Observing best practices and good habits is essential to providing excellent healthcare. Practical nurses (PNs) are no exception: great ones need to follow established best practices to be successful and provide quality care. In addition to learning the clinical skills and gaining the knowledge necessary to become licensed, a Practical Nursing education from Prism Career Institute will teach you these best practices and good habits that will help you succeed as a PN. Here’s a closer look at the ones you’ll learn.
Nurse-to-Nurse Shift Change
Shift changes are also referred to by a variety of different terms, such as handoff or sign-out. No matter what your employer calls them, though, properly observing good habits during the changeover between shifts is an important practical aspect of being a good PN. Communication and accurate reporting are key, as confusion arising from unclear exchanges of information or missing data can negatively impact patients.
Infection Control Practices
In any medical setting, the risk of contracting an infection is an always-present risk to patients that PNs and other healthcare professionals must continuously work to minimize. The following remain some of the most important and factually supported best practices in the medical field for infection control purposes:
Hand Hygiene
Nurses and other medical staff should conduct proper hand hygiene after every interaction with a patient and upon entering and exiting a patient’s room.
Barrier Protection
This includes the use of gloves, gowns, masks, goggles, and more. All nursing personnel should utilize the proper barrier protection methods for each situation.
Decontamination
Like hand hygiene, it is necessary to continually maintain the cleanliness of all equipment, tools, appliances, and rooms to prevent the spread of infections.
Antibiotic Stewardship
This is a term that means proper usage of antibiotics in patients with infections. Certain infectious organisms have developed resistance to drug treatments and become prevalent in healthcare environments, partly through the overuse of antibiotic drugs. PNs should be aware of the proper practices for dealing with infections and antibiotics.
Care Rounding and Care Calls
Care rounding in hospitals and other healthcare environments can greatly improve patient satisfaction and reduces the number of times patients need to use their call lights. Keeping a good habit of care rounding will result in happier and healthier patients, so it’s critical for PNs. Care calls, on the other hand, occur after a patient has been discharged and are when nurses reach out to patients to check in on their condition, give any important healthcare reminders, and provide information and resources for their continued well-being.
Prepare for Success with Prism Career Institute
Developing good habits and following these PN best practices is a crucial step in the process of starting a successful career. To help you meet your goals, Prism Career Institute offers a Practical Nursing program at our campuses in Cherry Hill and West Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To learn how we can teach you the clinical skills and best practices you’ll need in the field, as well as help you prepare for your PN licensing exam, please contact us today.