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LPN to RN Transition
LPN to RN Transition
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Introduction
The medical field is among the few industries that are continuously growing and it needs new professionals who can fill numerous positions that exist. Nursing has now become the fastest growing profession within the healthcare industry. Many people have the notion that a nurse is nurse but this is not always the case. Even though licensed practical nurses and registered nurses sound similar, they very little in common when it comes to their job tasks, salary ranges and education paths (Claywell, 2009). There are different licensing and designation for LPNs and RNs. None of these is more important compared to the other, but they are all critical in nursing and quality care of patients.
Role differences between LPN and RN especially those with BS degree
Nursing process
The nursing process comprises of four main steps which are assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. The roles of the LPN are limited in each of these four steps but they can not perform them independently or completely. On the other hand, the RN performs the first physical assessment of a patient who has been newly admitted. It is also the duty of the RN to carry out daily assessment on the patients. The LPN is supervised by an RN or physician. The LPN only performs her duties as far as she is allowed by the law. Even though an LPN can learn quickly while doing the job, and gain knowledge on the conditions of patients, they are not allowed to do anything without a direction from an RN (Nunnery, 2010). They do not do assessments on patients but can collect vital signs from patients such as blood glucose level and pain and keep the RN informed. An LPN is only supposed to take note of how a patient is and how they respond to stimuli but they are not expected to interpret the data or make decisions pertaining to the patient. The LPN is supposed to report any of their findings to the RN. The RN then determines how these readings are used in the clinical picture for patients and whether there should be changes made in the care plan (Claywell, 2009).
Care plan
The implementation of a care plan involves performing day to day care of a patient. For instance, the RN is expected to determine that a patient is likely to benefit from talking a walk three times a day and make it as an intervention in the care plan. However, the role of the LPN is to actually assist the patient in taking the walks. At the end of a shift, the RN evaluates the progress made by the patient towards the specific goals that would help in their recovery. The RN then makes adjustments dependent on the progress of a patient on the care plan (Claywell, 2009).
Critical thinking
The RNs have a role of developing a care plan and do nay necessary changes on the plans. LPNs on the other hand can only contribute to the plans but they do not actually create the plans. Care planning and evaluation needs an individual to have critical thinking skills. These include the ability of analyzing information, considering any medical conditions and putting this information together into the health status of a patient (Nunnery, 2010). Students learn these skills in nursing skills but they are not part of the LPN curriculum that mainly focusses on bedside tasks. The RN is always expected to see the big picture of every patient.
There exist major differences when it comes to the scope of practice between RNs and LPNs. Sometimes this gap is wider depending on training, level of education, certification and specific guidelines within a state.
Strategies and suggestions to transiting LPN/LVN to ensure success in new RN roles
Most of the LPNs end up becoming RNs after working for a period of time. It is important for the LPNs to ensure that they have a smooth transition from the LPN role to that of an RN. An LPN/LVN who wants to become an RN should first make sure that they get the required education. They require an extra form of training that will put them up to speed with the role of an RN and include it in their scope of practice. Another strategy is to ensure that they are keen in learning and grasping everything that is required of an RN. They are supposed always be attentive and learn from the RN who supervises them so that they can know what the practice entails (Claywell, 2009).
Conclusion
The RN scope of practice involves potentially dangerous and complex tasks like adjustment of doses on the basis of the condition of a patient: invasive procedures such as giving intravenous chemotherapy or insertion of central venous catheter. Nursing is a hierarchy that is dependent on education and skills of an individual, but no role should be deemed less of a nurse or taken for granted. Therefor both an RN and LPN have a vital role to play in patient care.
References
Claywell, L. (2009). LPN to RN transitions (2nd Ed.). St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby Elsevier.
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Bottom of Form
Nunnery, R. (2010). Making the transition from LPN to RN. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.
Low Voter Turnout in Texas
Low Voter Turnout in Texas
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Low Voter Turnout in Texas
Voting is an important part of citizen responsibility and most of the citizens do not take this seriously. However, some other voters take it seriously and go on to vote and elect their leaders. Of all the states of America including the district of Colombia, the lowest voter turn out has been recorded in Texas. This can be attributed to different issues which have taken place and which forms part of the history of the Texas state. Therefore, it is an important thing that the voter turnout is increased and different people and organizations have tried to increase the voter turn out with not fruits. This can be attributed to some fixed factors which cannot be changed. This paper discusses the issue of low voter turnout in the state of Texas, how this has affected the voting process and the cause of the low turnout as well as the different ways which this can be rectified and make sure that every individual who has attained voting age has the ability to vote and choose their leaders instead of just sitting at home when it is time to vote.
One of the many reasons why most Texans do not vote is the question of whether voting really matters and this lack of political efficacy makes it very difficult for the voters to change what they think needs to be changed. This is because with voting or no voting some things remain the same for the people and this includes things like trash pick-up fee which has remained the same and in the case of the state of Texas on the lower side. Therefore, some individuals who observe these issues and even other which politicians do not have a direct or the power to change decide not to vote at all because even if they vote the thinking or the mentality is that everything will remain the same. Therefore because of this, most of the individuals do not really vote and leave things as they are. However, this is not the only reason as to why Texans do no vote.
