Nursing interventions are specific actions that nurses take to improve the well-being of their patients. Nurses can use thousands of nursing interventions depending on their experience, specialisation, and skill set. However, there are also plenty of nursing interventions that nurses use in basic patient care. In order to do their job effectively, nurses must understand the different categories and types of nursing interventions. 

Categories of Nursing Interventions: 

Nursing interventions can be divided into the following three categories: 

1. Independent Nursing Interventions: 

As the name suggests, independent nursing interventions are the actions that nurses can perform without the direction of other healthcare professionals like physicians and surgeons. Some examples of these actions are giving water to a patient and recording their vitals. These actions help nurses take the initiative when they are planning simple patient care activities. 

2. Dependent Nursing Interventions: 

These are the actions that require the direction of a physician. Actions taken as part of a collaboration with a medical team also fall under this category. An example of a dependent intervention is administering pain relief medicine. Unless a doctor signs the prescription, a nurse cannot administer pain relief medicine. 

3. Interdependent Nursing Interventions: 

These actions require the participation of a medical team. A common example of these types of intervention is when a patient is undergoing physiotherapy and they are provided multidisciplinary care by a team of healthcare professionals. 

Main Types of Nursing Interventions: 

Nursing interventions cover every aspect of a nurse’s daily duties. As a result, there’s more than one way to divide nursing interventions into different types. However, the most commonly talked about nursing intervention are the ones that are defined based on the medical setting. Here are the main types of nursing interventions you should be familiar with in order to become a nurse: 

i. Public Health Nursing Interventions: 

These types of interventions are focused on protecting and promoting public health. Through these interventions, nurses can protect and improve the everyday lives of the public. The majority of public health nursing intervention are educational where nurses educate people about common health issues. Nurses also promote healthy behaviors and help people live fulfilling lives through these interventions. 

ii. Primary Care Nursing Intervention: 

Under primary care, nurses work in clinics and take care of patients based on the directions of a physician. Usually, primary care interventions are dependent as nurses have to follow the instructions of the doctor while performing actions for the patients. However, there are also independent primary care interventions; a common example is teaching new parents about infant care. 

iii. Health System Nursing Intervention: 

These interventions are effective in settings where clinical teams work together to provide patient care. A clear set of protocols is defined with these interventions to help nurses take independent action for the well-being of the patients. These interventions are an effective way to improve nurse training. They also improve the consistency of care provided to the patients in a medical setting. 

iv. Mental Health Nursing Interventions: 

These interventions help mental health nurses improve the quality of life of patients struggling with psychological disorders. There is a range of behavioural interventions that nurses can make use of while working with mental health patients. Nurses carefully observe the body language and mood of the patients before, during, and after an intervention. It can help nurses figure out if a patient will react positively to an intervention or not. 

v. Safety Nursing Intervention: 

Through these interventions, nurses ensure the safety of patients during their stay in a hospital ward. These interventions can range from providing patient alarms to orienting patients to their rooms. These interventions are not limited to specific patient care plans and are used to ensure the safety of every patient staying in a hospital or a long-term facility. 

Examples of Nursing Interventions: 

Nurses document their nursing intervention routinely to improve patient care. However, in order to correctly identify and classify interventions, you must be familiar with them. Here are the most common examples of nursing intervention: 

• Preventing Falls: 

District and primary care nurses have to take care of elderly and disabled patients on a regular basis. These nurses ensure the safety of their patients by teaching them how to prevent falls. The interventions can range from offering bedside alarms to recommending the right footwear.  

• Pain Management: 

An important part of patient care is enquiring about pain and taking steps to alleviate it. Nurses can recommend pain relievers that doctors routinely prescribe to patients. 

• Mobility Assistance: 

Nurses can help patients restore, maintain, and improve mobility through direct and indirect interventions. Teaching patients simple exercises is one example of indirect intervention. Meanwhile, direct interventions will include moving a patient’s limbs and turning them on the bed to preserve existing mobility. 

Now that you are familiar with nursing intervention, you can put them into actions while working as a nurse. Reach out to ESGO today and connect with employers from all over UK to find your next nursing job.