Interview with a nurse

Today, I interviewed nurse "M" in order to complete an assignment I have been given by one of my professors from the MHA program at the University of Washington. Most of my experience has been with mental health administration and federal financing of state and local programs. So it is, with minimal clincial care experience, that I set out to find out how I might gain a better understanding of what exactly nurses do and look at ways that I, as a future administrator, might contribute to a better work enviornment for nurses and enhance the quality of care for patients. Below is a synopsis of the interview


Explore with your informant some aspect of nursing and health care that you find compelling

Knowing very little about nursing, I started with the basics and asked
My interviewee, “What do you feel are the different aspects of nursing?”

Her response:

§ Patient advocacy
§ Cultural diversity
§ Nurse-Doc relationships
§ Bedside manner
§ Team natured work
§ Provide care
· Assess the patient
· Diagnose the problem
· Make a plan of care
· Implement the plan of care
· Continually evaluate the plan


Do this with your HA hat on. What do hospital administrators need to know about nurses and nursing such that we could create a better environment of care.

o Administrators need to know what nurses do!

I asked, “What do nurses do?”

Her response:

§ Implement care
§ Monitor medications
§ Read test reports
§ Collaborate with Dr
§ Must have licensing in order
§ “run like a chicken with your head cut off”

I asked, “How might administrators help you to do those things?

Her response:

Nurses need:
Supplies & equipment where and when they need them
Competitive pay
A big one: ongoing education!
Up to date equipment
Competent coworkers

Nurse “M” works in an ER. She has 3 years experience. She shared that nursing is getting more and more complex with the number of different procedures & new equipment to learn. Keeping up to date and having “specialty” nurses to maintain a well balanced team is big for this nurse.
§

Try to get your informants to reflect on the core nature of what nursing was, is - and could be.

According to “M”, nursing started out as palliative. Nursing was "just caring for the sick." But, medicine has evolved to curative and nurses now actually play a major role in the implementation of curative care. In fact, members of the nursing profession actually help facilitate the healing process.

Summary

One of the themes throughout my conversation with nurse “M” was that nursing encompasses a huge array of services and procedures. Today’s nurse must know more and do more if they are to be effective in the curative process. Different conditions, diseases, and ailments require different techniques and clinical know-how. Nurse “M” felt that the best advice for administrators was to appreciate the nature of the nursing profession and all that it takes. In addition, hospitals need to provide on-going training for their nursing staff in order to meet the demands of the profession.

Nurse “M” shared that she felt underappreciated by doctors at times. Sometimes the orders a doctor gives are too excessive (even if they are necessary) for her to possibly accomplish while caring for other patients. She said she felt angry & frustrated when she was given 15 hours of work to do in 8 hours time.

I asked if nurse “M” felt that patients sometimes didn’t get the care they needed. Nurse “M” became quiet and with a sad sigh, said, “Yes, It’s hard to be a patient advocate when you are stretched so thin that you cannot provide all of the care a patient needs.”