Nursing roles and responsibilities

Nursing

Nurses have a direct personal responsibility to help, serve, and care for others. This is true especially for nurses working in underdeveloped nations or with underserved, politically disenfranchised, or vulnerable communities. Yet nurses must take care not to generalize about working in underserved communities, because regardless of the socioeconomic factors, there will be significant cultural dimensions that need to be taken into account. Language, customs, and communication styles are all factors that will impact the delivery of care.

For example, a nation like India is itself a vast and diverse country with dozens of different languages and cultural groups represented. A nurse working in India must learn about the specific community. Mother Theresa, for instance, worked in Bengal, in the city of Calcutta. A nurse working in south India might encounter the Tamil people, who speak a language not even related to Bengali or even Hindi. Therefore, the nurse working in India has to respect the diversity within that nation. The role of the nurse in India is a complex and diverse one, involving leadership, collaboration, and the application of advanced training and evidence-based practice.

Respecting diversity must not come at the expense of ethics. Cultural relativism has its place, but not when it comes to practices that harm individuals. In India, the affronts to women are egregious, and nurses will be challenged to take a stance against injustices ranging from sati and dowry killings to rape (Mallick, n.d.). Other dangerous that potentially confront the nurse working in developing countries like India include the risk of contracting a contagious disease (Middleton, 2012). The role of the nurse in India is to deliver the best quality of care not only to individuals but also to whole communities. This is why the nurse must take care to refrain from getting infected, and must also take a stand against social injustice. A nurse remaining silent in the midst of social injustice is not fulfilling the obligations of a nurse to provide quality of care for the community.

The role of the nurse in India is also to serve as a leader to the nursing community there. This may entail teaching classes to local nurses in proper wound care or sanitation. Or, it may involve information dissemination within a community related to such things as prophylactics or the prevention of contagious illness. Generally, a nurse assumes the role of community nurse even if the nurse is not explicitly trained as a community nurse. The nurse who has an area of specialized training as an advanced practitioner is responsible for sharing that information with colleagues in India. Indian nurses will likely be working alongside the foreign nurse, and a collaborative environment is crucial for shared and mutual successes. The advanced practice nurse specializing in an area like radiology must also remain focused on the tasks at hand, including delivery of care to individual patients. In sum, the nurse working in India will be responsible for fulfilling a number of diverse duties. The job involves flexibility, patience, and a willingness to work with others in a team environment.

Depending on whether or not the nurse works for a private organization, a non-governmental organization (NGO), a faith-based organization, or a public health institution, there will also be specific organizational roles to fulfill and consider on a daily basis. The nurse may be in a position of leadership, or be subordinate to several other nurses or members of the medical community. In India, there may be a hierarchy of staff that is unfamiliar to a nurse from another country. Or, there may be a more flattened organizational hierarchy and structure. The organizational culture will differ depending on the health care setting, and there is no way for the nurse to be prepared for this other than to actually show up for work. Therefore, the nurse working in India needs to remain highly flexible and open-minded.

The greatest challenges to working as a nurse in India will not necessarily be culture shock, although culture shock may affect one's ability to cope with stress. If the nurse has left behind a family, then he or she will want to know that the contract has a termination date. When nurses arrive in India on an open-ended contract, there are many ways the individual can learn how to become entrenched in the community and avoid problems like culture shock. For example, there will be hobbies and social groups available for the nurse to network with others. Anything that helps the nurse learn about the local culture and customs is bound to reflect positively on the nurse's professional skills.