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Nurses Call The Shots as GPRMC Celebrates National Nurses Week

David Mitchell started his nursing career as a Registered Nurse. Thirty Three years later, with a Associates Degree in Nursing, a Bachelor Degree in General Studies( Business/Psych) then a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing and a Dual Masters Degree in Health Care Administration and Human Resource Development, he’s now Vice President of Great Plains Regional Medical Center and head of Nursing.

Thinking back on my 33 years, at lot has changed; new technologies, new methodologies,” said Mitchell. “But the thing that hasn’t changed is what nursing is all about. We are still the advocate for the patient. We are still the eyes and ears of the physicians who admit patients to the hospital to receive nursing care. It is our first mission, to take care of the patient in a safe manner and to promote positive outcomes.”

Recently GPRMC honored their nurses by celebrating National Nurses Week. The celebration was highlighted with the naming of Donna Dupree, RN, BSN, as this years winner of the Excellence in Nursing Award. Dupree was nominated and selected for this award by her peers at the hospital.

Mitchell says a nurses job covers a multitude of things a few of which are; explaining medications and procedures; providing care to the patient from the most technical to the simplest – from getting them water to helping them get to and from the bathroom to resuscitation efforts in the situation of a heart attack; keeping the doctor informed about the patients condition and helping families understand what’s happening with and to their loved one.

Gwen Fuchs, RN, BSN, has been a nurse for 26 years, 25 of them as an Operating Room Nurse at GPRMC. She agrees that while the technology has changed dramatically, the mission of nurses is still the same, take care of the patient.

The mission is still the same. Patient safety is job one. We are the patient’s advocate,” says Fuchs. “Technology in the OR has changed a lot. We have the best equipment, we can monitor anything, do all sorts of procedures. We need a lot more training and continuing education. Technology changes keep us going back for more training, more education. The learning never stops.”

When I came to Great Plains 26 years ago, we did about 75 surgical cases a month. Now we do 250. The combination of new technology, the ability to do much more surgery on an outpatient basis, the incredible specialists we have, it all means we can do more for our patients.”

Fuchs says coming out of nursing school doesn’t make a nurse ready for the real world. She says it can take months before a new nurse feels somewhat comfortable in the OR.

It can be very fast paced and very high tech. Someone’s life is on the line, their life is in your hands. You have to be there to make sure everything is good for the patient.”

The nursing profession ranks number one in the United States as the most respected profession.

There are currently more than 2.4 million registered Nurses in the US. There are also just over half a million licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses.

Mitchell says it takes a special person to be a nurse.

You have to like people. You have to like caring for people even when they are sometimes at their lowest point; they’re scared, they’re in a strange place. A nurse works with all those fears and illnesses and injuries, remembering his or her mission is to always provide compassion, caring and excellent care.”