Primary care nursing provides patients with their first point of contact with the medical system. Nurses can diagnose, treat and manage conditions, and provide referrals if necessary. The field expanded due to a shortage of primary care providers, and nurses can work in various settings. Basic nursing includes routine exams, patient education, treatment plans, and ongoing management of medical conditions. Nursing schools offer certifications in basic nursing. Primary care nursing allows for long-term patient relationships and diverse patient care opportunities.
Primary care nursing is an aspect of the nursing profession that focuses on providing primary care to patients. Primary care is the patient’s first point of contact with the medical system: when a patient arrives at a doctor’s office seeking medical care, sore throat treatment, or other forms of medical care, they are interacting with a health care provider primaries. These nurses can diagnose, treat and manage a number of conditions independently or in consultation with a doctor and can also provide referrals to other doctors if a problem is outside their scope of care. If that sore throat, for example, is caused by tracheal cancer, the patient would be referred to an oncologist.
Nursing practice began to expand rapidly in many regions of the world in the late 20th century as the medical community recognized an acute shortage of primary care providers. Rather than telling patients to go to the doctor, the medical community began encouraging nurse practitioners and physician assistants to share the burden of primary care, providing training for these professionals so they could provide the same level of care that patients they expected from a doctor.
People can practice primary care nursing in a wide variety of settings. Some nurses work completely independently from their offices or make home visits. Others work in a clinical setting, collaborating with other care providers which may include other nurses and doctors, and may also work in the hospital. These nurses usually enjoy establishing a long-term relationship with their patients, serving as a contact whenever a patient has a medical issue.
Basic nursing includes routine exams and doctor visits, patient education, developing treatment plans for patients, implementing treatment, consulting with physicians, and the ongoing management of medical conditions. A diabetic, for example, might see this type of nurse for routine medical care and diabetes monitoring. Many of these nursing professionals are also interested in preventative care designed to keep patients out of the medical clinic, which can include education and routine screening to catch medical problems early.
Many nursing schools offer certifications in basic nursing to people interested in this field. Working as a primary care nurse provides an opportunity to make patient connections and experience long-term relationships that enable nursing professionals to follow up with their patients over time. It also provides very diverse opportunities for patient care which can range from washing a puncture wound in the office on Monday morning to participating in a sporting physical activity on Friday afternoon.
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