Essay Title - Documenting Patient Terminology
Professional Discourses in the Nursing Career
Once a person becomes adapted to his or her own professional community, he or she has become involved, learned the language, practiced the proper mannerisms, and developed a familiarity with the surroundings. In the profession of nursing, a person must learn all this and more. He or she should become familiar with the medical terminology, recognize the required hygiene, and know how to care for patients in a respectable and caring way. Discourse is important in every aspect of life, but when it comes to the profession of nursing, knowing the discourse is key for success.
TYPES OF DISCOURSE
Communication
The most important discourse in the profession of nursing is communication. It is crucial to be able to communicate properly with doctors as well as other nurses; it could be the difference between life and death. A way doctors and nurses communicate with each other is through documenting patient information. A nurse must always remember to read as well as document patient information with every visit. Within an article out of the Journal of Advanced Nursing, 15-20% of the time working as a nurse is spent documenting patient information.1 Not only is it important to communicate through patient information, but it is also essential that a nurse understands the terminology used in patient documents.
Medical Terminology
The second most important discourse in the nursing profession is being able to understand the terminology that is used between the medical staff. Not only the ability to understand, but to also be able to pronounce the complicated words that can be used is also very important. The word hepatocholangitis can be a very difficult word to say and to understand. A strategy a nurse would use to recognize what the word means is to break apart the word into word roots and suffixes. A word root gives the fundamental meaning of the word and a suffix modifies its meaning.2 The word contains two word roots, which are hepat (liver) and cholang (bile duct). The “o” between the two word roots is called a combining vowel and is used to ease pronunciation.2 Lastly, the suffix is itis (inflammation). When starting with the suffix, the term hepatocholangitis is defined as an inflammation of both the liver and the bile ducts.3 In order for a nurse to distinguish between what the words are as well as their meanings is to understand the meanings behind the words that are used within the medical language. If the terminology used within the medical field is understood completely, then it is easier to communicate with other medical staff and more importantly, the patients.
Patient Care
How to talk to patients as well as helping patients understand how to comprehend what may be wrong with them is important in the medical field. Doctors tend to give the specific terminology that many patients do not understand, whereas nurses are the ones who explain what the doctor has said in simpler terms. Another discourse that can be included in the nursing profession is the ability to communicate with patients directly and to comfort patients as well as their family and friends. Nurses must be alert and quick to respond because they are usually the first people in a patient’s room. By building responsive relationships with patients one will gain the respect, trust and mutuality from the patient.4 This can provide the framework of caring relationships between nurses and patients. If a nurse is alert and able to communicate with patients on a level that they understand, then that nurse has become more than just a nurse; he or she has become a person with morals. “For each one to take on the needs, wishes, desires of others and make them into his goal is the beginning of ethical”.4p233 To be able to put aside the needs or wants of oneself can be a hard thing to do for some people. To be a nurse, a person has to be willing to care for a patient, not to follow the rules, but by explaining things, making small talk with them, being responsive, and to be their friend. The kind of trust a patient has towards a nurse can alter that patient’s attitude towards that hospital, which is why gaining the trust of patients is key. It all starts with patient confidentiality and if patients can actually trust the hospital with their most personal information, they will have more confidence in their nurses as well as their doctors.
Patient Confidentiality
A nurse has to make sure that patient documents do not fall into the wrong hands. The misplacement of one chart could cost not only the trust of the patient and the patient’s family, but the hospital’s reputation as well as thousands of dollars. There are certain regulations that control what can be shared outside of the patient’s room. A person must value the desires of patients who do not want certain information shared unless it is information that would put others at risk of serious harm or death.5 Patient confidentiality is an important discourse in the profession of nursing because of the personal information that is shared between a patient and his or her nurse. Patient confidentiality is important in all health care facilities and a nurse should know the proper ways in how everything is documented as well as who is authorized to view those documents. Not only should a nurse know the appropriate ways of where to put documented information, but a nurse should also be familiar with the hygiene required in heath care facilities.
