The nursing profession has been idolized, mocked and dramatized in pop culture, thanks to shows likes Nurse Jackie and movies like Meet the Parents. But ask anyone who’s ever spent time in the hospital, and they can tell you that the nurses were the ones overseeing the bulk of their care. So what are the actual responsibilities of modern day nurses?
With rapidly advancing technology and ever-changing health care policies, it turns out the role of nurses is evolving. Barbara Blackwell, Director at the School of Nursing, Holy Name Medical Center, sat down with Steve Adubato, PhD., to discuss those changes on Caucus: New Jersey with Steve Adubato.
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“There’s so much more technology. There’s so much more pressure,” Blackwell said. “Nurses have to do a lot, and they have to learn very quickly.”
But with that advanced technology comes a faster pace, and Blackwell cautions that nurses not lose their connection to people.
“They call it high-tech, but we also have to be high-touch,” she said. “That personhood — who we are. There’s a person in that bed. And that person is a mother, a father, a son, a daughter. You can’t lose that person in all the technology. You have to let that person know that they count, and that they’re important. And I think that that is even far more important than the technology.”
That personal touch is something Blackwell knows well, as she was originally pre-med, and changed her focus to nursing so she could concentrate on patient care.
“I hate to be trite, but I did want to help people,” she said. “I did want to do something where I had a personal connection with people.”
For today’s nurses, though, patient care is merely one part of the job. “Nurses have to be able to be self-directed, to be advocates,” she said. “Our minds have to be much broader than that. We have to be very well-educated on the changes that are going on in health care.”
For more about the need for what Blackwell calls an “entrepreneurial” spirit in nurses, as well as how the Affordable Care Act can impact their roles, don’t miss this edition of Caucus: New Jersey with Steve Adubato.
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