Being a Health Professional

Assignment 1

Introduction

The essay is a core examination of what it actually means to be a health professional in the global environment. This is primarily focused on the role of a registered nurse in the global environment. The essay also presents the importance of therapeutic relationship in terms of a registered nurse and the applicable verbal and non-verbal communication strategies for best outcomes. The essay has chosen Mary young (71years and widow) as the client from Horizon community who is a retired indigenous Australian diagnosed with ischaemic stroke 5/7 ago. Being an indigenous patient poses several responsibilities on the nurse to be commendable towards to assure most effective healthcare service to the patient. Mary Young has been experiencing increasing health issues from back few months including marked lethargy, dizziness, persistent headache, and blurred vision ending as stroke.   

The therapeutic interpersonal relationship is the one that is perceived by the patients encompassing supportive and caring nonjudgmental behaviors deeply embedded within the safe environment during the stressful situation (Arnold & Boggs 2015). This relationship development is highly necessary from a registered nurse with Mary Young because she is an indigenous patient and holds a separate outlook towards the healthcare services as a whole. The nurse remains with patient throughout the process. The therapeutic relationship displays friendliness, warmth, empathy, genuine interest, and a wish to support and facilitate (Queensland Australia 2015). This relationship is important to engender interactive climate facilitating effective communication. With therapeutic relationships between a registered nurse and Mary Young, improvements in her satisfaction, quality of life, and adherence to treatment with lower levels of depression and anxiety are plausible (Arnold & Boggs 2015). It is clearly evident in the case that Mary is a very private lady who does not visit health services regularly with a view that she is fine and does not want to bother the busy doctors. Even her family used to encourage her to attend the local indigenous healthcare service, but she never believed that she was unwell (Levett-Jones 2018). Now, after her ischaemic stroke, she is quire anxious and even appears frightened. The therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is necessary in this situation to develop her trust and respect in healthcare services and to nurture her faith and hope. When she will develop them, she will be gratified for attaining right emotional, physical, and spiritual need satisfaction (Berman, Snyder, Levett-Jones, Dwyer, Hales, Harvey, Langtree, Moxham, Parker, Reid-Searl & Stanley 2018).

Effective communication is the right mode to present cultural competency in the service to support in empowering the indigenous patients like Mary to work collaboratively and improve their access to the advanced health outcomes (Arnold & Boggs 2015). She is a respected Indigenous Elder in horizon working tirelessly for the community people. Her trust in healthcare services will develop a new ray of hope in the entire community. It is true to state that therapeutic relationship is important in relation to the role of a registered nurse because the nurse can helps in removing the negative impacts of economic and racial disadvantage experienced by the indigenous people (Berman et al. 2018). This has led to mistrust in indigenous people towards the healthcare services. Even now, the indigenous people like Mary are marginalised and are quite socially disadvantaged. It is evident as Mary has no private healthcare fund and even her pension card application is pending (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou 2014). The registered nurse can collect as much data about Mary as possible through therapeutic relationship and can even provide the most effective solutions. For the nurse, it is necessary to reflect without any judgement prior, during and after the interaction with patients like Marry having different experiences, beliefs, world-views, and values (Arnold & Boggs 2015).

Effective verbal as well as nonverbal communication is the most essential part of developing the therapeutic nurse-patient interaction. This also assures the care in a style which enables the patient to become an equal partner in attaining and health and wellness (University of South Australia 2018). This develops motivation in patient to participate effectively. Rapport building is most important with Mary as her traditional culture holds higher sense of value in creating and sustaining relationships (Berman et al. 2018). Foremost, it is necessary to introduce oneself (healthcare provider) to Mary and every other patient in a calm manner and use her name when communicating with her with respect. She can be asked to tell about her area and related stories of common interest. This will make her feel identified and important. The initial meeting must begin with a warm handshake which is a good way to establish respect and trust rapidly (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou 2014).

