Emergency nursing deals with a wide range of responsibilities due to the diverse number of patients with unique illness. This profession tends to be dynamic because one is required to make every patient comfortable and well taken care of. One of the key responsibilities to many nurses is having a sense of humor, which helps in lightening the tension between the nurse and the patient. Thus, this paper will examine and analyze three articles that discuss the importance of nurses visiting new born babies, the relevance of elders seeking more health care than other ages, and the significance of burses having a sense of humor while attending to their patients respectively.
Firstly, emergency care to new born babies has reduced significantly after the imposition of home visiting programs. The home visiting programs were implemented by Duke University where specialized nurses visited newborns in their homes as a form of a free checkup (Targeted News Service, 2013). These programs are conducted by nurses to new mothers and new born babies after leaving hospital to go home. According to the article, the price to attend an emergency room visit is from $700 to $1000 (Targeted News Service, 2013). This indicates that it may be costly to some parents to seek emergency services. As a result, the Affordable Care Act includes funding for the home visiting programs, which will boost the newborn’s health as well as the mother. In addition, according to the study conducted, emergency care among newborns and new mother has reduced significantly due to these programs (Targeted News Service, 2013). This is due to the fact that the nurses involved in these programs “checks the mother's and baby's health, and offers the parents tips on topics such as breastfeeding and child care. Nurses also screen for potential problems such as maternal depression (Targeted News Service, 2013).” This indicates that home visiting program is helpful to many mothers for giving them relevant and vital information.
Secondly, given the fact that elders constitute a considerable percentage of the total population per demography, people are required to seek health care as they age. This is reflected in the number of elderly people seeking emergency treatments in respective hospitals around the US. Voyer writes that the elderly comprises of 30% of the total population in the US (Voyer, 2003, p.21). In addition, people age differently due to different genetic compositions. This makes it important for nurses to have enough knowledge concerning elderly patients as they occupy a high percentage of nursing homes and home care. One of the crucial things that nurses have to keep in mind is the atypical signs and symptoms such as delirium. It is important that elderly people stay hydration to reduces these symptoms and also due to the fact that the elderly react slowly to dehydration (Voyer, 2003, p.22). This shows that nurses have to be knowledgeable when handling the elderly. In addition, when one’s body ages their immune system is low causing them vulnerable to disease infections (Voyer, 2003, p.23). Thus, the nurses should take part in educating the elderly and their family members, the importance of having regular checkup once they reach a certain age.
Thirdly, social workers are expected to have a sense of humor so as to lift tension in the room. This also helps both the patient’s family and the patient be more comfortable with the care-taker (Katherine and Boes, 1997, p.87). In addition, humor helps the nurses endure the mental trauma they face each day as they lose patients to various illnesses. Humor also helps to engage other people around you, which help people motivated to work and fall in love with their professions (Katherine and Boes, 1997, p.89). Though proper relationships at work, nurses can endure traumas they have to face on a daily basis as they treat people with varying injuries. Thus, humor in the ER is an effective way to raise and boost working spirits as well as that of the patient. However, nurses have to be clever and careful on how they use their jokes and humors to avoid offending a patient or member of staff.
In conclusion, it is evident that though home visiting programs may be expensive, the program has helped in decreasing the number of emergency care among newborns. The program is significant in ensuring that the mother’s and newborn’s child is healthy. Secondly, the article discusses the importance of nurse paying attention to the elderly as people age differently due to different genetics. Thirdly, the article extrapolates why humor is essential among social workers and the patients. Humor helps in raising the tension in the room and also helps nurses who have to overcome their mental trauma, which is part of their profession.
References
Katherine, v. W., & Boes, M. (1997). Humor in the emergency room: A social work perspective. Health & Social Work, 22(2), 87-92. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/210560725?accountid=13931
Nurse Home Visits Lead to Dramatic Drop in Emergency Care. (2013, November 1). Targeted News Service, pp. 10-22.
Voyer, P., & SYCH-NORRENA, L. (2003). Challenges in emergency room care for the elderly: If health services today do not adequately address our aging population, tomorrow's reality in emergency rooms will be overwhelming. The Canadian Nurse, 99(1), 22-24. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/232086404?accountid=13931
