Role Of Flight Nurses In Critical Care Patients

Hospitals, clinics, health camps, and other such places are indeed the best to catch a glimpse of registered and practicing nurses. But apart from these, you can also find nurses actively providing medical care and assistance to patients during air transports.

They are categorized specifically as flight nurses trained specially to conduct emergency treatment, pre-hospitalization care, and health monitoring to the patients in transit.

Although such professionals go through the same training and education as other registered nurses, they do receive a few special classes for their field of job. 

Therefore, their contributions to the healthcare industry can’t be overlooked. That being said, the following article will discuss the roles of a flight nurse in drafting a nursing care plan and conducting emergency treatment for critical patients. 

What Are The Roles And Responsibilities Of A Flight Nurse?

Patient assessment and care

The primary role of a flight nurse is to assess the patient’s condition. They do so by continuously monitoring the vitals, including blood pressure, body temperature, pulse rate, and oxygen saturation.

Apart from this, they also prepare documentation of the patient’s medical history to assist the attending doctors in quick diagnosis. They are also tasked with providing basic medicine to the patient according to any prescribed chart or based on their medical knowledge during the air transit. 

Stabilization

One of the most crucial tasks that healthcare professionals need to perform during the air transport of a critical patient is stabilization. All the registered flight nurses are given special training to control any adverse situation during the transit and stabilize the physical conditions of the patients.

For instance, if the patient is critically injured, they will be responsible for controlling the bleeding, wrapping up the open wounds, monitoring body response to stimuli, and so on. Furthermore, they also actively play a role in stabilizing any internal or external injury through various forms of support systems and braces.  

Equipment management and care

In the nursing care plan that flight nurses learn during their education course, equipment management and care are a major part. They are tasked with operating life-saving equipment units like ventilators, oxygen supply, and many more.

Furthermore, they also ensure that proper maintenance and care are given to these medical equipment units so that they can function optimally throughout the air transit. 

Communication and information relaying

Also, flight nurses are responsible for relaying vital information about the patient to the on-call doctor who will be attending to him upon reaching the healthcare facility. It includes current health status, vitals, medical history, and several other such relevant data.

Also, they are responsible for maintaining an effective communication siloes so that they can handle any emergency as per the instructions from the doctors. 

Emergency treatment

Providing emergency treatment is a part of the job role and responsibility of flight nurses. In fact, they need to study this matter thoroughly during their initial education courses. For instance, a flight nurse needs to administer injections to stop excessive bleeding or revive the heart during air transit.

Also, they are responsible for assisting the doctors in case the patient needs any emergency procedure, like a minor surgery, for survival until they reach the healthcare facility. 

Patient safety and navigation

It is the responsibility of the flight nurse to oversee the overall safety measurements implemented for the critical care patient during air transit.

This includes checking the settings and equipment units to be used in the air vehicle. Also, they offer guidance in navigation to the pilot in case they aren’t sure of where to land or the shortest route to take. 

How To Become A Flight Nurse For Critical Care Patients?

Every flight nurse needs to undergo the basic education process to become a registered healthcare professional. They also have to study more about aerodynamic transports and healthcare to offer optimal care and support to critical patients.

Clinical experience matters a lot in determining the expertise of the flight nurse when subjected to real-time field situations. 

Conclusion 

Becoming a flight nurse is not easy. Not only do they need to study really hard to grasp all the medical situations, but they also have to undergo special aerodynamics training.

If you want to become a registered flight nurse, Digi Assignment is here to help you. Our trained professionals will offer the best-quality nursing assignment help so that you can acquire high scores during your academic course. 

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