They are organised through professional associations officially recognised by the public authorities. They must also have the corresponding official title that expressly enables them to do so, whether self-employed or employed.
Nurse Responsibilities
Nurses have the following daily responsibilities in their work:
- disease prevention,
- health maintenance,
- Care, rehabilitation and social integration of the patient,
- health education,
- Training, administration and research in nursing.
Roles of nurses
Nurses have these functions, basically: independent functions and dependent functions.
Independent functions
The independent functions of nurses are those related to the care of sick patients:
Prepare the room and bed for the reception of the patient and their corresponding accommodation. And provide a comfortable, orderly, clean and safe environment.
Or of the manoeuvres that the doctor needs to execute about the immediate attention in the consultation or service.
Monitor the distribution of food regimens. And carefully write down everything related to the diet and feeding of the sick.
Attend to the hygiene of the seriously ill and make their beds with the help of the clinical assistants.
Properly prepare the patient for interventions or explorations, carefully attend to the prescribed care, and follow the corresponding rules in postoperative care.
Dependent functions
The dependent functions of nurses and nurses are the functions delegated by the doctor:
The nurses exercise the doctor’s assistant functions, fulfilling his verbal or written instructions about the service—medication administration, special bandages and invasive techniques such as venipuncture.
Carry out careful observation of each patient. Collect in writing all those alterations that the doctor must know for the patient’s best care. Inform their superiors of any anomaly or deficiency they observe in the development of assistance or the provision of the entrusted service.
other functions
Assist medical staff in surgical interventions. Practice the cures of the operated and provide immediate assistance services in emergency cases until the doctor’s arrival.
Be in charge of and safeguard the files of medical records, files and other information necessary for the excellent order of the service or consultation. Take care at all times of the updating and accuracy of the data recorded in said documents.
Monitor the conservation and good condition of medical equipment and instruments. And in general, how many clinical devices are used in the Institution, keeping them clean, tidy and in perfect condition?
Fulfil the functions indicated in the Regulations of the health centres where they work.
Nurses’ Obligations
Nurses must respect patients’ freedom to choose and control their care in exercising their functions.
Patient consent
They must obtain the consent of the patient in advance before any intervention of theirs.
When the patient is not physically and mentally able to give their consent, they will have to obtain it through their relatives or relatives. They will never use force (physical or moral) nor allow others to use it to get the patient’s consent.
Assess the patient
The nurse will have to assess the physical and psychological situation of the patient before informing him of his actual or potential state of health, taking into account, at all times, that he is in a position and disposition to understand, accept or decide for himself.
If the nurse is aware that the patient is not prepared to receive the pertinent and required information, she should go to the relatives or relatives of the patient.
Avoid torture or suffering.
No nurse may participate in torture and methods that allow subjecting any human being to suffering sessions.
types of nurses
Nurses are responsible for general and specialist nurses with previous training and practice as resident nurses in nursing schools in their speciality.
resident nurse
A resident nurse is a nursing professional (University Diploma in Nursing or its recognised or approved equivalent in Spain) undergoing training as a resident in a health centre or hospital (teaching unit) accredited for the exercise of nurses. His speciality.
- The presidency’s purpose is to train nursing professionals to obtain the qualification of specialist nurses (nurses specialised in obstetrics, mental health, geriatrics or paediatrics, among others).
- The Law* regulates the titles of specialist nurses, the teaching units accredited for training (nursing schools), the duration of the movement, and the scheduled and supervised professional practice following the provisions of the training program.
- The purpose of all this is to obtain the knowledge, techniques, skills and attitudes of the corresponding speciality, simultaneously with the progressive assumption by the resident nurse of the responsibility inherent in the autonomous exercise of that speciality.
- Resident nurses sign a full-time employment contract with the health resource where they provide service, simultaneously committing themselves to receive training and a job that allows them to apply and perfect their knowledge and provides them with a scheduled professional practice.
- Once incorporated into their position, they begin their training under the supervision and coordination of the corresponding Teaching Commission.
- Resident nurses must be registered (when registering or deregistering) in the National Registry of Training Specialists, managed by the Ministry of Health.
nursing specialities
Nursing specialities are:
- Obstetric-Gynaecological Nursing (Midwife).
- Mental Health Nursing.
- Geriatric Nursing.
- Occupational Nursing.
- Medical-Surgical Nursing Care.
- Family and Community Nursing.
- Pediatric Nursing.
- Specific regulations
- Royal Decree 450/2005, April 22, on nursing specialities ( see online ). Regulates the qualification of these specialist nurses.
Code of Ethics of Spanish Nursing (Resolution No. 32/89 of the General Nursing Council, which approves the ethical standards that order the exercise of the Nursing profession in Spain as mandatory). Collects the ethical standards in the practice of the nursing profession.
