Globalisation Essay Assignment
Globalisation Essay Assignment
Nurses work in many settings and serve different populations worldwide. Over time, the world has opened up due to globalisation that allows nurses to work away from home. Globalisation benefits nurses through broadening their worldviews and gaining knowledge that makes them better practitioners. Government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) worldwide give Australian nurses many opportunities to provide care and support to populations. The experience is beneficial but highly challenging. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and function of an Australian nurse working for the Red Cross in Afghanistan, and the potential benefits and challenges nurses may face working in the area.
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Role and Function of an Australian Registered Nurse
Nursing is among the most fulfilling professions. It is a dream for many people to work as nurses to influence communities positively through health promotion and illness prevention. The satisfaction that comes with the career requires nurses to be adequately educated and prepared to address different patient needs. Like other professionals, Australian nurses are not confined to work in Australia. They seek many opportunities internationally to impact communities in other areas and expand their knowledge base.
Concerning professional registration, nurses seeking opportunities to work with the Red Cross in humanitarian efforts should acquire the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) registration and licensure. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) implements the NRAS in Australia (Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, 2020). Registration and licensure are crucial for public protection since nurses provide care for humans. As a result, they should be qualified and certified to implement their roles as their education level and specialisation area allow. Registering and licensing nurses also empower them to practice independently or under a physician. The rules depend on where they work and the complexity of situations like emergency care.
Working for relief organizations like Red Cross requires committed nurses passionate about patient care and humanitarian support. Challenges are many in Afghanistan due to constant bombing and internal wars that increase the flow of wounded people in healthcare facilities. In many regions, such as Bakwa, access to major hospitals is a significant problem hampering care delivery to war-wounded individuals (Australian Red Cross, 2022). The implication is that plenty of nurses are required in such areas to reduce the shortage and enable nurses to overcome the burden of workload typical in areas experiencing conflict. Registration and licensure demonstrate nurses’ proficiency in working globally.
Regarding the scope of practice, registration and licensure prepare nurses for work in multiple settings. Registered nurses (RNs) usually work with other medical professionals and the nursing practice positions them as the first point of contact for patients (Laurant et al., 2018). As a result, RNs can evaluate patients’ health problems and provide the necessary interventions to restore health and improve well-being. Other duties include medication administration and management, situation assessment, and other roles as instructed. Khadka et al. (2019) observed that the expanded scope of nursing in Australia has been pivotal in enabling nurses to address the ageing population’s needs. Such an expanded scope is crucial when providing humanitarian aid with the Red Cross due to the complexity of needs characterizing populations facing disasters and crises.
Professional practice standards include a set of rules and expectations for nurses. They guide nurses’ conduct towards individuals, particularly patients, families, and colleagues. Most practice standards are shared internationally, like ethical practice and knowledge-based practice. Haddad and Geiger (2018) described ethical practice in nursing as the adherence to principles of ethics such as beneficence, autonomy, and non-maleficence. It denotes the commitment to helping patients overcome illness and designing interventions in a way that benefits patients and respects their independent decisions. Knowledge-based practice implies embracing evidence-based practice to solve problems creatively to improve patient and organizational outcomes (Al-Busaidi et al., 2019; Crable et al., 2020). A similar approach is required when working with the Red Cross in humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan. Health professionals, volunteers, psychologists, and other partners collaborate with the Red Cross to help people with varying needs. A professional and ethical approach is essential to address the diverse needs of people in warzones and other areas with crises.
Potential Benefits and Challenges
Potential Benefits
Nurses should have a global worldview to respond effectively to patient needs, workplace issues, and personal needs. Working in other regions outside Australia implies meeting new people and encountering new challenges and exposures. Among many benefits, working for the Red Cross in Afghanistan to help war victims provides nurses with an excellent opportunity to improve their experience. As Flaubert et al. (2021) explained, nurses providing public health emergency responses and relief get a chance to help victims to respond and foster resilience among individuals and communities to promote full recovery. Other roles and responsibilities include educating and protecting people and engaging with communities. Such engagements help nurses improve their baseline knowledge, technical skills, and readiness to provide patient care (Flaubert et al., 2021). Due to the complexity of patient care and patient needs, the experience gained is instrumental in optimizing outcomes and supporting the nursing workforce.
