term medical condition, the nurse may ask if there have been any changes to that condition.
The nurse also asks about the patient’s current symptoms. Patients may neglect to disclose symptoms that they believe are insignificant or unrelated to a current complaint. For example, a patient experiencing panic attacks may fail to report digestive upset. A nurse needs to ask whether the patient is experiencing other possibly relevant symptoms.
Another crucial aspect of patient evaluation is physical examination. In family care offices, the physician is usually the one to perform routine physical examinations. However, in ER and urgent care settings, nurses often do light examinations that vary with the patient’s condition. For instance, if a patient has a rash, the nurse may need to examine only the affected part of the skin.
Diagnostic Testing
Diagnostic procedures are specialized tests to check for health problems. Examples include lab tests on samples of blood, body tissue or urine. Diagnostic tests are important in order to confirm a diagnosis.
There are many varieties of diagnostic tests, both invasive and noninvasive. Invasive testing involves the puncturing of the skin, as in the case of biopsies, blood samples and colonoscopies. Noninvasive testing does not puncture the skin and includes X-rays and MRI procedures.
Diagnostic testing is one major part of a nurse’s job description. Nurses may recommend specific diagnostic tests as appropriate to a patient’s symptoms. For instance, if a patient is suspected of having strep throat, a nurse may swab the patient’s throat and send the swab to the lab. If that test comes back negative, the nurse may then need to test the patient for mononucleosis, which can mimic the symptoms of strep throat.
Medication Management
Some nurses assist with medication management, which includes making sure people take their medications correctly. They protect their patients from incorrect medication consumption, which can cause adverse effects. An organized medication system is important for each patient’s health and well-being.
Medication management services are used primarily in senior communities and assisted-living environments. Some potential benefits of these services include:2
- Improved patient use and administration of all medications
- Improved percentage of patients meeting their healthcare goals
- Reduced side effects, drug interaction and duplication
- Decreased medical costs and emergency room visits due to incorrect dosing or neglecting to take prescribed medications
Nurses must be extremely careful to double-check all prescribed medications and their dosages to avoid medication errors. This is particularly important when two medications used for different medical purposes have similar names.
A nurse’s prescribing authority depends on where they practice and their level of training. RNs are only legally allowed to dispense medications in 16 states. In contrast, some APRNs (NPs and CNMs) can dispense medications in all 50 states.3
Patient Education
Patient education is the process of informing and motivating patients’ behaviors. This includes working toward effective changes in patients’ knowledge and attitudes to improve their long-term health status. The information incorporated into patient education includes patient conditions, available treatments and options offered through healthcare systems.
Patient education is often a major part of a nursing professional’s job. Nurses can help patients understand their diagnoses, treatment options and discharge recommendations. When working with hospitalized patients, nurses can help patients and their family caregivers understand how to complete their recovery at home. Nurses may also need to demonstrate how to care for wounds and explain how to take medications properly at home.