In every possible manner, it is necessary to provide Mary with privacy while providing care as she is a respectable name in the community, an experienced elder in the horizon community, and a great example for the whole community people (Levett-Jones 2018). She is selfless entire her life and she deserves a positive therapeutic relationship to make her willing to attain best treatment which she ignores. Her basic needs must be met. Currently, she is compounded with her incapability to communicate efficaciously and her wait for placement in the Horizon Rehabilitation Unit (Arnold & Boggs 2015). This needs to be fulfilled at the best possible time. She is an Indigenous and the cultural and linguistic barrier do hamper or hinder the relationship development. Therefore, the nurse must always appreciate the cultural and linguistic variations to develop positive image of healthcare services in front of indigenous patients like Mary (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2016). As she is compounded with communication disability post stroke, it is a must for the healthcare professionals to actively listen to her and assure that her concerns are restated through verbalization (Berman et al. 2018). This will define her that she is being listened and understood. It is good to avoid using jargons and complex words. It is recommended to use her traditional language or words with proficiency and understanding and to seek help from the indigenous staff or interpreter for support if her daughter (mediator) is not by the side (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou 2014). 

For better therapeutic relationship development and maintenance, time plays a critical role. Western cultures emphasize on time for schedules and deadlines, but indigenous culture values more towards community relationships and family responsibilities (Levett-Jones 2018). Thus, every consultation and meeting must be flexible in time without any rush. The non-verbal communication is a big concern when developing therapeutic relationship with Mary (Berman et al. 2018). It is because certain non-verbal communication cues mean different in western cultures and different in indigenous culture (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2016). Good eye contact is always appreciable until and unless it is not intimidating. To be cautious is the best approach. Professional boundaries are necessary to be maintained as some patients need more therapeutic touch like hugging and hand-holding as compared to others. Mary’s cultural needs and preferences must be respected before this therapeutic touch (Queensland Australia 2015). Furthermore, Mary’s culture is focused on community and family relationships. Thus, due to her family kinship structures, decision making will always need the input of her family members, certainly her daughter Merrilyn Ascott who has been with her since admission (University of South Australia 2018).

Moreover, the healthcare professional needs to participate globally providing exciting and stunning opportunities to partner, learn, collaborate, innovate, and build capacity (Frumkin, 2016). To work with international partners and practicing overseas enhances the career and even makes the professionals thrive with professional and intellectual opportunities and relationships (Baltzell, McLemore, Shattell & Rankin 2017). It is like bringing scientific oxygen towards the healthcare system. The health professional experiencing global environment helps in improving own system of healthcare. Experiencing global systems is like an educational opportunity (University of South Australia 2018). To be a health professional does not essentially means to practice healthcare service beyond the national borders. It also means to be a health professional in one’s own community. With global perspective and experience, the health professionals get the opportunity to grow and serve more. The health professionals need to be aware of the global health environment and excel in their skills and knowledge for better outcomes (Baltzell et al. 2017).

The global nurse is the healthcare demand. The global nurse is culturally sensitive, and collaborative, and also understands the health conditions such as heart disease, obesity, cancer, infections and diabetes having no borders (Frumkin, 2016). The global nurse acknowledges that the technology has developed the smaller world where people are having instant contact and keen to share information. The global nurse also knows about the happenings in different parts of the world. Everyone’s health is interconnected globally and the nurses are particularly important to care about global health and environment (Baltzell et al. 2017). Nursing is truly integral towards the global health definition. The registered nurses can play the crucial role in providing care, shaping healthcare policies, and developing the best-case scenarios to improve patient life and to build the nation’s health capacity. There are endless possibilities for nurses within global health environment (Frumkin, 2016). It ranges from the provision of wider educational role towards the conduct of research within a focused way. This way a difference can be made. The nurses bring about a patient-centred focus towards the global health team (University of South Australia 2018).

