Functions of health, medical and welfare facilities and the role of nursing
Different places do different jobs. A hospital treats serious illness and surgery. A clinic offers check-ups and minor care. A health centre looks after prevention, vaccination and community health. A care home or welfare facility supports older or disabled people who need daily help.
In each, nurses observe, care, teach, coordinate and protect safety. A student must learn the place's rules, the team (doctors, other nurses, therapists, social workers) and who to report to.
Understanding the client
The client is the person receiving care. Understand four sides: body (illness, pain, vital signs), mind (feelings, worries, understanding), family and social life (who helps, money, work) and life story (habits, beliefs, what matters to them).
Collect information by observation, talking, measuring (temperature, pulse, blood pressure) and reading records. Keep all information private.
Communication in nursing
Communication includes words, tone, face and body. Good habits: greet and use the person's name, sit at eye level, listen without interrupting, ask open questions ("How are you feeling?"), use simple words, check understanding and respect silence.
Barriers: noise, hurry, jargon, pain, hearing loss, language differences. Fix them: quiet place, slow speech, written notes or an interpreter. Always get consent before care and protect privacy.
Assisting daily living
Daily living includes cleanliness (bed bath, mouth care), eating and drinking, moving (turning, sitting, walking), toilet, dressing and sleep. Steps for every task: explain, prepare, wash hands, protect privacy, help only as needed, watch the patient's face and body, make them comfortable, clean up, record.
Safety rules: bed rails and brakes, safe lifting with a straight back, checking water temperature, and preventing pressure sores by changing position.
Nursing process
The nursing process has five steps: Assess (collect information), Diagnose (name the nursing problem, such as "risk of falls"), Plan (goals and actions), Implement (do the care) and Evaluate (did it work?). It is a cycle: after evaluation you reassess and adjust.
Example: Assess: patient dizzy when standing. Diagnose: risk of falling. Plan: goal "no falls this week". Act: call bell in reach, help him stand slowly. Evaluate: no falls, so continue.
Students also write short care records and reflect after each day with their teacher.
Key formulas and definitions
- ADPIE = Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Implement, Evaluate
- Client = body + mind + family + life story
- Communicate: greet, listen, open questions, check understanding
- Daily care: explain, privacy, help as needed, safety, record
Worked examples
1. A patient says "I am fine" but looks pale and holds his stomach. What do you do?
Assess more: ask an open question ("Tell me how your stomach feels"), check pulse and temperature, and tell your supervisor. Do not accept words alone; observe too.
2. Write a short nursing-process example for a patient who cannot sleep.
Assess: awake until 3 am, noisy ward. Diagnose: poor sleep from noise. Plan: goal 6 hours sleep. Act: dim lights, earplugs, no tea after 5 pm. Evaluate: next morning ask how he slept.
3. You help an older man eat. List the steps.
Wash hands, sit him upright, check food temperature, explain what the meal is, give small bites at his pace, watch for coughing, keep him sitting after the meal, clean up and record how much he ate.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the Evaluate step, so no one knows whether the care worked.
- Asking only yes/no questions and missing the real worry.
- Doing a task for the patient that he could do himself.
- Writing guesses in records instead of facts.