Proper Hygiene
Hospital acquired infections are some of the leading causes of illnesses in today’s world. It is important to know the proper hygiene in caring for patients. Bacteria such as Staphylococcal aureus, commonly known as Staph infections, can by transmitted very easily from direct contact. Staph infections are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. A new known “super bug,” called MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureaus), has been known to take more American lives each year than the AIDS virus; that is 19,000 people each year.6 The most important aspect when it comes to proper hygiene is hand washing. It is crucial for nurses to wash their hands each time they enter and exit a patient’s room. Hand washing is the best habit a nurse can get into. It is one of the many helpful routines in preventing the spread of MRSA.7 There are also many other helpful ideas when it comes to the prevention of spreading infection. These ideas need to be known by nurses everywhere no matter if they are working in a hospital, nursing home, or even in schools.
INTERVIEW
Prioritize
In an interview with a registered nurse, Jacklyn Brambrink was able to give some useful information about what she thinks is the most important discourse out of the ones that have been discussed. She believes that communication is the most important because in order to do anything in the nursing career, a person has to be able to communicate with the staff as well as the patients no matter what. She also believes that a nurse must be able to prioritize as well as be able to make judgment calls when it comes to tough situations (oral communication; February 2008). There are everyday jobs a nurse has to know how to do. When Brambrink made the point about prioritizing, she really stressed the idea. It is key for a nurse to know when a job needs to be done and when a different job is not as critical. Just like communication, it could be the difference between life and death.
CONCLUSION
There is much more to the profession of nursing than to just be able to communicate, know the terminology, and know the proper ways in preventing the spread of infection. The discourses that have been listed are the basis of being successful in the profession of nursing, but there is much more to know. Just knowing these discourses is not going to help a person get through nursing school. A nurse has to be dedicated and has to be willing to learn new things. New discoveries are being found almost every day in the medical field and a nurse has to be eager to want to continue his or her education throughout his or her entire nursing career. A nursing student should be aware of all this information and more, so they know what to expect. By going through the motions will not work in the nursing profession. If a committed, caring and knowledgeable individual wants to enter the nursing field, he or she has to be prepared for all of the challenges that medical professionals face every day. Once that person is ready and aware of those challenges, he or she will make a great nurse.
History of the Nursing Profession
The role of nurses has dramatically changed over the years. Men and especially women have been known to change the course of history for the nursing profession. Who are these people? What have they done to be able to change history? To answer these questions, one has to start at the very beginning. He or she has to look back to where it all started and find these historical figures. Once one understands the history of nursing, it will make it easier to grasp the existing issues in the medical profession today and help one to foresee trends that may occur in the future.
HISTORY
When one thinks of the history of nursing, they immediately think of Florence Nightingale. People used to disapprove of the nursing profession because nurses were usually seen as rude and very offensive, but Nightingale changed that perception. It seems as if the nursing profession is circled around only Nightingale, but that is not the case. There is much more to the nursing profession as well as the medical profession that has made the world what it is today. The invention of penicillin, for example has saved many people’s lives and helped many researchers find other medicines that have saved even more lives. The American Red Cross establishment also has saved many lives. When looking back at the world today, what would everyone do without these kinds of things? What would women do without birth control? These are all events that people all over the country should be thankful for and the people who were in charge of these events should be remembered for contributing valuable ideas to the nursing profession.
HISTORICAL FIGURES
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
“Mother of Modern Nursing”
Florence Nightingale is one of the most important historical figures in the nursing profession. Nightingale transformed nursing into what it is today. She was born May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy. She grew up in a very wealthy family who taught her many different subjects. As Nightingale grew older, she developed an interest in community issues, but her family was against Nightingale getting any experience at a hospital. Nightingale was a well-educated woman and up until the mid-nineteenth century, nursing was not considered an appropriate profession. Nurses at the time were short of training and were known to be ignorant women. In 1850, Nightingale started attending the Institute of St Vincent de Paul and began her training as a nurse.8
With the start of the Crimean War in 1854, Nightingale was asked to become a nursing administrator. Her official title was “Superintendent of the Female Nursing Establishment of the English General Hospitals in Turkey”.8 While working as a nursing administrator, Nightingale noticed very unsanitary conditions that soldiers were forced to deal with. This led to diseases such as cholera and typhus to take over the hospitals. Wounded soldiers were seven times more likely to die from disease in hospitals, than on the battlefields.8 After gathering important statistical information, Nightingale stressed the importance of sanitary conditions in military hospitals. This led to the establishment of the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army.
