Nurse responsible for general care

A nurse responsible for general care

Description

A nurse responsible for general care is a health care professional qualified to practise nursing both individually and in cooperation with others.

Nurses responsible for general care are in charge of promoting and restoring patients` health by providing physical and psychological support to patients, friends, and families. They also supervise assigned team members.

Here are some typical tasks of nurses responsible for general care:

  • Perform thorough patient assessments upon admission and throughout their stay, monitoring vital signs, medical history, and symptoms.
  • Administer medications, treatments, and interventions as prescribed by physicians.
  • Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to develop and implement comprehensive care plans tailored to each patient’s needs.
  • Monitor and evaluate patients’ responses to treatments and interventions, making necessary adjustments.
  • Educate patients and their families about their medical conditions, treatment options, and self-care techniques.
  • Assist with the coordination of medical procedures, diagnostic tests, and consultations with specialists.
  • Administer wound care, dressings, and other nursing procedures to promote healing and prevent infection.
  • Maintain accurate and detailed patient records, ensuring proper documentation of assessments, treatments, and medications.
  • Provide emotional support and reassurance to patients and families during challenging times.
  • Foster a safe and comfortable environment, addressing patients’ physical and emotional needs.
  • Collaborate with healthcare professionals to ensure seamless transitions of care between units or facilities.
  • Respond promptly to emergencies and changes in patients’ conditions, initiating appropriate interventions.
  • Administer pain relief measures and assess pain levels, advocating for optimal pain management.
  • Promote infection control measures and ensure adherence to safety protocols.
  • Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of medical advancements, best practices, and regulations in nursing.
  • Serve as an advocate for patients, respecting their rights, values, and preferences in care decisions.
  • Provide health education and preventive guidance to patients, empowering them to manage their health.
  • Assist in patient discharge planning, ensuring continuity of care and appropriate follow-up.
  • Collaborate with nursing colleagues to ensure effective communication and teamwork.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to nurse responsible for general care:

practice nurse
learning disability nurse
community staff nurse
healthcarer
adult nurse
children’s nurse
mental health nurse
district nurse
children’s community nurse
ward nurse
healthcare nurse
ward sister

Working conditions

Nurses responsible for general care work in diverse healthcare settings, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home healthcare agencies. They often work long shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays, to ensure continuous patient care. The role can be physically demanding, involving standing for extended periods, lifting patients, and maneuvering equipment. General care nurses interact closely with patients, families, and healthcare teams.

Minimum qualifications

To become a nurse responsible for general care, candidates typically need to complete a nursing education program and obtain a nursing license. This involves earning an associate or bachelor’s degree in nursing and passing the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). Some nurses choose to specialize further through certifications or additional education. Clinical experience gained through internships, rotations, or entry-level nursing positions is valuable for building practical skills and confidence.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Nurse responsible for general care is a Skill level 4 occupation.

Nurse responsible for general care career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to nurse responsible for general care.

specialist nurse
advanced nurse practitioner
specialist biomedical scientist
specialist pharmacist
orthoptist

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of nurse responsible for general care.