Other factors are the major parties dominating the state of Texas at different times and this had a negative impact on the state of Texas. For example, from the time of civil war the democratic party dominated the state of Texas and this made the people belief that every time there was a voting process it was going to remain the same that a democratic candidate was going to win and therefore this became very difficult for the people to trust the system could change. Therefore, most of the individuals stopped voting due to this reason. However, after a while the political wave changed and it favored the republican party since the 1990s. from the 1990s therefore it means that most of the Texans were not able to vote since every time they want to vote they remember that it is a republican who will win and therefore the motivation to vote gets lost.
Another reason why it is very difficult for most of the people in Texas to vote is the voters eligibility. The first and most important thing under this is that anyone within America who is not American cannot vote. This therefore makes the population which can vote less since some of them are not American even though they are in the state of Texas legally. Other are in the state of Texas illegally and this serves as an outright reason why they cannot vote. Children are also not allowed to vote and this affects Texas a lot since it has children covering more than a fourth of the total population. By children it means the population which has not yet attained the voting age of 18 years. After removing the population which cannot vote the voting population which remains is referred to as voting-eligible population (VEP). This population is low in Texas and therefore this accounts for the reason why it is very difficult to have Texas being on the top list of those states which vote highly.
Apart from the above-mentioned factors things like demography and socio-economic status also plays a very significant role in determining who votes and who does not vote. Firstly, older people are more likely to vote than younger people and this puts the young population at a place whereby their votes cannot be much dependable and because of this, the state continues to go down in the list of those who vote from the state (Cortina, & Rottinghaus, 2021). The other issue is that the native Texans are more likely to vote than immigrants from other states. This also puts the state of Texas down in the list of high voting states. Other factors like English proficiency are an important part which determines if the voters vote highly or rather come out in large numbers (Cortina, & Rottinghaus, 2019). Those with English proficiency are likely to vote more and better while those less in English proficiency are likely not to vote or just in low numbers.
The other very important determinant of the voter turnout are the rules in place regarding voting and the may verification processes. This puts citizens through unnecessary scrutiny and because of this most of the individuals do not undergo the process and give up (Morrow, 2015). On the other side it becomes too expensive to undergo all the verification processes and there is a lot of spending on the elections which is considered unnecessary (Cortina, & Rottinghaus, 2021). One of such ways of verification is the photo verification method. This means that according to the law any Texan was not allowed to vote unless they shown their photo, however this law was blocked by Obama government alongside other states which had come up with similar laws. This was a way to prevent imper-personification of the voters and increase transparency but it was considered too much.
Therefore, based on these factors it is clear that the low voter turnout has been in existence for a specific reason and this is a problem when it comes to the general united states elections since it is below the average voter turnout of the United States.
There have been many measures to increase voter turn out and one of the ways which has succeeded is the automatic voter registration. This means that when a person turns 18 they are automatically registered and this is done mainly using the drivers license. Even though this has been considered controversial for most of the part it has worked and there is seemingly a change in the voters which is being noticed (Cortina, & Rottinghaus, 2019). Help America Vote Act of 2002 was also an instrumental law which was passed and it has since then helped the voters very much as well as the states deal with problems which arise as a result of low voter turnout or other complications which arise during the voting process and period.
In conclusion, Texas has had a long history in regards to the manner in which voter turn out has been experienced. Even though it has been negative, there are efforts to end the low voter turnout and there are some goo positive results being seen. This gives hope that everything will be fine soon and a state of balance will be noticed.
References
Cortina, J., & Rottinghaus, B. (2019). Vote centers and turnout by election type in Texas. Research & Politics, 6(3), 2053168019864224.
Cortina, J., & Rottinghaus, B. (2021). “The quiet revolution”: convenience voting, vote centers, and turnout in Texas elections. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 1-21.
Morrow, S. (2015). Causes of low voter turnout of the hispanic population in southwest Texas (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
Low Health Literacy among Less Educated Older Adults
Low Health Literacy among Less Educated Older Adults
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Low Health Literacy among Less Educated Older Adults
Education plays a significant role in the lives of almost everyone. With older adults who have low levels of education, they must get to know about the current trends, especially in the health sector. However, that does not always happen, and these individuals, even though significant to society most of the time, are left out, and their health is never taken care of thoroughly. This comes as a result of them not following up on current news or adjustments in the health sector. Another reason they may not be conversant with the health issues is that they may be not connected to their children, or their children still either do not care too much about the parent’s health or do not follow up on current changes in the health sector. Therefore this paper discusses limited education as a factor that leads to low health literacy among older adults.
The reason for choosing this factor as a determinant of those who have less knowledge about their health is that low levels of education make it very difficult for a person to read about health matters. Also, how they can benefit from the different provisions already in place, especially for the older people. Having low levels of education also means that the person must have had a low-paying job and maybe did not save for the old age period. Therefore, why do not have any assurance or insurance that caters to their needs at old age? These individuals, therefore, have a difficult time managing themselves when it comes to health because, without the knowledge about something, it is challenging to benefit from such a thing. These older individuals with less education go through a lot before getting their health needs which are many at this stage addressed (Hahn & Truman, 2015). Older adults with less education can be approximated to those individuals who have only got the basic levels of education. In most times, these can be immigrants or those from marginalized areas.
