How to be a Globally Competitive Nurse
Filipino nurses have always been known for their innate caring nature, and because of that, we have been well-sought for worldwide. The impact of being prepared before hitting the market on one’s job performance, job satisfaction, career development and advancement is very important. The unemployment problem of nurses here in the Philippines have made nurses to be in a rush to go abroad to be able to help their families financially. With this in mind, nurses often disregard one of the most important thing – preparedness to penetrate the global market.
Several incidents have shown that some Filipino nurses have committed major errors that brought about serious injuries to patients.Take for example, Nicanor Sindanum, a nurse in UK, who accidentally gave an asthmatic patient a salt cellar instead of a nebulizer. His patient asked him to hand her the inhaler and instead handed her a salt cellar. Colleagues also attested that Sindanum committed several mistakes such as feeding a patient who struggled to swallow and giving a patient who has low blood oxygen a nebulizer. Aside from that, the ward manager complained that Sindanum’s nurse’s notes are often incomplete. Sindanum is currently facing 15 charges relating to errors committed in the hospital. The case is still ongoing.
Last year, another Filipina nurse in the United Kingdom, Violetta Aylward, was caught on camera when she accidentally turned off a patient’s ventilator resulting to an irreversible brain damage to the patient. The patient, Jamie Merret, had requested that a camera be installed in her room because she was concerned about the care that she was receiveing from her nurse. Aylward’s license was suspended and she’s now prohibited to practice nursing in UK.
Knowing all these events, be reminded that an important aspect of being a nurse is committing to provide the best healthcare service. Nursing is more than a job. It is a service aimed at helping people improve their health and live better lives. As such, it is necessary to constantly work on improving your knowledge and skills. There are many opportunities for this. Continuing education seminars can help you in getting updates about certain diseases and procedures. There are also many training on different nursing skills. Even doing on-the-job training at a hospital is a good way of practicing the competencies of a nurse. Educational and professional networking are also becoming common. Learn from your peers and from other people who already have achieved a significant milestone in their career as a nurse. Join professional organizations and get insights from other nurses on how they approach certain nursing issues.
All these are equally important whether you plan to work locally or overseas. Keep in mind the reasons for doing the job and see to it that you are well-equipped. You wouldn’t want to commit errors that would compromise what you had hoped to achieve when you decided to be a nurse.