Nightingale Training School and Home for Nurses opened with 10 students in 1860 at the St Thomas’ Hospital in London. The school was based on two main principles. One was that nurses had to have practical training in hospitals that were organized for that purpose. The other was that nurses had to live in a home that was fit for a moral life and discipline.8 Nightingale single handedly changed the nursing profession from being disrespectful and crude into a dependable and valued career for women. Nightingale’s greatest contribution to the nursing profession was the requirement of using sanitary techniques in hospitals. Those techniques are still used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities today.
Clara Barton (1821-1912)
“Angel of the Battlefield”
Clara Barton was born December 25, 1821 in North Oxford, Massachusetts. Throughout Barton’s life, she had success as a teacher, a battlefield nurse, a lecturer, and most importantly, she was the organizer and president of the American Red Cross.9 When Barton was young, she loved to play nurse. At the time of the American Civil War, Barton was called the “Angel of the Battlefield.” She delivered food and supplies to wounded soldiers until those soldiers were carried to safety.9
Barton was a volunteer at the International Red Cross and later on, the International Red Cross encouraged her to create an American Red Cross. For years, she led reliefs to victims of forest fires, hurricanes, and war.9 Barton eventually died at the age of 91 in the year 1912. She lived a long life with many accomplishments, but the biggest accomplishment was the establishment of the American Red Cross.
Today, the American Red Cross responds to thousands of disasters each year. Whether the disaster is a hurricane, a tornado, or even a fire, the Red Cross is there to provide relief to the victims. They offer food, supplies, shelter, as well as counseling. They are there to help people in need, as are nurses. Clara Barton introduced something to the medical profession and today, that establishment has had an impressive effect throughout the country.
Margaret Sanger (1879-1965)
“Founder of Planned Parenthood”
Margaret Sanger contributed one of the most important birth control methods around; the birth control pill. She was also the founder of Planned Parenthood. Sanger was born in 1879 in Corning, New York. She grew up in a home with ten other children. Sanger was a bit of a rebel and took the first chance she could to move away from home. She went to Claverack College in 1896 where she studied nursing. In 1900, she worked at White Plains Hospital as well as the Manhattan Eye and Ear Clinic. Her life changed in 1912 while working as a visiting nurse. She held a young mother who laid dead in her arms because of a self-induced abortion.10 This experience, as well as many other experiences dealing with infant and maternal moralities caused Sanger to want to fight against unwanted pregnancies.
Sanger was all about women’s right to practice birth control. She opened birth control clinics even though she knew they were against the law and was charged with public nuisance and was later sentenced to jail. Later on, she started the American Birth Control League that informed people of birth control. Eventually the National Committee of Federal Legislation for Birth Control was established in 1929. Over time, these two committees were combined to form the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.10 Sanger was a dedicated woman who fought for what she believed in. Without her and the creation of the birth control pill, many more women today would be faced with more and more unplanned pregnancies. This was a breakthrough in the medical field and the establishment of Planned Parenthood is something that is put to very good use today. It provides information to adolescents, women and even men everywhere about unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and family planning. Without this kind of organization, it would be hard for people to get the kind of information they needed.
Linda Richards (1841-1930)
“America’s First Trained Nurse”
America’s first trained nurse came into this world on July 27, 1841. When she was little, her father died and after a while, her mother became very ill as well. Her mother had tuberculosis, the same sickness which killed her father. She helped her mother as much as she could, but when Richards turned thirteen, her mother died.11
The same doctor who took care of Richards’ mother was the same doctor that first started training Richards as a nurse. Richards eventually went to St Johnsbury Academy at the age of 15 to become a teacher.11 Despite being happy, she completed the training and taught for many years. Years later, she met a man by the name of George Poole. Before they could get married, Poole was wounded in the Civil War and eventually died.
After Poole’s death, Richards became an assistant nurse at the Boston City Hospital, but did not work there long because of bad health. She eventually heard of a program for nurse training that was being offered at the New England Hospital for Women and Children .11 Richards trained as a nurse for one year and was the first to graduate from that nursing program.
After graduating, Richards began to work at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. While there, she constructed a system for charting and keeping up personal medical records for each patient. This was the first written reporting system for nurses.11 This idea is still being used in hospitals today.
Richards went all over the country and established nurse-training programs in Philadelphia, Michigan, and cities in Massachusetts including Boston. She also established the first nurse-training program in Japan.11 Richards spent the remainder of her life at the place where her nurse-training all began. She died on April 16, 1930.
