Nursing Professionalism: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis

As a provider of care, professional nurses depend on research, theories, and evidence based practice to guide the care they provide to patients. Nurses deliver care to their patients based on information they have learned through many years of school and training. Training for nurses and other providers of care is founded on theories, research, and evidence based practice in the healthcare field. Theories, research, and evidence based practice are all important for providing care to patients and each can be used in a different manner depending on the situation. Clinicians often use research based evidence to design and implement care that is high-quality and cost effective for patients. Evidence based practice can be used to provide care to patients in a steadily changing clinical environment. (PDF page 8-9). Nursing theories are frequently used as frameworks for establishing nursing care interventions and assessing

Evidence based practice is an integral part of nursing care. According to the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, evidence based practice is defined as, “the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care.” (AMSN) The use of evidence based practice has drastically improved patient outcomes, increased quality and safety of healthcare, and reduced costs for facilities. (Melnyk, 2016) In this paper I will provide the history of evidence based practice, how it has already been incorporated and impacted healthcare, and why it is important to nursing and healthcare as a whole.

It is important to integrate the concept professionalism into your nursing career because it allows you to flourish personally as a nurse but more importantly allows the patient to receive the care they deserve. Throughout the course of one’s nursing career there will be many slips and falls. Mistakes will happen but we as nurses are able to reflect and learn from them in a

Multiple studies have linked professionalism with high amounts of education (Blaney 1986, Jacobs and Bishop 1998, Hess 1996). Other professions such as lawyers, physicians, architects, etc. maintain a high-standardized level of education in which nursing fails to do so. The American Nurse Association (ANA) committee published a position paper that compared nursing to other professions and recommended that the ADN is not sufficient for this profession (Jacobs and Bishop 1998). Jacobs and Bishop (1998) made a point by stating that “the education of professional nurses must take place in institutions of higher learning with a bachelor of science in nursing degree required for beginning professional practice as they should be socialized with philosophic and value system that is compatible with this role” (p. 226). Nursing is an evolving profession where they must be able to utilize their critical thinking skills in order to “assess, diagnose, intervene, evaluate, be a leader, deliver evidence-based care and know how to research and interpret that evidence. These competencies are only achievable through higher education with the baccalaureate level being the launching point” (Tollick, 2013, p. 4).

Professional nursing practice has been developing for several centuries. Nursing as a profession can be traced back to the early Christian era. Since then the perception of nursing practice has changed significantly. “Nursing is caring, commitment, and dedication to meeting the functional health needs of all people” (Craven &

Evidenced Based Practice (EBP) is essential to enable all nurses to provide the most current up to date practises for their patients. This process involves research, systematic review of current practises, critical thinking skills, evaluation and application to the clinical setting. In addition to this, the nurse must take into account the patients’ preferences. For nurses to have professional autonomy they must be able to justify their actions and demonstrate an understanding of why they perform the tasks they do. This defines them as unique professionals judged by their knowledge and not simply by their hands on skills.

A professional is characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace. Being professional should be a subconscious effort in the fact that it should always be applied. When employees are professional it helps the system run more efficiently and safely. A person must me a certain criteria when being evaluated on professionalism, a person is judged based on the clients; Attitude, Values, Communication techniques, and approachability. Clients who display a committed, dependable attitude will benefit more from work exerted, and overall be rewarded with incentives. Although professionalism may be in the eye of the

In the article “What Do Nurses Really Do?”, Suzanne Gordon explores what nurses truly do. She concludes that nurses “save lives, prevent complications, prevent suffering, and save money” (Gordon 2006). Nurses provide care for their patients in the physical and emotional sense. Emotionally caring for a patient and being sensitive to his or her needs result from interacting with patients while performing the skills and using the knowledge that nurses learned in school. Nurses grow in their skills, knowledge, and attitudes through practice. Quality and safety education for nursing incorporates competencies that all nurses must use in their practice. These nursing competencies include evidence-based nursing practice, quality improvement, safety, teamwork and collaboration, patient-centered care, and informatics.

