How Nurses Can Help The Health Care Industry by George Hutton

It's no secret that the health care industry is changing dramatically in the United States. With recent government changes, health care is set to undergo a dramatic increase in both the amount of people covered and the amount of things covered. Along with a rapidly aging population, this presents some problems, as well as a host of opportunities.

If you are registered nurse, or thinking of becoming one, then you will figure prominently in the new health care scenario. In this article I'll go over a few of the many ways that registered nurses can take a more active role in patient care in order to decrease the burden on hospitals and other health care facilities, as well as increase their own responsibilities and potential salaries.

The first thing to consider is that nurses are often the first line of defense. More than ever, with overflowing waiting rooms and emergency rooms, nurses can provide a vital service by taking as much information and data from the patients as possible. This can save lots of time and decrease the overall operating cost of any hospital or health care facility.

Another crucial role for nurses is to provide basic health treatments and strategies to patients that really don't need to see a doctor. Common ailments like the cold, minor cuts and bruises, can be adequately treated by nurses. This can do a great deal to lessen the burden and increase the value of treatment.

One way many hospitals are using nurses to attempt to decrease the amount of walk in visits is by setting up hotlines, staffed by trained nurses. Often times they find that a visit to the emergency room can be avoided, or postponed to a regularly scheduled doctors visit by a simple phone conversation. Often times people come to the emergency room because they really are unaware of what to do. A nurse hotline can alleviate this problem.

As many people are increasingly participating in managed care health plans, the average wait in the doctors office is growing by leaps and bounds. With adequately trained nurses, this can easily be alleviated. Nurse can take much more data regarding the problem from the patient, so the doctor doesn't need to spend as much time with them. This will decrease waiting time, and free up the doctor to see more patients in a given day.

Nurses obviously perform a much needed role in modern society. As health care becomes more and more important in the near future, nurses can help a great deal to increase the quality of health care and decrease the operating costs of health care facilities.