Nursing, as a typically female profession, must deal constantly with the false impression
that nurses are there to wait on the physician. As nurses, we are licensedto provide nursing
care only. We do not have any legal or moral obligation to any physician. We provide health
teaching, assess physical as well as emotional problems, coordinate patient-related services,
and make all of our nursing decisions based upon what is best or suitable for the patient. If, in
any circumstance, we fell that a physician’s order is inappropriate or unsafe, we have a legal
responsibility to question that order or refuse to carry it out.
Nursing is not a nine-to-five job with every weekend off. All nurses are aware of that before they
enter the profession. The emotional and physical stress, however, that occurs due to odd working
hours is a prime reason for a lot of the career dissatisfaction. (44)________________________.
That disturbs our personal lives, disrupts our sleeping and eating habits, and isolates us from everything
except job-related friends and activities.
The quality of nursing care is being affected dramatically by these situations. (45)________________________________________________________________.
Consumers of medically related services have evidently not been affected enough yet to
demand changes in our medical system. But if trends continue as predicted,(46)___________________________________________________________________.