Ever since Richards set up that nurse-training program in Japan, nurses in America have had much influence on nursing practices, education, and scholarship programs throughout the entire world.12 American nurses are known for their commitment to their profession and their willingness to spread the knowledge they know with other countries. Nurses also travel to these countries to do what they do best, which is give patients tender loving care.
Alexander Fleming (1881-1955)
“Father of Penicillin”
One of the most important breakthrough discoveries not in just the nursing profession, but in the medical profession in general was the discovery of penicillin. Alexander Fleming was born on August 6, 1881, in Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland. He is the man that has been given credit in the discovery that marked the beginning of an important era in modern medicine, the discovery of penicillin.13 This discovery led to life saving antibiotics that doctors everywhere use today.
Fleming grew up in a home with little money. When he became older, he attended classes to become a clerk in a shipping company, but he only worked for a short amount of time. When his uncle died at the age of twenty, he was left with a small inheritance, which he used to study medicine. He attended St Mary’s Hospital School where he was awarded many academic achievements. While attending St Mary’s Hospital School, he met Sir Almorth E. Wright, who was the one who led the way of the vaccine treatment of diseases in 1906.13 Once Fleming received the Conjoint Board Diploma, he started to work under Sir Wright in the Inoculation Department. There he spent a lot of time studying phagocytosis, which is a cell engulfing unfamiliar particles within the body. Another interest Alexander had, dealt with the treatment of acne. He studied the organism that caused acne and made a vaccine from a culture of this organism.
Fleming graduated in 1908 with honors and later he went on to publish a paper on the diagnosis of acute bacterial infections, which won him the Cheadle Medal for Clinical Medicine.13 Fleming followed the same type of research that dealt with his studies on bacterial infections throughout his whole life. He wanted to figure out a way to fight the most dangerous infections.
Fleming spent most of his time in his later years experimenting with antibacterial mechanisms. In the fall of 1928, Fleming found something very interesting. He noticed a green mold which was growing on a culture plate. He experimented with this mold and found a number of microorganisms that were inhibited by it, thus leading to the discovery of penicillin. Fleming proved that penicillin was harmless to white blood cells, in fact, penicillin helped white blood cells fight against infections.13 Penicillin is the first of many antibiotics that are here today to fight off bacterial infections. Fleming died March 11, 1955. He will always be remembered for contributing so much to the medical field. Without antibiotics, it would be very hard for a person to survive in today’s world
CONCLUSION
The history of nursing is full of events that have changed the world. These events can vary between the inventions of an important medicine, to the first nurse-training program. All of these have been significant in both the nursing profession as well as the medical profession in general. Without Florence Nightingale, the nursing profession would not be what it is today. Without Margaret Sanger, families would have more children than they originally planned. Once a nurse understands the history of his or her profession, then he or she can better connect with past nurses, educators, and doctors. In time, this can help a future nurse understand what he or she needs to do to improve the medical profession.
Important Resources Used in the Nursing Profession
In every profession, there are resources that are continually looked at for everyday information. These resources can include magazines, specific journals, newspapers, books, and dictionaries. For the nursing profession, all of these resources are looked at and more. Why do people look at these resources on a daily basis? What kind of information do they hold? To be able to be successful in the medical profession, a nurse must be up-to-date with new medical breakthroughs and discoveries. They also need something to refer to when they are stumped on certain medications as well as the anatomy of the body. The best way to stay up-to-date and to answer questions is to have resources available that can be looked at on a daily basis.
RESOURCES
Medical Dictionary
The most important resource in the medical profession is a medical dictionary. An example of a very thorough dictionary is Mosby’s Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Professions, which is published by the Mosby Elsevier Company located in St Louis, Missouri. This resource gives definitions of major diseases, disorders, medicines, and surgical procedures. It also gives colorful photographs that show skin disorders, procedures and so on.3 Nurses use this dictionary for information they may not be sure of or to look up something they have never heard of. It is a very helpful resource in all health profession and can be found in any office belonging to a health professional.
Journals
Nursing Outlook
Another resource that can be found in any health professional office is an academic journal. The title of an important journal that is used in the nursing profession is called Nursing Outlook. This journal is considered The Official Journal of the American Academy of Nursing.14 Elsevier Inc. located in New York, New York publishes it. The journal gives important information on current issues in the nursing profession and offers solutions to problems that the profession could be facing.
