Module 5 Discussion – Professional Activities at Work
Instructions:
Are you part of the problem, or part of the solution? Leaders see a problem and fix it.
⦁ Do you work with people who complain and point out problems but are never willing to put in any effort to help improve the situation? Have you served on a board or committee at work to help improve any part of the organization or the service provided?
⦁ Describe an example of a committee you have participated in at work. This may be a unit-based group, formal QI committee, hospital-wide committee, or something in between. What was your role in the group? Was the group effective – why or why not?
⦁ If you have not participated in an employment-related committee (perhaps you are new to the organization, or a new RN) what are your plans to help problem-solve at your agency? Identify one specific committee that exists within your agency. Explain why you are interested in becoming involved with this particular committee. Describe the current membership (roles and structure) and explain what a nurse can contribute to the overall goals or objectives of this group.
Discussion 5: Professional Activities at Work
Yes, I have come across people who are there to make complaints but not will come forward with a hand of help for others. These people were present in the management team of my hospital.
In my hospital, I serve as a part of the “patient help committee” and found the ill-treatment of dementia patients. As any conscious patient is able to review the nurses or even complain if proper treatment is not given to them, but dementia patients are not aware of their conditions or not able to remember much, many nurses used to take advantage of that. From my ethics and principle, this scenario used to disappoint me a lot. Whenever I find this to happen I always protest it. Many times I complained about this matter to the senior authority but they have not taken any initiative to resolve this problem. They were literally an ineffective one.
Keeping in mind this scenario, I would like to become the head of the nursing authority. After being a senior nursing authority I would get the power to reschedule department rules and regulations according to the needs of dementia patients with the help of the management team and authorities. Dementia patients often have to stay longer in the hospital and are hugely dependent on others. In most cases, they are old and immobile. This situation leads to the emergence of stress, anxiety, irritation, and delirium in the patients (Eshetie et al. 2018, p.836). Most of the nurses used to get agitated with this and misbehave frequently with them. Dementia patients are often properly not taken care of their bowel and bladder activities, food, and medicine timing and sometimes they fall from their bed in the hospital. (Keuning‐Plantinga, et al. 2020, p.25). In order to resolve this problem, I would have taken the initiative to convert the normal bed of the patients into one with bed rails, nurses would be advised to maintain Electronic Health Records software so that all the time of food and medicines should be timely reminded. If any nurse finds disrespectful towards any dementia patient, they should be given a penalty for their work. The most interesting thing I would like to do for the dementia patients is at weekends I would arrange old songs for them on the radio in the dementia ward so that they could feel refreshed. As a nursing head, another thing I would like to spread is the utmost awareness, education, and training in the treatment of dementia patients.
References:
Eshetie, T. C., Nguyen, T. A., Gillam, M. H., & Kalisch Ellett, L. M. (2018). A narrative review of problems with medicines use in people with dementia. Expert opinion on drug safety, 17(8), 825-836.
Keuning‐Plantinga, A., Roodbol, P. F., Krijnen, W. P., & Finnema, E. J. (2020). Nurses’ perceptions in caring for people with dementia in Dutch acute hospitals. Journal of Clinical Nursing.