Health issues
This is a contributing factor towards low levels of education as well as low levels of health knowledge. Most of the individuals who have health issues during their lifetime find they cannot fully grasp what their doctors or other assistants request them to do in terms of relation to their health. Therefore, these individuals, most of the time who are older adults, cannot fully understand what it means to take a particular medication within a given timeline or in a certain way, which continues to compromise their health in so many different ways. However, this happens when these individuals do not have an assistant. There are many kinds of policies, legislation, and guidelines for older adults who may have been influenced by health issues or are already being influenced by health issues. Due to that, their health literacy is deteriorating, or they could not achieve health literacy (Chesser et al., 2016). One of them is assigning these individuals a support system whereby they have a person look after them and ensure their health is at optimal health levels. The other thing is helping those who can still grasp some information about health issues to understand the basics about their health and what they can do to better their health in all possible ways in their age.
Ethical issues
When it comes to dealing with older people, ethics becomes a concern since these individuals have to be treated with the highest form of respect and assisted through everything to be healthy and better. This varies from the manner of handling to addressing them and considering different cultures from where they originate (Findley, 2015). Therefore, the ethical issue is that most of these older adults are from different cultures. The different cultures that other older adults are additional, and hence, there is a need to uphold the same in the hospital environment. The older people with less knowledge about their health aspirations, legislations, and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle most of the time tend to follow everything they might have heard before about health. Therefore, it is essential to address the issues they bring on board with a lot of care and respect. This enables them to leave behind the practices which they think are reasonable yet they are not good. Legislations in this area are that older adults should be treated with total respect and given all possible guidelines, they need to succeed in achieving a healthy status. Therefore health care officers should treat older people with a lot of care and help them through everything.
Technological issues
Most of the older people are not conversant with technology. Therefore, it brings a significant challenge to hospitals and even their caretakers because most health matters have been integrated with technology (CDC, 2009). Consequently, the provisions in this area are that these older people are trained on the basics about technology and how it relates to their health by their caretakers or nurses. Through this, a mutual benefit and understanding about technology are hoped to be achieved.
Cultural issues
Culture is part and parcel of a person. Therefore, older adults are likely to be more inclined to their cultures more, which brings cultural conflict with medical methods. Some individuals believe in traditional forms of treatment and therefore never go to the hospital; this is always a danger, and most people do not think about it, especially older adults. Even though some cultural practices are excellent and even help make the health of the individuals involved better, some others are a danger, and they make their health to be in trouble. The legislation in this area is that only positive health contributions of cultural practices are allowed (Hahn & Truman, 2015). Therefore anything that goes against the health provisions for older adults is to be scrapped, and the older adults are advised on how to use the scientifically proven methods to make their health better.
Interventions
Even though older healthy adults are faced with different issues and problems relating to their health, several interventions are already in place and others that can be put into practice to enable older adults to be in good health. Most of the interventions are encouraged by the medical field in conjunction with those who work closely with older adults. Therefore they try to help older adults be better in their quest for a healthy lifestyle.
Training the older adults on ways to live a healthy life means that the older adults are trained on the basics about keeping themselves clean and healthy throughout. This training may not require much and are possible since these older adults can grasp little information. Therefore, the movement in bits that are fully comprehensible and understandable to the older people is good. The activity also calls for practicals and being shown how to do different things to maintain their health.
They have caretakers for the older individuals. Most of these older individuals always need to be taken care of in case of those who need a person to keep close to them not to make a mistake about their health (CDC, 2009). Even though this can be expensive, the older adults need to be taken care of and given the total concentration that will enable their health to remain optimal.
Encourage the use of local dialects of English or a language that is familiar to them when they go to the hospital for the sake of expressing themselves. This also calls for a nurse or a medical officer with the same linguistic competence as the older adult to be present to listen and interpret this older adult’s needs. Some of these English dialects include Philadelphia English, Boston English, Chicago English, and so on.
When these individuals come to the hospital, having a person who stays with them or cares for them explains or expresses more profound what they need is a better way for them to address the issues that affect them.
Hospitals are keeping a record of the number of times the patient visits and therefore tracking the history of the older adult. This helps and enables the individuals to be better and their issues to be addressed efficiently.
Example
My grandmother has 80 years currently, and she stays with a caretaker. Her memory has deteriorated, and she cannot precisely remember everything about her health issues. She is an excellent example of a person who has low health literacy due to her medical condition.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). Improving health literacy for older adults: Expert panel report 2009. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services.
Chesser, A. K., Keene Woods, N., Smothers, K., & Rogers, N. (2016). Health literacy and older adults: a systematic review. Gerontology and geriatric medicine, 2, 2333721416630492.
Findley, A. (2015). Low health literacy and older adults: meanings, problems, and recommendations for social work. Social Work in Health Care, 54(1), 65-81.
Hahn, R. A., & Truman, B. I. (2015). Education improves public health and promotes health equity. International journal of health services, 45(4), 657-678.