Nursing 2007
An additional journal that is used in the nursing profession is called Nursing 2007, which is published monthly by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins located in Amber, Pennsylvania. This journal is considered The Journal of Clinical Excellence.15 It has articles that are about certain diseases and disorders that the health field may be facing. It also has ways to protect oneself from these diseases and disorders. Nurses look at these journals for information that help them help patients numerous times. Journals are one of the many ways health professionals are becoming more and more knowledgeable today.
Government Websites
Department for Disease Control and Prevention
The medical profession has government websites that they can look at on a daily basis. The Department for Disease Control and Prevention is the standard agency that the United States has to protect the health of Americans and to make important services available especially for the people in need.16 The medical profession can use this government website to find other important resources they might want to look at for additional information.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
A branch within the Department of Health and Human Services is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This website gives information on vaccinations, diseases, and medical clinics. It also gives links on state and local health departments. The main purpose for the CDC is to monitor and prevent diseases, injuries, and disabilities. It also keeps up with health statistics, performs research, and gives information and services to help prevent injuries and illnesses.17 Nurses, as well as other medical professionals look at this website for vital information regarding possible epidemics that nurses and doctors can help prevent.
Nursing Organizations/Websites
American Medical Association
Nurses have websites they can refer to whenever they have an internet connection available. One website is the American Medical Association (AMA). Nurses can become a member of this association simply by signing up on the website. Once a member, nurses are able to stay up-to-date on medical news as well as research. The AMA seeks to be an important part of a physician’s professional life.18 The AMA is an important organization that every health professional should join.
American Academy of Nursing
Another website nurses can look at is called the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). This organization’s mission is to advance health care policy in the nursing profession and seeks to do this through sharing more knowledge with nurses everywhere.19 A nurse can gain a lot of helpful information through this website. Nurses can also become apart of something that can help change and shape the future for the nursing profession.
Reference Books
Anatomy and Physiology
It takes a lot of memorization of the human body for a doctor to pass medical school and for a nurse to pass nursing school, but what happens when one can’t remember where a certain vein is, or what a certain artery is called? This is where anatomy and physiology books can become very helpful. An example for an excellent book is called Anatomy and Physiology: From Science to Life, which was published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. located in Hoboken, New Jersey. This book gives detailed photographs of muscles, bones, nerves, and microscopic tissues that a nurse can use to help him or her label particular structures he or she may have forgotten.20
Medical Drug Reference
Nurses do not have the ability to write out prescriptions like doctors do, but they should know what medications do what and how certain medications can affect the body as well as their side effects. A very useful reference book every health professional should have is a medical drug reference book. An example is Mosby’s Medical Drug Reference 2007 published by Elsevier Inc. located in New York, New York. This book gives the latest on all of the most commonly used drugs, their side effects and more.21 It is very important for a nurse to look at a patient’s charts and know the medications that patient may be taking. The nurse must understand how other drugs can interact with those medications, because he or she cannot afford to make mistakes.
CONCLUSION
There are resources all over for a nurse or anybody in the medical field to look at for helpful information. Reference books, journals, and websites are just a broad range of the many informational resources medical professionals use daily. Not only do the resources listed have useful ideas, but some have listings of other sources that may also be used. It is key for every health professional to have some kind of resource that they are able to look at on a daily basis. These resources become helpful when one might forget important information or if he or she wants to learn something new. They also help a person keep up-to-date on important discoveries that are found every day. Resources are vital to a health professional’s career and a nurse would not survive the medical profession without having something to refer to on a daily basis.
Communication Skills in the Nursing Career
Whether a person is at a family clinic, a hospital, or a nursing home, nurses are often the first health professional a person meets. Those nurses need to make a great first impression so that whoever may come into that hospital or clinic can feel at ease and more at home. It all comes down to the communication skills that a nurse acquires throughout nursing school and throughout his or her nursing experience. The ability to communicate well sets the frame of mind for patients, families, and other health professionals. Communication skills can range from the ability to speak knowledgeable, to the behaviors and moods nurses can show both verbally and nonverbally. The ability to communicate effectively in the nursing profession is a critical role that all nurses should possess.
EDUCATION
Before anyone can gain the experience and knowledge needed to know the skills that are looked for in the health profession is to go to college and gain a degree in the field of nursing. These degrees can be a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Associates of Science in Nursing (ASN), or even a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). These programs all emphasize the importance of communication in the nursing profession.
