A day in the life of a nurse

A day in the life of a nurse If you ask your favorite nurse what a typical workday is like, you might get a laugh. No day is â€Å"typical† in the healthcare world, with all the different kinds of situations (both emergency and not) that you may be facing on any given shift. But if you’re thinking about becoming a nurse, it’s important to think about what to expect on the job. So based on stories of real-life nurses, here’s what you might expect to see and do on a typical shift. Nurses can work any time of day, but let’s look at a day shift’s responsibilities and tasks for a hospital nurse. The early wake-upMany daytime nursing shifts start early (often by 7 a.m.), so that means the snooze button is not your friend. Exercise, breakfast, coffee, shower- whatever the morning routine is, it may be happening well before the rest of the world is ready to motivate for the day. If you’re more of a â€Å"saunter in ten minutes late, check your email† kind of person , then nursing might not be the ideal career choice.Checking inA hospital isn’t like a factory, where one shift ends before another starts and no communication needs to happen. The night nurses and the day nurses are a team, and making sure that patients get seamless care means that there’s a daily handoff of information at the start of every shift. The day nurse gets intel on what happened overnight, if patients have specific needs, or if there’s anything important that the nurse needs to know for his or her shift. This is also a chance for the nurse to read up on any physician notes, examine patient charts, prepare for their roster of patients, and review assignments and instructions. This may include checking email, coordinating schedules for the day with doctors, arranging for particular tests, or setting up equipment. Basically, everything that will keep the shift better organized happens up front.This is also a chance for the nurse to check supplies and in ventory too, to make sure they have enough for a shift. This is especially crucial in the emergency room or intensive care wards, where a high-stress situation could arise at any time and when you least want to run low on basic supplies. Everything the nurse does for a patient is usually noted, updated, and charted right away- you don’t want to risk not making an important note on a patient, then getting sidetracked by something else.Morning roundsA lot can happen between shifts, so much of the morning is spent checking in with each patient (new or existing) and tracking their status. It’s common to do bloodwork in the morning, do glucose tests for diabetic patients, take vital signs, etc. Nurses also administer any scheduled medications for their patients during this time. If patients need to be prepped for procedures, it’ll often happen in the morning.Patients that are ready to be discharged from the hospital are ready for their exit procedures, like getting d octor sign-off, removing IVs or other equipment, processing any last tests (like vital signs or bloodwork to confirm that they can safely be discharged), and educating patients (or their family members) on any follow-up care needs.On these morning rounds, nurses also typically help their patients with daily living tasks, like eating breakfast (for patients who can’t do it themselves), bathing, going to the bathroom, getting dressed, or walking around.Mid-day/lunchLunchtime for nurses is rarely a set time period. Obviously eating lunch is necessary if you want to keep up your energy, but having the time to do it can be a luxury when you’re dealing with an endless list of patients who have immediate needs all day. Many nurses grab a quick bite somewhere nearby (either in the hospital or close by) when they can. Lunchtime could be cut short by an emergency or just a bustling schedule. Meal times and personal time during the day are definitely at a premium for nurses, depe nding on the workload and the type of facility where you work. A clinic with set appointments is likely very different from a hospital or urgent care situation, when you could be needed at any time. Strategic food (like something you bring from home and can eat fast if necessary, or food you can grab from the cafeteria) is key.Afternoon roundsMuch like the morning rounds, afternoon rounds are kicked off by a check-in process to see if there are new patients, if patients have been discharged, or if any patent’s status has changed since the morning. Nurses do a new round of checking in with each patient, reviewing their charts for updates, making notes as necessary, and again- keeping close track of everything happening with his or her patients. Afternoon is also time for a new round of meds being distributed to patients, as well as any follow-up tests or previously scheduled procedures. Nurses help prep the patients as needed.The afternoon might also include visiting hours, so nurses are often tasked with updating family members on a patient’s condition, educating them about what the patient’s medical needs will be once he or she leaves, and answering patient questions.For a post-surgical ward, nurses may also start seeing an influx of patients coming out of surgery and recovery. The nurse follows up with surgeons and physicians as necessary, setting up each patient for his or her next tests, procedures, or milestones. The nurse is also likely to help with things like changing bandages or dressing and ensuring that these post-surgical patients are comfortable.And if there’s time in between all of these many tasks, the afternoon may have some chances to catch up on administrative tasks like patient charts, making notes, or email. But like with lunch or personal breaks, there’s never really a guarantee that the nurse will have a full chunk of time to sit down and attend to these things.Checking outJust like at the beginning of t he day, the end of the day sees the shift handover process between day nurses and night nurses. There’s the nurse-to-nurse download of information, either in person or via detailed notes and patient charts. The day isn’t over just yet- the nurse needs to make sure that the transition to the next shift goes just as seamlessly as his or her own shift started in the morning so that patients are getting consistent care. That means checking and double-checking the patient information to make sure everything’s as accurate and clear as it can be.Before leaving, the nurse may also start prepping for the next day’s shift: reviewing appointments, checking email, reviewing assignments. At that point, the nurse gets to leave, only to start the process again in about 12 hours.What a nurse’s day is like can vary in a few different ways. For example, a home nurse will have a different set of tasks than a hospital nurse, who will have a different day than a nurse in a private practice. And no matter what a nurse does and where he or she does it, there’s always the unpredictability of working in the medical world. You always need to be sharp, and ready for emergencies or urgent needs- patients don’t care if you were out late last night or if you really just need a mental break for a few minutes to clear your head. It’s an incredibly demanding field, but can be a highly rewarding one.And if you’re thinking about taking on this daily nursing life, we have the tools to help you get started.How to Become a Labor and Delivery NurseThe Complete Stress Management Guide for Nurses14 Things You Need to Know as a New NurseTop 3 Survival Traits of New NursesJob Spotlight: Clinical NurseCreate a Winning Registered Nurse ResumeHow Long Does It Take to Become a Nurse?What You Need to be a Stellar Nurse