  • Hygiene in a health care setting: The procedures related to maintaining a hygienic environment within a health care setting such as hospitals and clinics. It can range from hand washing to cleaning and disinfection of medical equipment used and infection control methods.
  • Health care legislation: The patients` rights and responsibilities of health practitioners and the possible repercussions and prosecutions in relation to medical treatment negligence or malpractice.
  • Biological chemistry: Biological chemistry is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.
  • Impact of social contexts on health: The social and cultural contexts of individuals` behaviours, and the impact on their health within their social and cultural context.
  • Patient autonomy: The patient`s safety, autonomy and rights to make the decisions about whether to follow a prescribed treatment or not.
  • Safe management of medicines: The methods and principles required to handle, store and prescribe medication with the aim of improving the safety and quality of medication usage.
  • General medicine: General medicine is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.
  • Surgery: The essential procedures in surgical practice such as the principle of safe surgery, the pathophysiology of wound healing, knot tying, tissue handling, retraction and any other instruments and procedures used in the operating room.
  • Human physiology: The science that studies the human organs and their interactions and mechanisms.
  • Adolescence medicine: Topics related to the adolescent period of development such as sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, contraception, substance abuse, menstrual disorders, acne, and eating disorders.
  • Geriatrics: Geriatrics is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.
  • Disability care: The specific methods and practices used in providing care to people with physical, intellectual and learning disabilities.
  • Citizen involvement in healthcare: The means and methods required to raise the participatory levels of the population in healthcare matters and strengthen their involvement.
  • Newborn care: The procedures required to take care of newborn infants immediately after their birth up to 28 days (WHO).
  • Pharmacology: Pharmacology is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.
  • Infection control: The routes of transmission and methods of preventing the spread of common and important infecting organisms together with the methods available for sterilisation and disinfection of pathogenic organisms in the prevention of infection.
  • Person centred care: The person-centered care approach involves treating patients as equal partners in the planning and developing of care, patients and their needs being at the core of all decisions.
  • Paediatrics: Paediatrics is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.
  • Sociology: The group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
  • Nursing principles: The ethics, the codes of conduct, the philosophy of nursing, the philosophy of human rights and nursing theories and concepts.
  • Resuscitation: The emergency procedure applied to individuals with no pulse to restore them to consciousness.
  • Public health: The principles of health and sickness affecting the population, including the means for health promotion and prevention and community and primary care.
  • Acute care: The type of care administered to patients for a brief and critical sequence of illness such as trauma or recovery from surgery.
  • Primary care: The regular, routine medical care provided to patients, usually performed by a physician or a nurse, that leads to a decision on the following course of action required to solve the health problem of the patient.
  • Human anatomy: The dynamic relationship of human structure and function and the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, endocrine, urinary, reproductive, integumentary and nervous systems; normal and altered anatomy and physiology throughout the human lifespan.
  • Pedagogy: The discipline that concerns the theory and practice of education including the various instructional methods for educating individuals or groups.
  • Evidence-based nursing care: The nursing principles that require to apply quality decision-making and nursing care based on proven clinical expertise as well as the most recent research developments in the field.
  • Innovation in nursing: The methods and tools used to bring about innovative changes and quality improvement in the nursing field.
  • Psychology: The human behaviour and performance with individual differences in ability, personality, interests, learning, and motivation.
  • Palliative care: The methods of pain relief and quality of life improvement for the patients with serious illnesses.
  • Leadership in nursing: The management and leadership principles and methods applied in nursing care, such as recognising and rewarding success to motivate nursing staff.
  • Nursing science: The factors that influence human health and the therapeutic interventions that promote health with the purpose of improving an individual`s mental and physical health.
  • Pathology: The components of a disease, the cause, mechanisms of development, morphologic changes, and the clinical consequences of those changes.
  • Scientific research methodology: The theoretical methodology used in scientific research involving doing background research, constructing a hypothesis, testing it, analysing data and concluding the results.
  • Dietetics: The human nutrition and dietary modification for optimising health in clinical or other environments. The role of nutrition in promoting health and preventing illness across the life spectrum.
  • First aid: The emergency treatment given to a sick or injured person in the case of circulatory and/or respiratory failure, unconsciousness, wounds, bleeding, shock or poisoning.
  • Psychiatry: Psychiatry is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of nurse responsible for general care.