Associates of Science in Nursing (ASN)
An ASN degree is considered a 2-year degree. Once a person graduates with an ASN degree, he or she is considered a registered nurse and is able to work in hospitals and clinics, but is not paid as much as a registered nurse (RN) with their BSN degree. Many students get their ASN so they can start earning money fast as an RN and then eventually go two more years to get their BSN, which is a 4-year degree. This helps many students to learn more effectively the communication skills that are required in health care settings because not only are they learning more about communication skills, but they are also getting experience working as an RN.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
The BSN degree is a degree one would usually see required for a specific job. This is a 4-year degree where the last two years are typically spent on all nursing courses. These courses can include a communication class, nursing fundamentals, and even a leadership class.. A student will also be doing clinicals, which gives he or she first hand experience on the kinds a skills that are needed to be successful in the nursing profession. A BSN degree is “preferred by most nursing leaders and provides the best opportunities in today’s job market”.22(p1) Once students graduate with a BSN degree, they should have obtained a complete understanding of what is meant by the communication skills needed, but until they have a few years of experience, it will be something that they find they struggle with.
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Most people who are trying to earn an MSN degree already have a BSN, but there are other programs that can shorten the amount of time spent in school. Once one receives his or her MSN degree they are able to specialize in a specific area of the health profession. These specific areas can be public health, women’s health, orthopedics etc. If a nurse has his or her master’s degree in nursing, a lot may be expected from the area in which he or she is working in. This is where being able to communicate properly will help a nurse become successful in his or her job.
EXPERIENCE
Much of the way people learn to communicate is through experience. In any kind of occupation, familiarity with everything around is important. To be able to communicate effectively, one must be able to understand all situations and what those situations require. Healthcare workers are continuously faced with complicated situations where communication skills are key.23 Schooling alone is not going to help a nurse know how to tell a 4-year-olds mother that her little boy has leukemia. There are varieties of situations that nurses are forced to work through everyday, and not being able to communicate with patients, family members, and other team members can cause a nurse to loose his or her job.
LISTENING
In the nursing profession, one has to be considerate and compassionate to not only the patients, but also to everyone around him or her. The first step to being able to communicate effectively is first being able to listen. Some people do not understand why they have such a hard time communicating with others, but most of the time it is because they do not know how to listen. A nurse has to be open to all kinds of different ideas and needs to be careful not to criticize people who do not agree with him or her. Nurses also have to be careful not to interrupt others before completing what they are saying. Many people do this because they lack being patient. A nurse must be patient in order to be successful in the nursing profession. Another problem everyone has is selective listening. This can be detrimental in the nursing career considering all the lives that could be at stake. This can also be connected with not paying attention. If a doctor comes up to a nurse and tells him or her about a patient who needs a specific treatment and the nurse is not listening it could lead to serious problems with that patient.24 A nurse must be aware of not only what they say, but also what their eyes say, their attitude, their face, and their body language. “It is about humanity—empathizing with someone else’s situation, giving them the dignity of looking at them when they speak and really listening to them”.25(p21) A nurse has to know when he or she may or may not be listening. Correcting the problem of not being able to listen can be the first step in achieving the communication skills that all health professionals look for.
ORAL SKILLS
When health professionals are hiring nurses, they look for how well a person can communicate. Most health professionals seek four communication skills, which include collaboration, credibility, compassion, and coordination.26 These are all broad skills that in turn can go a long way. To be able to collaborate, a person should be able to share information, keep a conversation, and point out problems as well as solutions. To be credible, one has to avoid slang or unclear terminology. He or she also has to be able to adjust to his or her audience. Compassion is showing respect and care for patients and their families as well as other team members whether it is verbal or through body language. It is also being able to adjust to other team member needs. Coordination is having the ability to assign roles and manage team members. One has to also be open to new inputs that are made from other team members.26 These are all skills that nurses are expected to show towards the people around them whether it is a mother who is screaming for a nurse to help her little girl or a physician calling for a nurse to save the life of a 60-year-old man.
WRITTEN SKILLS
When it comes to working in any health profession, one has to know the medical terminology. Not knowing the medical terminology can be devastating to a nurse’s career. Patient charts are shared with other team members throughout a hospital or clinic. If there is something that is not marked down right, or if something is read wrong, it can cause serious consequences to that patient, that patients family, the staff, and the entire hospital or clinic. A nurse should be able to catch mistakes by talking with patients and other team members. Open communication between health professionals and patients could prevent most errors from happening.27 Other ways to prevent mistakes in patient charts is by asking questions, being sure of what the chart says, and realizing when something may not be right. Written communication skills are just as important as verbal communication skills in any health career.