EEA environment of evolutionary adaptation Essay Example

EEA environment of evolutionary adaptation Essay Example EEA environment of evolutionary adaptation Paper EEA environment of evolutionary adaptation Paper Since males are motivated to maximise their reproductive success also, they need to first display their willingness and ability to provide what the choosy female needs, from which they may be selected as suitable this is known as INTRA-SEXUAL selection, whereby males must compete amongst themselves to be selected by the female i.e. the female has evolved to become the choosier of the sexes, since she has more to lose. However, the male, in attempting to maximise his reproductive success must also safeguard his investment (time, effort, resources, etc) by selecting a female who can give him what he needs beautiful and healthy children who will survive to reproduce themselves. However, reproduction is not the sole motivator for relationships because some couples may not want to have children and in some other relationships (gay and lesbian relationships) it is physically impossible to have offspring naturally, also couples that have children from previous relationships may not want to have any more children, therefore the theories can not be applied in this situation. INTER-SEXUAL selection may also be used to explain human mate choice and gender specific preferences, whereby each sex has evolved success criteria for the opposite sex, based on what they need from one another. From here, both males and females accept or reject a potential mate, i.e. since females have evolved to become choosier, males might be motivated to display such characteristics, whilst females must also indicate their viability as a potential mate to ensure her own reproductive success. Such selection in both sexes leads to definite preferences for a mate males use indicators of viability and fertility and so look for signals of this, including youthfulness and health. Females, in contrast motivated by their need for provision search for indicators of this, looking for status and resources, together with a willingness to invest. This is, again thought to be based on sex differences in parental investment. Buss (1999) to some extent magnified the gender differences and failed to highlight the many similarities between genders, e.g. the fact that kindness and inelligence were rated as equally important by both genders. The links to a criticism levelled at many evolutionary psychologists, which is that they are highly selective in their use of research evidence, which brings its validity into question. Since it seems that both males and females have definite preferences in mind, and given that when advertising themselves in lonely hearts males and females tend to emphasise what it is we think the opposite sex wants, it is worth noting that certain signals are given out by both males and females in their everyday lives. For example, waist to hip ratio (valued by men) can be emphasised by women using belts, shapewear, etc. Upper body strength in males can be shown by tighter fitting clothes, shoulder pads, etc However, a lot of signals can be dishonest and therefore indicate a good body, youthfulness and trying to make yourself seem more attractive, examples of these dishonest signals is plastic surgery, you can cover up wrinkles and ageing by having plastic surgery this can trick your potential partner to think you are more attractive and younger than you actually are. Makeup can cover imperfections and attract males. The origins of human reproductive strategies is thought to be the EEA environment of evolutionary adaptation. During this time, males who mated with young ( therefore more fertile) females would have enjoyed greater reproductive success. Similarly, females who selected high status males who were capable and willing to invest their resources would have, in turn, become more reproductively successful. Therefore modern day reproductive behaviours operate by accepting or rejecting potential mates on their perceived ability to fulfil our evolutionary needs.

Saudi Arabia water problem Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Saudi Arabia water problem - Term Paper Example According to Bragg and Bragg (2005), the oceans contain about 97% of the entire water on the earths’ surface; in Saudi Arabia, water has been supplied in three forms, mainly surface water, which accounts for about 10%, the underground aquifers that provide the majority percentage of more than 80%, and the various desalination plants, which provide about 5% of water. The availability of essential water supply continued to deplete and the water resources become limited, prompting the adoption of desalination plants. Natural resources define all the resources that occur freely within the environment that exist in a natural form, such as natural forests, minerals, water, and natural gases. 1. Background Desalination refers to the several processes of conversion of salt water to fresh water through the removal of salt and other minerals. Several approaches are used to treat seawater including thermal evaporation of seawater and use of modern desalination plants, osmosis in reverse. Nanomembranes are filters made from organic polymers with less thickness that are used to separate the liquids and gases at the molecular levels. Such technology is also used in desalination of seawater, purification of polluted water, and the removal of carbon dioxide and other pollutants from exhaust gases. The modern technology adopted in Saudi Arabia has enabled the exploitation of underground water by companies such as Saudi Aramco, an oil company, and hence increasing availability of water in the country. 2. Desalination process In Saudi Arabia, there has been water scarcity because of the rising population, which led to the adoption of desalination technology through the development of modern polymer materials producing semi-permeable membranes, which allow selective passage of water and other ions. The technology is categorized according to content extracted (water or salt from the main stream), separation process, and the energy used in the entire process (Anon, 1997). Eva porative processes have been used for extraction of fresh water from the mainstream. Such evaporative desalination processes consist of various methods. Multi stage flash (MSF) method involves the evaporation of seawater in chambers with low pressure as compared to the vapor pressure. The low-grade steam from the turbines heats the tubes within the distiller, which heat the seawater intake. The heated seawater then passes into low-pressure vessels, and boils into steam. The steam is condensed on heat exchanger tubes, which are cooled by the incoming water, feed to the heater. The conversion of seawater to steam depends on the pressure maintained within the vessel. In multiple effect distillation (MED), condensing steam heats tube bundles, resulting into evaporation. The vapor produced is used as steam in the next chamber operating at low pressure and temperature (Micale, Cipollina and Rizzuti, 2009). B. Nano membrane technology