  • Respond to changing situations in health care: Cope with pressure and respond appropriately and in time to unexpected and rapidly changing situations in healthcare.
  • Educate on the prevention of illness: Offer evidence-based advice on how to avoid ill health, educate and advise individuals and their carers on how to prevent ill health and/or be able to advise how to improve their environment and health conditions. Provide advice on the identification of risks leading to ill health and help to increase the patients’ resilience by targeting prevention and early intervention strategies.
  • Inform policy makers on health-related challenges: Provide useful information related to healthcare professions to ensure policy decisions are made for the benefit of communities.
  • Provide professional care in nursing: Provide professional care, adequate to the health and nursing care needs of the individuals, families and groups, taking into account the scientific developments, as well as the quality and safety requirements established in accordance with the legal/professional conduct regulations.
  • Contribute to continuity of health care: Contribute to the delivery of coordinated and continuous healthcare.
  • Use e-health and mobile health technologies: Use mobile health technologies and e-health (online applications and services) in order to enhance the provided healthcare.
  • Promote a positive image of nursing: Present and preserve a positive image of nursing in specific environments of the healthcare and educational spectra.
  • Empathise with the healthcare user: Understand the background of clients` and patients’ symptoms, difficulties and behaviour. Be empathetic about their issues; showing respect and reinforcing their autonomy, self-esteem and independence. Demonstrate a concern for their welfare and handle according to the personal boundaries, sensitivities, cultural differences and preferences of the client and patient in mind.
  • Empower individuals, families and groups: Empower individuals, families and groups towards healthy lifestyles and self-care.
  • Diagnose nursing care: A judgment based on a comprehensive nursing assessment.
  • Participate in health personnel training: Participate in the practical training of health personnel on the basis of the knowledge and skills acquired.
  • Implement fundamentals of nursing: Implement the nursing theoretical and methodological fundamentals and principles, basic nursing interventions on scientific evidence and the resources available.
  • Deal with emergency care situations: Assess the signs and be well-prepared for a situation that poses an immediate threat to a person’s health, security, property or environment.
  • Initiate life preserving measures: Initiate life-preserving actions by taking measures in crises and disaster situations.
  • Provide nursing advice on healthcare: Give advice to, instruct and support persons needing nursing care and their attachment figures.
  • Provide health education: Provide evidence-based strategies to promote healthy living, disease prevention and management.
  • Promote human rights: Promote and respect human rights and diversity in light of the physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs of autonomous individuals, taking into account their opinions, beliefs and values, and the international and national codes of ethics, as well as the ethical implications of healthcare provision, ensuring their right to privacy and honouring for the confidentiality of healthcare information.
  • Plan nursing care: Plan care, define nursing objectives, decide on nursing measures to be taken, paying attention to health education and preventative measures and ensuring continuity and fullness of care.
  • Manage information in health care: Retrieve, apply and share information among patients and healthcare professionals and across healthcare facilities and community.
  • Communicate effectively in healthcare: Communicate effectively with patients, families and other caregivers, healthcare professionals, and community partners.
  • Coordinate care: Coordinate care for patient groups, being able to manage a number of patients within a given amount of time and provide optimum health services.
  • Follow clinical guidelines: Follow agreed protocols and guidelines in support of healthcare practice which are provided by healthcare institutions, professional associations, or authorities and also scientific organisations.
  • Advise on healthy lifestyles: Promote healthy lifestyles, preventive measures and self-care by strengthening empowerment, promoting health and enhancing behaviours and therapeutic compliance, and providing patients with adequate information in order to support compliance with and adherence to prescribed treatments, medication and nursing care.
  • Adapt leadership styles in healthcare: Adapt leadership styles and approaches to different situations concerning nursing clinical practice and healthcare.
  • Apply person-centred care: Treat individuals as partners in planning, developing and assessing care, to make sure it is appropriate for their needs. Put them and their caregivers at the heart of all decisions.
  • Advise on healthcare users’ informed consent: Ensure patients/clients are fully informed about the risks and benefits of proposed treatments so they can give informed consent, engaging patients/clients in the process of their care and treatment.
  • Implement scientific decision making in healthcare: Implement scientific findings for evidence-based practice, integrating research evidence into decision-making by forming a focused clinical question in response to a recognised information need, searching for the most appropriate evidence to meet that need, critically appraising the retrieved evidence, incorporating the evidence into a strategy for action, and evaluating the effects of any decisions and actions taken.
  • Comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice: Apply quality standards related to risk management, safety procedures, patients feedback, screening and medical devices in daily practice, as they are recognized by the national professional associations and authorities.
  • Comply with legislation related to health care: Comply with the regional and national legislation that is relevant to one`s work and apply it in practice.