CONCLUSION
Professionals look at communication skills as abilities that everybody should have. If a person cannot communicate effectively, he or she will struggle significantly in the real world. In the medical profession, being quiet, out of touch and out of reach is something that no health professional is looking for. Sometimes it is the little efforts that go a long ways in any career. This can be getting to know a patient better, going out of the way for a team member, or taking charge of a particular situation. If a person is able to work with other people, show that he or she cares, and demonstrate that he or she can communicate with patients, the families, and other team members effectively, then he or she has an excellent chance at being successful in the nursing career.
The American Medical Association Style Manual
Most college students go through a normal composition class which teaches them the American Psychological Association (APA) manual of style. Once these students get into medical school or nursing school, they are forced to learn a totally different manual of style. It is essential for these students to understand the differences between these two style manuals and most importantly learn to fully comprehend the style manual that is used for all health professions.
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA)
In any profession, certain style manuals are used to aide authors in their writings. In the medical profession, whether a person is a nurse, doctor, or any other health care provider, these people follow the style manual that is put out by the American Medical Association. This style manual is crucial to any person in the medical profession when it comes to research papers or journals. It prevents a person from taking somebody else’s words and using them as his or her own; in other words it helps avoid plagiarism.
The American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style is the name of the actual style manual doctors and nurses refer to. This style manual assists a person within the medical profession in preparing research papers for review and publication.28 It is a vital piece of information that is used regularly by college students wanting to go into a medical field. It is important that these college students learn how to cite other people’s work when writing research papers.
DIFFERENCESE BETWEEN AMA AND APA
In-text Citations and Direct Quotes
The APA style manual differs from the AMA style manual in many ways. First off, APA is found in a thousand research papers, specifically in psychology, whereas AMA is found in medical journals, and is circled around the medical profession.29 Another difference that really stands out deals with in-text citations. In APA, at the end of every in-text citation, the author and year are put in parentheses before the period. Direct quotes also include the author and the year, but the difference is the page number of the source is added.30 In AMA, in-text citations don’t include any authors or years. The only thing it includes is a little number which is superscripted after the period. The number means the order of which the resources were brought up in the paper. When there is a direct quote the page number, which is in parenthesizes, is added with the superscript after the number and is separated by a comma.28
Reference Page
When it comes to the reference page at the end of a research paper, APA requires a person to put the sources in alphabetical order. The AMA style requires a person to put the sources in numerical order, hence the reason a superscript is put at the end of an in-text citation.28 This is very helpful for a person when looking at where a certain piece of information came from. In APA it can become very confusing, because not all sources have authors, and websites do not really have page numbers so looking for that reference on the reference page can be difficult. In AMA, all a person does is look for the number and they will be able see what specific source information came from.
Headings
There are also many differences in the way headings are set up in a research paper. APA requires the first heading to be centered and in all caps. The second heading is still centered but only the first letter of each word is capitalized. The third heading is centered, italicized, and the first letter of each word is capitalized. The next two headings are no longer centered. The fourth heading is put to the left, italicized and only the first letter of the FIRST word is capitalized. Finally, the last heading is put to the left, but is indented four spaces. It is also italicized and only the first letter of the first word is capitalized.30 In AMA, the first heading is not centered. It is put to the left, but like APA it is still in all caps. The next heading is still to the left and only the first letters are capitalized. After that, the next heading is indented four spaces and the first letters are capitalized.28
CONCLUSION
The differences that were mentioned are just a few of the many differences between APA and AMA style manuals, but the ones that were listed are the most distinct. These differences are key to know when using either style manual because they are so dissimilar. By knowing these differences, one is able to cite in-text citations properly, and set up headings that are suitable for the style manual that is being used. If these differences are not known, and one is supposed to be using a style manual that is different than APA, that person could fine that he or she might have troubles in the long run. He or she could end up mixing two style manuals that are completely different which would later cause confusion in his or her paper as well as for those who have to review the paper. The APA style manual and the AMA style manual are two different styles that can be used in writing research papers. Whether a person is in the nursing profession or a psychology profession, each profession requires different style manuals...Basically, knowing the differences between the style manuals and understanding what is involved with each will aide a writer in making his or her paper more effective.
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