Besides experience, relief organizations have various training programs to improve their technical skills, proficiency, and approach to issues. The Red Cross trains nurses and public health professionals to manage relief operations in humanitarian crises through the Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) program. Through HELP, nurses are trained to manage conflicts, humanitarian operations, and other issues during disasters (ICRC, 2020). The beneficiaries study how to protect lives and dignity, health promotion, needs evaluation, priority setting, and other valuable skills. The knowledge gained helps nurses and public health providers to effectively respond to issues and ensure victims’ mental health, physical needs, and social well-being are adequately addressed. Such a response characterizes holistic care since it involves in-depth evaluation and comprehensive response to patients’ physical, mental, and social needs (Eriksson et al., 2018; Frisch & Rabinowitsch, 2019). Similarly, nurses support disaster victims and other populations requiring relief support and emergency care to deal with complex issues holistically and humanely.
The other benefit for nurses working to provide humanitarian support outside Australia is exposure to different worldviews. The health practice is complex, and nurses need a broadened view of issues to respond expertly. Salvage and White (2020) explained a case where Afghans with large families visited healthcare facilities in emergencies. One of the key observations during these interactions was the need for behaviour change and adjustment to ensure patients opened up about their situations. Working in Afghanistan with the Red Cross also allows nurses to interact with cultures and populations that understand health and illness differently (Vuorio & Bor, 2022). They further work with other professionals with different experiences, ideas, and approaches to emergency care and interaction with victims. The exposure and broadened mindset benefit nurses since they prepare them to work worldwide. As Salvage and White (2020) stated, a global worldview is not an academic exercise but a way of enriching perspectives and increasing knowledge. It helps nurses develop new philosophies of care to impact patient care and the nursing profession positively.
Broadly, nursing is an evolving practice, and nursing professionals should be adequately prepared to deal with its complexity. The experience gained by meeting populations with different needs, training programs that the Red Cross offers, and reshaping worldviews are crucial to Austrian nurses working internally and outside Australia. For those who return to Australia, the experience gained is crucial in the provision of individualized, culturally-sensitive, and holistic care. The exposure allows them to be compassionate and passionate as they deal with war victims and other patients with complex health needs. Compassionate care leads to high patient satisfaction and safe care and builds a sense of confidence among providers due to better outcomes (Dalvandi et al., 2019; Pehlivan & Güner, 2020). As a result, it is worth working for relief organisations such as Red Cross to offer humanitarian support and medical assistance.
Potential Challenges
Working outside Australia is not exclusively beneficial. It exposes nurses to problems that can adversely affect their outcomes and passion for the profession. One of the potential challenges is working in harsh conditions. As Vaismoradi et al. (2020) posited, nurses should be adequately facilitated, less interrupted, and work in safe environments to function optimally. Unfortunately, the situation is different in Afghanistan and other high-risk areas like Oman. An Australian nurse, Kieren Box, described the challenges of working with ICRC in Bakwa’s district centre in Afghanistan. In this area, people have no access to major hospitals, implying that health providers and wounded victims travel long distances (Australian Red Cross, 2022). Such harsh conditions expose nurses to fatigue and stress. In the current practice, fatigue and stressful work conditions are leading causes of nurse burnout (Waddill-Goad, 2019; Dall’Ora et al., 2020). They cause job dissatisfaction, implying that many nurses do not complete the mission satisfied.
Under-facilitation and low motivation are typical when providing humanitarian aid. In Bakwa, nurses and doctors usually work for a long time without a salary (Australian Red Cross, 2022). Food is also scanty and what is available is costly. In such situations, care providers find situations unbearable, and it becomes difficult to provide optimal patient care. Although some organisations could distribute essential resources to providers, it was usually inadequate in Bakwa (Australian Red Cross, 2022). Like war survivors and other victims, healthcare providers struggle to live and work in such areas despite the massive experience they gain and opportunities to gain resilience.
The other potential challenge is security. Adequate security is crucial for the mental well-being of healthcare professionals. However, working in some regions like Afghanistan does not guarantee security. Shoib et al. (2022) described a case where armed men abducted distinguished doctors and other professionals killed or injured through gun and bomb assault. The case exemplifies a nation that does not guarantee security to its healthcare workers. Shoib et al. (2022) further noted that working under such conditions hampers the potential of care providers since they are mentally unstable. Similarly, Australian nurses can face similar challenges, although the magnitude depends on where they work.
