a. You can see that the clinical duties and responsibilities of the practical nurse involve much more than simply performing patient care tasks. In addition to having performance proficiency in nursing care tasks, the practical nurse must also maintain a strong knowledge base from which to work. The practical nurse must be a communicator, an observer, an interviewer, and a teacher. The M6 practical nurse must be able to interpret data, prioritize needs, and act appropriately to assist in the implementation of a plan of nursing care. Some patient needs may require the M6 practical nurse to think and act quickly to save life or limb, while other needs may require projecting ahead to the future. Most importantly, the practical nurse must be a team worker.

b. All these things are part of clinical practical nursing. The majority of the MOS related tasks performed by the practical nurse are clinical in nature; that is, they involve providing patient care. As a soldier advances to

the next skill level, he assumes the responsibility for proficiency in more tasks. For the M6 practical nurse, the higher skill levels include not only more advanced nursing care, but managerial tasks as well. These tasks will be discussed in the next section of this lesson.