Remove the Notion: Nurses Are Second To Doctors

What comes to your mind whenever you hear about word ‘nurse’?

 A person who are assistants and rely on doctors for their instructions. This is a negative perception as many of the patients see nurses working as robots for doctors but reality is that nurses have their own independent roles. Like doctors, they have also served years of health education, and passed the boards to practice in this profession so they are also professionals.

Many people also think that they are their servants. Many of the patients even use their call bell to get them to change the television channel, pour water or recline their beds- all the tasks that they could have done on their own. Some patients are unrealistic about what a nurse’s role actually is. Still, nurses are very resilient when they deal with such patients. They don’t realize that nurses make a difference in the lives of patients each and every day. Nurses affect the lives of people on daily basis. They are the eyes and ears when the Physician is not present. They also play a major role in the patient care. They are first line who meets the patients, comforts them, their family, and educates the patients about next steps to better health and recovery. Patient’s condition becomes better when they get a nurse for whole day that can listen their complaints, treat them with respect, and honour their dignity. Nurses touch the heart of the patients as they make them feel safe and “more like a human”. Nurses have the ability to change patients’ mood especially when they are going through trauma.

Nurses not only touch the heart of patients but also the heart of co-workers and the families of patients. It is said that nurses are doctor’s assistants but it is the gesture of nurses that make them different from doctors especially when it comes to deal with the patients’ family:-

·      Getting them a chair so they can sit next to their loved one,

·      Offering to get the weary spouse a cup of coffee or a cup of water

·      Encouraging them to hold the patient’s hand while they’re sleeping

It is very difficult for a nurse to help multiple patients and multiple families but still they manage everything so well. Thus, nurses must be appreciated, respected for the job they do and are just not assistants of doctors!