The entire healthcare profession is altering and has also gone via various modifications in the last one decade. For this reason, the nurses specifically hold the power as well as the social consciousness in influencing the basic health care and social services. This is the key reason that the nurses must conceive the wider global picture (Jogerst, Callender, Adams, Evert, Fields, Hall, Olsen, Rowthorn, Rudy, Shen & Simon 2015). They need to master the global competencies, a deconstruction in the long held values, nursing policies, faculty knowledge, and broader nursing education and research which are highlighted as the key factors. The global health improvement is a daunting task with multiple obstacles. The nursing professionals are poised towards the concept of meeting the challenges of care provision in the chaotic and under-resourced healthcare environments and to manage the healthcare demands due to work force shortages (Baltzell et al. 2017). Moreover, global health concept is required to adapt to technological advances to deal effectively with safety and quality issues. This is the reason that greater and wider collaboration is being promoted across disciplines and borders. In true sense, ingenuity and creativity are the key survival currency. For this, the nurses need to be encouraged for designing newer ways for delivering care that is suitable for global health needs (Jogerst et al. 2015). It has been found that the nursing system in the north integrated certain global and international health concepts towards the nursing curriculum. Nonetheless, there is a key focus over integrating clinical topics like worldwide spread of communicable diseases (Frumkin, 2016), requirement for the evidenced-based nursing interventions, addressing cultural diversity issues, and requirements of the vulnerable populations. Thus, healthcare professionals need to be globally competent to manage and care people from diverse cultures and healthcare needs (Baltzell et al. 2017).

The range of literacy that is promoted and made essential to become an effective healthcare professional in the global environment is broad and sustainable. The accredited schools of public health worldwide provide various degree courses, certificate courses, and concentrations in global and international health (Frumkin, 2016). Every healthcare institution with their global and international health program holds slight nuances like their interest area or local speciality need-based. To fit into the global health requires the literacy in healthcare finance and economics, public nutrition and food security with key perspective (Jogerst et al. 2015). Moreover, the educational proficiency in demography and medical anthropology, and complex humanitarian emergencies also helps in gaining knowledge beyond just nursing and local health requirements. The global environment has huge demand for advanced healthcare services and nursing staff for child and maternal healthcare (University of South Australia 2018). Thus, the maternal, child health as well as reproductive health-based educational degrees and certificates pay greater success. The global environment is paying great attention to the infectious disease epidemiology and control; and the international health policy and management (Jogerst et al. 2015).

Conclusion

The registered nurses are the forefront health professionals helping patients like Mary Young to achieve harmony in body, mind, and soul while engaging within the therapeutic relationship. This relationship demands consistent effective communication incorporating the caring behaviors. This type of healthcare environment is a win-win situation wherein the patient and the nurse experiences growth by sharing good moments with one another. The nursing profession holds a long history of service towards the global community. Globalization is highly advantageous to some people, certainly towards the members of the global wealthy classes, while it is quite often devastating towards disenfranchised, and poor.

References

Arnold, EC & Boggs, KU 2015, Interpersonal Relationships-E-Book: Professional Communication Skills for Nurses, Elsevier Health Sciences.

Baltzell, K, McLemore, M, Shattell, M & Rankin, S 2017, Impacts on Global Health from Nursing Research, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 96(4), pp.765-766.

Berman, Snyder, Levett-Jones, Dwyer, Hales, Harvey, Langtree, Moxham, Parker, Reid-Searl, Stanley 2018, Kozier and Erb's Fundamentals of Nursing, Volumes 1-3 Australian Edition, 4e, Pearson Australia, Victoria.

Frumkin, H 2016, Environmental health: from global to local, John Wiley & Sons.

Jogerst, K, Callender, B, Adams, V, Evert, J, Fields, E, Hall, T, Olsen, J, Rowthorn, V, Rudy, S, Shen, J & Simon, L 2015, Identifying interprofessional global health competencies for 21st-century health professionals, Annals of global health, 81(2), pp.239-247.

Kourkouta, L & Papathanasiou, V 2014, Communication in nursing practice, Materia socio-medica, 26(1), p.65.

Levett-Jones 2018, ‘Communicating’, in Berman, A, Snyder, S, Levett-Jones, T, Dwyer, T, Hales, M, Harvey, N, Langtree, T, Moxham, L, Parker, B, Reid-Searl, K, Stanley, D, Kozier and Erb's Fundamentals of Nursing, vol. 2, 4th Australian edn, Pearson Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 497-498.

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2016) Registered nurse standards for practice in Australia.

Queensland Australia 2015, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural capability, Available at-https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/151923/communicating.pdf

University of South Australia 2018, Library Guides: Nursing, "Evaluating Literature", Available at- http://guides.library.unisa.edu.au/cc.php?g=455774&pp=5733086