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Roles of the Professional Nurse

Erica S. Wilson

Nursing 3192 Professional Development Perspectives

Fall, 2014

School of Nursing

Columbus State University

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Roles of the Professional Nurse

When caring for patients in any healthcare setting the role of the Registered Nurse

is one that is multifaceted. We must first understand what nursing is and how those roles

are interrelated. The American Nurses Association defines nursing as, “…the

protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness

and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human

response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and

populations (Nursingworld.org, 2014)”. Often times as the nurse assesses and

reassesses the needs of the patient the role of the nurse may change dramatically to meet

those needs. This is because there are several roles of nursing that could apply to any one

situation related to patient care. As nurses we must shift those roles to ensure that we are

providing the best care available to our patients.

The Caregiver

The role of the caregiver is the role that is most frequently encountered by the

patient and also one of the most associated roles of the nurse. The role of the caregiver is

also one of the most intricate roles of the patient’s care team and this role encompasses

all eight of the roles of the professional nurse. The nurse in the caregiver role at some

point will be the advocate, the critical thinker, the teacher, the communicator, the

manager, the researcher and the rehabilitator. The nurse as a caregiver in the healthcare

setting essentially takes on the role of a family member. The role of the nurse as a

caregiver may include problem solving, medication administration, and adjusting the

patient’s plan of care to meet the needs of the patient at that time (Caregiver, 2014). The
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caregiver may also take on roles to ensure that the patient’s insurance is available for post

discharge needs such as home health services and or access to community health

programs (Caregiver, 2014).

The Advocate

The nurse role as the advocate is one of the most important roles. There are some

patients that we encounter that don’t have voices and as a member of their healthcare

team we must use our voices to convey their needs. The nurse advocate is viewed as a

vital role for nursing and patient care (Hanks, R, 2010). When dealing with patients who

are in the healthcare setting the nurse in the advocate role should be ensuring patient

safety, respecting the patient’s wishes and acting on behalf of their wishes to gear their

care. When taking care of our patients we must ensure that we are caring for them as a

whole.

The Critical Thinker

The critical thinker is a trait found in all roles of nursing. Critical thinking and

problem-solving skills are progressive and refined through life-long learning and

experience (Lemire, 2002). The nurse as the critical thinker must be able to apply

knowledge learned from all sources to care to promote best practices. With all of the

roles of nurses being interrelated it’s a necessary trait to be able to apply their critical

thinking skills to patient care. Nurses may encounter a situation that requires skills

gained from previous nursing experience to apply to saving a patient’s life.

The Teacher

The teacher is a role that can either be the education of the patient or the

education of a new nursing force. The nurse educator should, “exemplify the various
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models including role modeling, providing vision, helping students to learn, challenging

the system or status quo, and seeking relational integrity (Nurse Education in Practice,

2013)”. Being able to help both students and patients learn is a truly important piece of

nursing care and a truly important role in nursing. Being an effective teacher also means

being an effective leader, critical thinker, and caregiver as well, further demonstrating the

interrelation of the nursing roles.

The Communicator

Effective communication is one of the most important pieces of nursing care. If

the nurse is unable to convey important directions and or pertinent information it could

result in dire consequences in certain situations. Communication is found in all roles of

nursing. To be an effective leader or teacher one must possess the skill of

communication. The nurse as the communicator acts as a facilitator of information from

the patient to the care team, student to teacher, and leader to staff. This can aid in the

patient being able to convey their thoughts and wishes, the student being able to

understand the information being conveyed by the instructor, and the leader being able to

convey their vision to their staff.

The Manager, Researcher, and Rehabilitator

Being able to lead staff, and patients throughout the course of nursing is

important. Nurses need to be able to manage projects for the application of the

information found to improve best practices in the form of research. The nurse in the role

of manager should be able to lead his or her staff into directions that will improve the

outcomes of patient care. The rehabilitator is the nurse role that encompasses bringing

the patient back to their state of health prior to their admission.

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Conclusion

The role of the nurse is one that is as fluid as the situation that the nurse may find

himself or herself in. At any point the nurse may be any one or all of the roles previously

listed to ensure that the patient that is currently being cared for is receiving the best care

available. The nurse must remain competent in care and best practices in order to shift

between the roles. The nurse is the most visible person of the patient’s healthcare team

and with that visibility some roles overlap making the presence of the nurse on the

healthcare team most important.

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Reference:

What It Takes to be a Caregiver. (2014, March 5). Retrieved August 24, 2014, from
http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003199-pdf.pdf

Hanks, R. (2010). The medical-surgical nurse perspective of advocate role. Nursing

Forum, 45(2), 97-107. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6198.2010.00170.x

Lemire, J. (2002). Leader as critical thinker. Nursing Leadership Forum, 7(2), 69-76.

Adelman-Mullally, T., Mulder, C., McCarter-Spalding, D., Hagler, D., Gaberson, K.,
Hanner, M., & ... Young, P. (2013). The clinical nurse educator as leader. Nurse
Education In Practice, 13(1), 29-34. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2012.07.006