The Role of a Registered Nurse During and After COVID in the Medical-Surgical Ward - Essay Example

"The Role of a Registered Nurse During and After COVID in the Medical-Surgical Ward" is an engrossing example of a paper on care.
Registered nurses play the role of controlling the infectious coronavirus infection as well as saving the lives of infected patients. Medical-surgical units are at high risk of promoting new infections if healthcare workers and patients do incorporate mitigating measures. The control measures apply to not only the medical-surgical units but also all health departments. Coronavirus has taken many parts of the world by storm, causing deaths and suffering among infected patients and their families. Interventions employed in the medical-surgical units contribute significantly towards controlling the COVID-19 infection (Dexter, Parra, Brown & Loftus, 2020). Registered nurses should be at the forefront of controlling COVID-19 infections during and post-infection.

Recommendations

Educating the patients and other staff members on the prevention measures to ensure the COVID-19 control policies are strictly observed to prevent further infections. Other people, apart from the on-duty nurses, regularly visit medical-surgical units. Non-health staff such as cleaners and relatives should be informed on the preventive measures while visiting the medical-surgical units. The nurses should, at all-time, remind any person who forgets to follow the set standards. Patients admitted with COVID-19 infection suffer both mentally and physically. Registered nurses should play a fundamental role by providing psychological support to patients and relatives. Cases of stigma are reported by patients diagnosed with the COVID-19 infection; registered nurses play the role of eliminating the barrier created between the COVID-19 patients and society. Another role steered by registered nurses in the provision of nursing care. COVID-19 patients require nursing care of a high standard. Registered nurses ensure that oxygen delivery accessories are in place and working. These patients require a constant supply of oxygen since the disease affects the respiratory system. Registered nurses ensure the COVID-19 patients receive comprehensive care as required by international standards. Also, the nurses ensure that hand sanitizers and running water are readily available for the patients to practice handwashing. They also ensure that the medical-surgical units are arranged in a manner that is consistent with the social distance requirements. Patient education continues post-COVID for patients to maintain health standards and prevent re-infection. The disease has no cure at the moment; therefore, infected and healthy individuals should play a primary role in preventing the spread of the disease. Post-recovery counseling for the recovered patients is a good way to restore the victims’ wellbeing.

Registered nurses assume the responsibility of self-protection from the disease by wearing personal protective gear while attending to the patients in the medical-surgical units. As long as nurses strive to save the lives of patients suffering from COVID-19, they should remember to protect themselves. Daily reports issued by the world health organization indicate that over three percent of global COVID-19 infections are healthcare workers (Wang, Zhou & Liu, 2020). Many healthcare workers die daily from the disease. Therefore, registered nurses should be on the frontline of saving themselves from the disease by wearing approved personal protection gear.

Registered nurses need vigorous training to work and manage these challenging conditions. The COVID-19 disease is new, and nurses were not well-trained n how to handle the disease in the institutions of learning. Even with the most skillful nurses, it is near impossible to implement the nursing practices while wearing PPEs. Nurses should receive special training on how to handle the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 infection. The rapid pre-service training is insufficient to make the registered nurses adapt to new practices. Registered nurses should receive regular training by experts on better strategies to manage the disease.