Nurses providing humanitarian aid in warzones also face numerous challenges related to primary care provision. A significant proportion of war victims live in refugee camps where volunteers are not adequately trained on health and illness essentials. As Aziziet al. (2021) mentioned, personnel in many camps are not sufficiently trained in specialized refugee care courses. It is a problem that many healthcare providers raise when working in such camps and makes their work difficult. Azizi et al. (2021) also found that communication problems and lack of records to identify and follow patients hamper healthcare services in Afghanistan. There are inadequate records to identify refugees, and measures to provide follow-up care are insufficient. Communication problems stem from language barriers due to verbal communication problems. As Azizi et al. (2021) explained, humanitarian personnel find the refugees’ language a huge communication obstacle. In most instances, communication barriers lead to mistreatment since care providers and patients cannot understand each other.
Healthcare delivery requires adequate and experienced nurses. Working outside Australia exposes nurses to different problems that affect their health and their understanding of issues. Sadly, many nurses working in Afghanistan develop mental health problems such as anxiety and depression stemming from the ever-threatening nature of the work environment (Shoib et al., 2022). The probability of developing posttraumatic disorder (PTSD) is also high among nurses working in harsh environments. As a result, mental health support for such nurses should be intensified to ensure they can work optimally when they return to Australia.
Conclusion
Australian nurses work in many areas worldwide. Globalisation allows them to work outside Australia to share their expertise and gain more knowledge and experience. As discussed in this paper, nursing practice standards, including professionalism, ethics, and integrity, apply universally. Nurses should provide compassionate and empathetic care to all individuals and communities irrespective of where they work. The Red Cross is a leading organization that works with Australian nurses to extend humanitarian support to war victims in healthcare settings and refugee camps in Afghanistan. Working in Afghanistan gives nurses an excellent opportunity to interact with different cultures, religions, and other professionals with varying beliefs, values, and experiences. The exposure is instrumental to the development of their worldview, which further shapes their care philosophy. However, they experience many challenges such as under-facilitation, security problems, and high vulnerability to mental health disorders.
References
Al-Busaidi, I. S., Al Suleimani, S. Z., Dupo, J. U., Al Sulaimi, N. K., & Nair, V. G. (2019). Nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, and implementation of evidence-based practice in Oman: A multi-institutional, cross-sectional study. Oman Medical Journal, 34(6), 521–527. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2019.95
Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. (2020). Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). https://www.health.gov.au/contacts/australian-health-practitioner-regulation-authority-ahpra
Australian Red Cross. (2022). I was an Australian nurse in Afghanistan. https://www.redcross.org.au/stories/2022/australian-nurse-in-afghanistan/
Azizi, N., Delgoshaei, B., & Aryankhesal, A. (2021). Barriers and facilitators of providing primary health care to Afghan refugees: A qualitative study from the perspective of health care providers. Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 35, 1. https://doi.org/10.47176/mjiri.35.1
Crable, J., Highfield, M. E. F., & Patmon, F. (2020). Evidence-based practice knowledge, attitudes, practices, and barriers: A nurse survey. Nursing2020 Critical Care, 15(5), 24-32. doi: 10.1097/01.CCN.0000694076.73284.a3
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Dalvandi, A., Vaisi-Raygani, A., Nourozi, K., Ebadi, A., & Rahgozar, M. (2019). The importance and extent of providing compassionate nursing care from the viewpoint of patients hospitalized in educational hospitals in Kermanshah – Iran 2017. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 7(6), 1047–1052. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.204
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Globalisation has allowed Australian nurses various opportunities to work/volunteer in settings outside of Australia, both short and long term and within relief and or development contexts and with different motivations. The humanitarian and development sectors are made up of many different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating from all around the world. They vary in size with some being affiliated to faith-based or political movements, others being independent or secular.
Identify a particular humanitarian need, including the geographical region outside of Australia, and an organisation that is providing support/assistance via nurses in that context. This may be a particular disaster response effort with the International Red Cross, a refugee setting such as makeshift camps in Greece/France, or to address primary health care (eg: ADRA) or a specific medical need (such as organisations providing surgical assistance like Open Heart International/Mercy Ships/ Médecins sans Frontières).
In 2000 words, write an academic essay to:
• Evaluate the role and function of an Australian Registered Nurse working in a humanitarian situation outside of Australia. Address issues such as professional registration, scope of practice and any professional practice standards that need to be adhered to within their specific humanitarian role.
• Discuss possible benefits and challenges nurses may face working in the chosen setting.
See marking rubric for grading criteria. A minimum of 15 references are expected for this task, not including websites. Please submit via the appropriate Turnitin link on Moodle using the provided template and coversheet with plagiarism statement.