Itroduction: Evidence-based practice is an approach to medicine that uses scientific evidence to determine the best practice (Beyea & Slattery, 2006). As nurses perform their daily tasks they must continually ask themselves, “What is the evidence for this intervention?”. Nurses are well positioned to question current nursing practices and use evidence to make care more effective. In order to improve patients’ outcomes it is the responsibility of the nurse to transition evidence-based practice into the norm, through application of daily practice (Flynn Makic, Rauen, Watson & Will Poteet, 2014). Continual evaluation of current practice must be performed to ensure the use of evidence-based practice opposed to practice based upon tradition. The implementation of evidence-based practice standardizes healthcare practices and diminishes groundless variations within care. These variations lead to the production of uncertain health outcomes (Stevens, 2013).

Nurses develop professional skills through a process called “Professionalization.” Ghadirian uses four factors to describe this; cognitive dimension, attitudinal dimension and psychomotor dimension. They then further describe the cognitive dimension as the “professional knowledge” a nurse must have (2014). Without knowledge of illness or the human body, a nurse can not practice professionally. Ghadirian then suggests that even with extensive professional knowledge, a nurse can not be professional without the ideals and ethics of a nurse, or the ability to provide care (2014). A nurse can not be professional without all the dimensions. A nurse must have the values of a nurse, knowledge of a nurse and the ability to provide care.

Evidence base practice has had a huge impact on nursing practice. Evidence based practice has influenced the way and what is being taught to nurses and future nurse, nursing clinical practice itself, and so much more. The two most significant factors that evidence based practice effect within the nursing practice is the patient’s quality of healthcare and the cost to provide this care. According to Stevens, she defines quality healthcare as, “Degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge (pg 2, 2013). My interpretation of the previous definition, is that healthcare is the goal for every patient and it’s the responsibility of the health services (including their workers such as nurses) to reach this goal.

Everywhere you go and in everything you do, professionalism comes in to account in some way or another. Professionalism has been defined as, “a strict adherence to courtesy, honesty and responsibility when dealing with individuals or other companies in the business environment” (Clarke, 2015). When it comes to the career of nursing, professionalism is taken to a whole other level. Not only does professionalism come in to account with your business professionals and peers, but you have patients with whom professionalism is highly practiced as well. Professionalism in nursing means that you are able to handle all the responsibilities given to you in an efficient and proper way. It means that when you are given an order that needs to be carried out by a doctor or a patient who needs your help, you adhere to what is being expected of you in a timely manner. Physicians put trust into nurses in order to carry out orders that are needed to save patients’ lives. If you’re not looked at as professional and responsible, it is going to be very hard to have a successful career. Responsibility is what nursing is all about. Professionalism in nursing means that along with taking on big responsibilities, you have discipline. Discipline in nursing is crucial to being successful. Not only to keep your patients safe, but so that you personally are on the ball and looked at by others as professional, therefore, making you a great nurse. Professionalism means that you have the

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 one of the most popular professions in healthcare. To become a professional nurse, one must acquire certain level of education, whether it is at associate or baccalaureate degree level. Once becoming a nurse a number of professional standards must be maintained to stay abreast with the profession. In that respect, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its 2010 report had suggested many recommendations focusing on the future of nursing. The aim of the report is to put forth recommendations that allow nurses to “(1) ensure that nurses can practice to the full extent of their education and training (2) improve nursing education, (3) provide opportunities for nurses to assume leadership positions and to serve as full

The profession of nursing embodies values intrinsic in those who seek nursing as a career. The core values of honesty, dignity, integrity, and autonomy enable nurses to provide unparalleled health care in the most professional manner (Price & Hall, 2013). Nurses throughout history have held the reputation as front runners of healthcare, and often, the faces of hope. A trusted relationship between patient and nurse developed throughout history by the nurse upholding a respected professional image and nursing identity (Willetts G., Clarke D. 2012). It is through professional dress, demeanor, and dialect that character is recognized by those in which the nurse interacts. In order for nursing to remain a respected profession, it is the responsibility of nurses worldwide to maintain a professional image. As Bargagliotti (2014, p.23) stated, "how nursing is perceived inside and outside of the health care system directly affects how successful nurses will be in coordinating patient care." By maintaining a professional attitude at all times the public is ensured that the nurse will provide safe, precise, and exceptional healthcare. It is important to remember contemporary professionalism is not a novel concept. Nursing professionalism is an essential component of health care introduced by the works of Florence Nightingale during the Victorian era (Bargagliotti 2014). Professional image is a vital element of nursing and without a positive representation, society is hesitant