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Registered Nurses (professional designation "RN"), are health care professionals who are responsible for implementing the practice of nursing through the use of the nursing process. Registered Nurses also, in concert with other health care professionals, are responsible for the medical treatment, monitoring, safety, and recovery of acutely or chronically ill or injured people, the health maintenance of healthy individuals, and the on-going treatment and assessment of life-threatening medical emergencies in a wide range of health care settings (hospitals, out-patient clinics, schools, home health, and private duty nursing, for example).
Supervisory nursing role
In addition to the described above tasks, Registered Nurses are often assigned the role of supervising tasks performed by Licensed Practical Nurses, orderlies, medical assistants, certified nurse assistants, and certified medication assistants. However, the primary task and the primary responsibility of a Registered Nurse remains to provide direct care and make decisions regarding plans of care for individuals and groups of healthy, ill, and injured
Academic requirements
Some Registered Nurses may have a BSN (a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree), which makes specializing in fields such as psychiatry (psychiatric nurse) or anaesthesiology more feasible, but in many states the two-year college degree (often called an Associate of Science in Nursing) or a three year hospital diploma is sufficient for those entering the profession. Regardless of degree, they have many hours of clinical practice and experience and must pass the NCLEX-RN test in order to apply for the RN license.
Regardless of which academic path chosen, much research has shown that RNs are the first-line of defense of hospitalized patients against disability or death from infection, cardiopulmonary arrest, and other serious medical symptoms or complications. Many studies also suggest that higher ratios of Registered Nurses to patients (1 nurse to 4 patients, for example, rather than 1 nurse to 6 patients) contributes to improved detection of certain complications of illness (and may also contribute to lowering patient mortality rates).
Evolving role in health care
In recent years, the role of Registered Nurses has evolved to include RN's as educators, managers, executives, therapists, intensive care experts, symptom managers, professional mentors, and researchers. In hospitals, Registered Nurses perform diverse roles such as writing policies, responding to emergencies, managing professional, technical, and ancillary staff, determining budgets, performing strategic planning, and supervising construction projects.
Many nurses pursue voluntary specialty certification through professional organizations and certifying bodies. A Registered Nurse certified in critical care will have the additional professional designation, "CCRN"; in school nursing, the designation is "NCSN"; in oncology the credential is "OCN", and the designation "WOCN" signifies certification in wound, continence and ostomy care, for example. Similar acronyms are used for certification in many other nursing specialties.
The scope of practice of Registered Nurses
Registered Nurses work to promote health, prevent disease, and help patients cope with illness. They are advocates and health educators for patients, families, and communities. When providing direct patient care they observe, assess, and record symptoms, reactions, and progress in patients (in writing, in the medical record); assist physicians during surgeries, treatments, and examination; administer medications; and assist in convalescence and rehabilitation.
RNs are the largest group of healthcare workers in the United States, numbering over 2.6 million. It has been reported that the number of new graduates and foreign-trained nurses is insufficient to meet the market-place demand for Registered Nurses; this is often referred to as the labor shortage in nursing (or, more simply, the nursing shortage), and it is expected to increase for the foreseeable future.
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See also
"Registered Nurse"