Scopes Of Nursing Practice

SCOPE OF NURSING PRACTICE • FOUR AREAS: – Promoting Health and Wellness – Preventing Illness – Restoring Health – Care of the Dying

SCOPE OF NURSING PRACTICE • PROMOTING HEALTH AND WELLNESS – Wellness – state of well-being. Engaging in attitudes and behavior that enhance the quality of life and maximize personal potential – For both healthy and ill. – Involve individual and community activities to enhance healthy lifestyle, such as improving nutrition and physical fitness, preventing drug and alcohol misuse, restricting smoking, and preventing accidents and injury in the home and workplace.

SCOPE OF NURSING PRACTICE • PREVENTING ILLNESS – The goal is to maintain optimal health by preventing diseases – Nursing activities includes immunizations, prenatal and infant care, and prevention of sexually transmitted disease.

SCOPE OF NURSING PRACTICE • RESTORING HEALTH – Focuses on the ill client – Extends from early detection of disease to helping the client during the recovery period – NURSING ACTIVITIES: • Providing direct care to the ill person: administering medications, baths, and specific procedures and treatments • Providing diagnostic and assessment procedures: measuring BP and examining feces for occult blood • Consulting with other health care professionals about client’s problems • Teaching clients about recovery activities: exercise that will accelerate recovery after a stroke • Rehabilitating clients to their optimal functional level following physical or mental illness, injury, or chemical addiction

SCOPE OF NURSING PRACTICE • CARE OF THE DYING – Involves comforting and caring for people of all ages who are dying – Includes helping clients live as comfortable as possible until death and helping support persons cope with death. – Work in homes, hospitals, and extended care facilities – Hospices are specifically designed for this purpose.

CONSENT •

KINDS OF CONSENT: – Informed Consent – Implied Consent

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INFORMED CONSENT – Agreement by the client to accept a course of treatment or a procedure after complete information, including the risk of treatment and facts relating to it, has been provided by the physician – ELEMENTS OF INFORMED CONSENT: • Consent must be given voluntarily • Consent must be given by an individual with the capacity, competence, and understanding. • The client must be given enough information to be the ultimate decision maker.

CONSENT – NURSE’S RESPONSIBILITY • Witnessing the exchange between the client and the physician. • Establish that the client really did understand, that is, was really informed • Witnessing the client’s signature

– PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PROVIDE CONSENT: • Minors – below 18 years old; except for married and already a parent • Mentally ill • Unconscious or injured in such a way that they are unable to give consent.

• IMPLIED CONSENT – In a life threatening situations and consent can not be