Nursing Professionalism In order to understand nursing professionalism we have to know the meaning of profession. According to (Black, 2014, p.52) “that a profession is an occupational group with a set of attitudes or behaviors or both”. Professionalism therefore can be defined as individuals expected to display competent and skillful behavior in alignment with their profession. We as nurses are not different. We uphold the responsibility and the value of our work, dedicate our beliefs and our behaviors. Some of us say that nursing as a call, and want to do this because, like to help people when they sick and need help. Nursing profession needs lots of training and education. As nurses we learn the beliefs, values and attitudes expected in this profession. Talking about attitudes this can be good or bad. The attitude of one person can attract people towards them or drive away people from them. Person with good attitude is always welcomed everywhere. Positive attitude help our personality and feels good. Appearance plays a big role in our profession. As nurses we need to have clean scrubs, neat hair, clean shoes and well groomed look, makes the statement that you care about yourself as a person and therefore have the capacity to care about others. People who are sloppy may be perceived by others as unorganized lazy and uncaring. “The code of ethics for nurses has been modified over the years as nursing and its social context has evolved “according to (Black, 2014, p.59).
A professional appearance is a main concern when being evaluated; a clean, firm, appropriate attire is required at all times. A nurse must comply with the facilities standards of uniform, with proper protocol. A clean uniform is a healthy uniform, while a nurse holds a prior engagement in the field of
Behaviors associated with nursing professionalism go far beyond how nurses practice in a clinical setting. Alidina describes professionalism as “a multidimensional concept that provides nurses with opportunities to grow personally and professionally (2013, p. 128). This shows that professionalism has many different components. Alidina also uses “Miller’s Wheel of Professionalism.” This model uses a wheel to represent different aspects of professionalism. The different behaviors that are represented are “adherence to code for nurses, community service orientation, Professional Organization Participation, autonomy and self-regulation, Publication and Communication, development and use of theory and research, and continuing education and competence (2013, p. 129-130).
The nursing profession is a challenge. As a nurse, you must remember every day that you can both alleviate suffering patients by administering treatment prescribed by a doctor and by a good word and a smile. For a good nurse should not matter how hard the day was, how much trouble it encountered, but must remember the core values of the profession and why he/she chose this profession. Nurses play an important role in the healthcare system. This is why they have been correctly referred to as the heart
These two traits together liked talked about previously again, helps to begin to build trust. If the patient sees their nurse taking those extra steps to make them feel accepted, dignified and respected, they will be able to confide in you and ultimately create the best healing environment possible. Furthermore, not only having respect for your patients is important but also yourself. Dressing according to your facilities policies, being clean, odor free, minimum makeup, wrinkle free uniform and overall nice appearance, shows pride in oneself. This takes away from yourself as a distraction and focuses on the patient and tasks at hand.
The greatest aspect about nursing is that it is never going to be just a job and is even more than a merely profession. Instead, it is a belief system or way of life and not a discipline that can simply be practiced then abandoned to the dictates of a time clock. To simply say that “I love people” or want to “help people get better” does not demonstrate the drive behind this feeling. Articulating my philosophy is not an easy task, to better explain my philosophy of nursing, I am going to use some values that I have learned. These tools truly explain how I feel and what has motivated me to pursue nursing as a career.
Following certain virtues and values are important to carry on to the healthcare career. Two important virtues that I believe nurses must have are courage and wisdom. “Courage is the mental or moral strength to persevere and withstand danger”. “Wisdom is the judicious application of knowledge” and learning to improve from your mistakes. Courage is something I believe many employees of the hospital lack, but don’t actually have any idea that they are lacking it. That’s why its always important to have courage! For example, if you work in a larger hospital, or as a CAN, or in a unit which you dislike, it will be difficult to show courage. Many people (CAN) dislike cleaning after elderly patients who can’t clean after themselves. Lacking courage
Nurses may play different roles in the field, but their responsibilities are all very similar. Nurses must be confident in everything they do and be patient with people. They should have strong listening
In a highly respected profession such as nursing, professionalism is an important element to staying employed and setting one’s self apart from the rest of the applicants when competing for a potential job. By definition professionalism are the qualities and traits that describe a professional. While knowledge is crucial in any profession, according to an article published by the University of Kansas (2012), “all medical professionals must strive to retain those humanistic qualities integrity, respect, and compassion that constitute the essence of professionalism.” Whether you work in a hospital or administration these three qualities encompass the core of nursing and exemplify what it means to be a professional.
Nursing is a noble and rewarding career because it involves saving and caring for others lives. When dealing with others health nurses need to posses a great amount of good qualities to ensure the patient feel safe and well taken care of. In times of sadness nurses need to be supportive and empathic with the patient and their family, in times of concern a nurse needs to be encouraging. Nurses tend to take on different roles while taking care of a patient they sometimes have to be an educator to the patient, advocate for the patient, and a problem-solver. Thus the profession requires empathy, patience, compassion, flexibility, trustworthy and great interpersonal skills.
The environment should be professional as this is our profession. This will take care of its self if the nurse is always doing his or her duties on time and correctly. Doing your job correctly and providing care can also promote a happy and trusting environment which is always good. This can only occur by always preforming your duty with care.
Registered nurses, or RN, encompass a holistic concept of humans, incorporating physical, emotional and social needs of the patient. Nursing is an occupation of great responsibility of well-being of patient while stressing the importance of the health maintenance as well as the treatment of illness. I’m intrigued by the aforementioned profession, nursing, because of my life devotion to helping others pursuit their well-being. Though, in the mist of assisting other, being a nurse you’ll be acquainted with equally touching lives and lives touching yours.
Nursing staff are at the forefront of all patient care their individual person to person interactions with their patients gives a first impression of who they are and what they do. (Mee, 2006) Nurses need to make that first impression count. Therefore, nursing staff should identify themselves in a confident professional manner because this will be the first image the patient will see. In all their interaction they need to portray a positive image of the nursing profession; this includes within the walls of the healthcare facility and outside the facility; what they say and how they describe what they do affects the perception of who they are. Moreover, you want to describe your skills and what nurses actually do then how you feel about it.
I think it’s essential to your profession to be aware of your attendance, to work well with your co-workers, to practice dressing appropriately for your job, and to be attentive to your patients; this can transmit or be viewed as achievements. I practice these qualities of values by having proper etiquettes, thinking oneself as efficient in care, by my body language, maintaining a well-ordered body appearance, and maintaining eye contact with whom I was speaking to. First impressions are important when caring for patients, talking with families and understanding how staff reacts to me. All these distinguishing characteristics speak dynamically about my abilities, ethics, proficiencies, and how compassionate you are. (Living Values, n.d.).
Nursing requires a person to be capable of doing many tasks and having compassion and dedication for the profession. Nursing is a career that is ever changing and enlarging its field of knowledge. Nurses deal with matters of
Nursing exist to provide nursing care for clients who experience illness, as well as for those who may experience potential health care problems. Nurses deal with peoples