Nurse’s Scope of Nursing as Defined, Essay Example

This week’s discussion pertains to the scope of nursing. Every country and state in United States of America has established protocols defining their scope of nursing practice. Some features are similar while others address specific needs of the societies or environments in which nurses function. The purpose of this week’s discussion is to examine the scope of nursing practice as outlined by the American Nurses’ Association followed by my state’s scope of practice. Nursing scope of practice is defined by the American Nurses’ Association   as the “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how” of nursing practice. This includes advanced nursing practice too (American Nurses Association, 2015).

The Ohio nursing board has established scopes of nursing practice for every category of nurse including registered nurses. A registered nurse has authority according to his/her licensure and training to function in all classified or defined nursing roles. These include collecting and recording data regarding patients’ conditions and care and making a nursing diagnosis after conducting a thorough assessment.  Registered nurses are also expected to conduct observations, physical examinations and interviews in the assessment/data collection process. According to Section 4723.01(B)(3), ORC, which outlines the scope of registered nursing practice in the state, they can engage in preventative medicine programs delivering patient education as well as implementing health promotion ventures across specific populations  ( Ohio Board of Nursing, 2015).

Mr. MA is admitted to the clinical area with a history of fever for one week and constipation. His vitals are taken and observations conducted. Constipation of unknown origin is the provisional nursing diagnosis. Intervention to relieve fever is done and an evaluation of the condition made after an hour. It is important that nurses understand the scope of their practice to function within its guidelines. This avoids malpractice liabilities.

References

American Nurses Association (2015). Scope and Standard of Practice. Retrieved on October 30^th, 2015 from www.nursingworld.org/scopeandstandardso

Ohio Board of Nursing (2015). Scope of practice registered nurse. Retrieved on October 30^th, 2015 from http://www.nursing.ohio.gov/PDFS/Practice/RN_and_LPN_Scope_of_Practice.pdf