The role of the nurse has never been static. Patients’ needs are constantly evolving, and the conditions in which nurses are called on to provide care can never really be predicted. For centuries, nurses have had to adapt and improvise, and respond to patients’ needs wherever, whenever, and however, they may arise. Luckily, nurses have always risen to the challenge.
Nurses today are no different. What is different, however, is the scope of the change the nursing profession currently faces. From profound labor shortages and shrinking budgets to surging demand, the role of the nurse is evolving faster and more significantly than ever before.
Taking the Lead
The shortage of health care providers in the US is a real and worsening problem. Indeed, it’s currently estimated that, by the year 2032, the shortage of physicians may exceed 100,000. This shortfall will have a devastating impact on patients and practitioners alike.
However, nurses are increasingly stepping in to mitigate the impacts of the intensifying labor shortage. Many are pursuing advanced degrees to step into the care gaps created by the physician shortage. In many states, for example, family nurse practitioners (FNP) are authorized to provide cradle-to-grave care, often stepping into roles that the family doctor or primary care physician would traditionally fulfill.
This means that FNPs and other nurses holding advanced degrees are increasingly empowered to take the lead in patient care by ordering tests, prescribing medication, and implementing treatment strategies without the authorization of a physician.
In addition, advanced practice nurses can increasingly be found at the helm of health care networks, developing and instituting management strategies to optimize patient care and health system efficiency.
At the same time, these nurse leaders are conducting research and overseeing clinical trials. Now, more than ever, nurses are the caregivers on which the health system depends, and they’re simultaneously the driving force behind medical knowledge, health system management, and evidence-based practice.
The Role of Technology
Patient care has always been and will always be the heart of nursing. But it has never been the entirety of the role, and that is especially true today as technology assumes increasing importance in health care.
Today’s nurses are required to provide comfort and care at the patient’s bedside and translate caregiving into the digital domain. Though telehealth technologies long predate the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, the platforms have achieved unprecedented prominence in the wake of the outbreak.
Telehealth encompasses a range of remote care strategies and techniques, from video and telephone conferences between patients and their health care providers to remote patient monitoring through medical wearable devices.
Nurses are expected to serve patients through digital platforms without sacrificing the compassionate, empathic care for which nurses are so esteemed. On top of that, nurses are also expected to leverage technologies to better provide evidence-based care.
In the face of increasing demand and decreasing budgets, value-based care has never been more important, and data analytics is the key to this. This means that nurses in advanced practice roles must use health information systems to develop evidence-based, best practices for patient care.
From the Clinic to the Community
Nurses have always played a vital role in the community. But the importance of nurses to the community has never been more apparent than in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. As infection rates surged and health systems worldwide threatened to collapse under the weight of the pandemic, nurses stepped into roles they likely never would have imagined.
From improvising makeshift testing facilities in public parking lots to providing community education on disease detection and prevention through social media, nurses have quickly become the public health leaders of our time. As the impacts of the pandemic linger and fears of future infectious disease outbreaks persist, it is unlikely that the very public role nurses assumed during the height of COVID will subside anytime soon.
Thus, as the role of nurses continues to evolve, community engagement, public health education, and health policy leadership can be expected to become an increasingly significant aspect of the profession.
The Takeaway
For far too long, nurses have been the unsung heroes living among us. But their role in the health care industry is rapidly evolving as the labor shortage worsens, budgets tighten, and patient demand grows. Today’s nurses are now called upon to step into the gap left by the physician shortage, pursue advanced education, and take the lead in patient care.
They’re also increasingly integrating technology into their clinical practice, from using telehealth systems to provide patient care, to deploying health information systems to facilitate data-driven decision-making. Although they may be juggling plenty of tasks, nurses will forever play a role in communities across the world which will eventually prove the best for global public health.
