Introduction

A common sight in any hospital is a ward nurse doing the rounds, ensuring the patients are as comfortable as possible. The doctor is responsible for the line of treatment and prescribing medicines but it is the sister nurse, who is the patient’s point of contact in any situation. Hence, it is important to know the expectations of a nursing home sister.

The primary responsibility of the nurse is to ensure that the patients are comfortable. They are a part of the team of health professionals responsible for the individual patient’s care plan. As they are the ones interacting the most with the patients, it is imperative that the ward sister is sensitive to the patient’s needs and acts as an advocate for the patient during team meetings.

A wardgirl’s daily duties may include carrying out tests and monitoring the vitals of the patients, keeping a tab on any specific medical condition, check with the doctors and other health professionals as per the requirement, assess the need for it and administer medicines as prescribed by the doctor. They also act as a liaison between the doctor and the patient and try to keep the patient comfortable.

The responsibilities of a sister nurse are more than that of a ward girl and include management tasks as well as ensuring cleanliness and hygiene in their wards. Although it is common to have females as nurses, it is not uncommon to have male sister nurses taking on these responsibilities.

Ward rounds are an established practice in all hospitals that help in ensuring proper monitoring and care of the patients. During the ward rounds, a team of health professionals visit each patients, checks their condition, assesses the situation and makes decisions as to any alteration that may be required in the ongoing line of treatment. Generally, the ward round includes professionals like doctors, physiotherapists, dietitians and other professionals as needed. It is critical to include the ward nurse in the team during ward rounds as they are the patient’s first point of contact and can speak on behalf of the patient.

Although there may be a lot of competing activities which need attention, and hence it is tempting to leave the sister nurse out of the ward rounds, experts claim this behaviour should be avoided at all costs, since their contribution can be invaluable for the treatment plan. Following is the list of areas where a ward sister can contribute during the ward rounds.

1. Patient’s View – The nursing home sister is expected to know all the details of the patients in their charge, and hence can act as their advocates in the ward round teams. Due to their greater interaction with the patient, they are most well versed with the patient’s point of view and hence, the ward girl is expected to prepare prior to the rounds.
2. Patient Assistance –Maintaining a patient’s dignity and privacy is of utmost importance to make them comfortable as staying in the hospital can be a trying time for anyone. This is why some patients may prefer to have a male sister nurse or female nurse as per their own gender and requirement.
3. Patient Movement – During their stay, the patient may need to be moved from one ward to another. For example, one may move from an intensive care unit to a respiratory ward to a general ward. It is important that the ward nurses in intensive care give a proper patient handover to the respiratory ward nurse.
4. Patient Knowledge – For a patient to be comfortable, they must have knowledge about their condition and treatment. For example in the previous instance, the respiratory ward nurse can explain to the patient what is expected and what will be the line of treatment.

We at Care24 ensure that you get the best of nursing assistance for your loved ones, with our rigorous screening process to hire and train only the most deserving candidates. Once you decide to use our services for a nurse, you can rest assured that all your expectations will be met including proper assistance, timely medications and proper observation of your loved one’s condition.