  • Listen actively: Give attention to what other people say, patiently understand points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupt at inappropriate times; able to listen carefully the needs of customers, clients, passengers, service users or others, and provide solutions accordingly.
  • Apply nursing care in long-term care: Enable the promotion and the development of nursing care in long term care, co-morbidity and in situations of dependency in order to maintain individuals’ personal autonomy and relationships with the environment in each moment of the health/illness process.
  • Solve problems in healthcare: Carry out actions, by previously identifying and analysing problems, that facilitate seeking the most beneficial solution for the patient, the family and the community, reaching objectives, improving outcomes and keeping the quality of their work.
  • Use electronic health records in nursing: Use electronic health records to document nursing assessments, diagnoses, interventions and outcomes based on comparable nursing classification systems and nursing taxonomy.
  • Apply health sciences: Apply a broad range of bio-medical, psycho-social, organisational, educational, and societal aspects of health, disease, and healthcare to improve healthcare services and to improve quality of life.
  • Manage personal professional development: Take responsibility for lifelong learning and continuous professional development. Engage in learning to support and update professional competence. Identify priority areas for professional development based on reflection about own practice and through contact with peers and stakeholders.
  • Adhere to organisational guidelines: Adhere to organisational or department-specific standards and guidelines. Understand the motives of the organisation and the common agreements and act accordingly.
  • Analyse the care quality: Analyse the quality of care in order to improve your own professional practice as a general care nurse.
  • Delegate activities: Delegate activities and tasks to others according to the ability, level of preparation, competence and legal scope of practice. Make sure that people understand what they should do and when they should do it.
  • Work in a multicultural environment in health care: Interact, relate and communicate with individuals from a variety of different cultures, when working in a healthcare environment.
  • Address problems critically: Identify the strengths and weaknesses of various abstract, rational concepts, such as issues, opinions, and approaches related to a specific problematic situation in order to formulate solutions and alternative methods of tackling the situation.
  • Promote inclusion: Promote inclusion in health care and social services and respect the diversity of beliefs, culture, values and preferences, keeping in mind the importance of equality and diversity issues.
  • Interact with healthcare users: Communicate with clients and their carers, with the patient’s permission, to keep them informed about the clients’ and patients’ progress and safeguard confidentiality.
  • Provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health: Identify possible treatment protocols for the challenges to human health within a given community in cases such as infectious diseases of high consequences at the global level.
  • Ensure safety of healthcare users: Make sure that healthcare users are being treated professionally, effectively and safe from harm, adapting techniques and procedures according to the person’s needs, abilities or the prevailing conditions.
  • Have computer literacy: Utilise computers, IT equipment and modern-day technology in an efficient way.
  • Apply organisational techniques: Employ a set of organisational techniques and procedures which facilitate the achievement of the goals set. Use these resources efficiently and sustainably, and show flexibility when required.
  • Develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship: Develop a mutually collaborative therapeutic relationship during treatment, fostering and gaining healthcare users’ trust and cooperation.
  • Apply context specific clinical competences: Apply professional and evidence-based assessment, goal setting, delivery of intervention and evaluation of clients, taking into account the developmental and contextual history of the clients, within one`s own scope of practice.
  • Apply sustainability principles in health care: Take into account the sustainability principles in healthcare and strive for the rational use of resources.
  • Evaluate nursing care: Evaluate nursing care by assessing mechanisms and processes for continuous quality improvement in nursing care, considering the scientific, technical and ethical development.
  • Work in multidisciplinary health teams: Participate in the delivery of multidisciplinary health care, and understand the rules and competences of other healthcare-related professions.
  • Accept own accountability: Accept accountability for one`s own professional activities and recognise the limits of one`s own scope of practice and competencies.
  • Implement nursing care: Implement nursing care when treating patients in order to improve professional practice.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of nurse responsible for general care. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

  • Prescribe medication: Prescribe medications, when indicated, for therapeutic effectiveness, appropriate to the client`s needs and in accordance with evidence-based practice, national and practice protocols and within the scope of practice.
  • Show entrepreneurial spirit: demonstrate a proactive attitude and determination to achieve success in business
  • Employ foreign languages for health-related research: Use foreign languages for conducting and collaborating in health-related research.
  • Employ foreign languages in care: Communicate in foreign languages with healthcare users, their carers, or service providers. Use foreign languages to facilitate patient care according to the needs of the patient.
  • Carry out nurse-led discharge: Initiate and lead the discharge process of patients, involving all relevant professionals to expedite discharges. Assist bed and capacity management across the whole hospital.

ISCO group and title

2221 – Nursing professionals


References
  1. Nurse responsible for general care – ESCO
  2. Featured image: Photo by SJ Objio on Unsplash
Last updated on August 28, 2023