My Best Health

Once you become a nurse, a completely new way of life opens up for you. Precisely what you do depends, of course, on your particular field of nursing and your professional assignment. Nurses who are just starting out need to be ready with basic healthcare equipment. The specific hospital or group for which one is working may have specific needs as well, but in general the requirements for nurses are more or less the same.

Aside from individual pieces of specialty equipment that may be required from a given employer, the standard nursing equipment consists mostly of uniforms, shoes, watch, gait belt, and bandage scissors. Usually, penlights, stethoscope, and so on, are included in the list of basics for nursing professionals.

A good stethoscope is one of the most essential nursing equipment. The stethoscope is a standard companion of the nurse while performing various examinations and determining the patient conditions. A standard stethoscope that can be used for adults, children, and infants would be perfect to have.

Nursing uniforms, often referred to as scrubs, set nurses apart from other staff members. Made up of tops, trousers, jackets, and so forth, they can be purchased in various patterns that relate to a nurse’s department or area of expertise. Clean scrubs are a must for maintaining a professional appearance, as well as for ensuring a hygienic environment.

Nurses must pay particular attention to their shoes, making sure that they are comfortable, sturdy, and also fit their uniform. Comfy shoes are indispensable, since nurses have to be on their feet for long stretches at a time and do a lot of walking during the workday. An easy-to-read watch with a second hand is a handy tool that many nurses cannot live without. Any watch worn for work should be waterproof, as nurses must wash their hands frequently and the watch will probably get wet. A gait belt is useful for moving patients from one bed to another.

A pen hanging from the neck would be ideal for maintaining patient charts and keeping track of the various minute details. Nurses may also carry a medical dictionary, a nursing handbook, a pair of bandage scissors and a pocket calculator. Apart from the stethoscope, the other most commonly used instrument of a nurse is the sphygmomanometer needed for measuring the blood pressure.

However, a nursing kit holds such implements as a stethoscope, a sphygmomanometer, a pair of scissors, a small flashlight, a kelly clamp, a tape measure, and a case for one’s identification badge. Healthcare gear is meant for determining the patient’s problem, monitoring his or her condition, or treating the problem. The devices that are used are manufactured to an extremely high safety standard, and physicians and nurses would have difficulty doing their jobs without them.

Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities; prevention of illness and injury; alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human responses; and advocacy in health care for individuals, families, communities, and populations.

– Bruno Auger