Reflecting On Myself For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to work in healthcare. From wanting to work with babies, to now wanting to work with geriatrics, I knew this field was meant for me. My junior year of high school was when I decided I no longer wanted to be a pediatrician because I did not want to go to school for ten plus years after I graduated high school. Also, my junior year was when I took Health Careers, which was a C4 class offered at my high school. I was able to receive my CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) through the class. When my class started going to our clinical sites that the following semester, I automatically clicked with the residents. I felt like I built this special bond with the elderly. This …show more content…
Before taking this course, I did not have much knowledge about professionalism. I always pictured being professional as having to wear suits and carry a briefcase. Therefore, I have gained quite a lot of knowledge throughout this course. From the evolution of professional nursing to the contemporary roles of nursing, I have learned the importance of the image of a nurse. "It is important that the public trusts and believes in the nurse and the profession the nurse represents" (Cherry and Jacob, 2014). To set an image for myself, I must dress appropriate for my profession, by showing the world how serious I am about my profession. Another thing that I have learned is that there are many legal issues in nursing and health care. Knowledge of the law enhances the nurse 's ability to provide safe, effective, and humane care in all settings (Cherry and Jacob, 2014). However, I have also learned more into depth about the importance of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). HIPAA is a federal law that gives people rights over their own health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive their information (Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, 2009). Before I was only familiar with the basics of HIPAA, such as you do not use or share a patient 's private information with anyone without the patient 's permission. Now that I have almost completed this course, I have learned more about HIPAA. By violating HIPAA, there are possible
A profession can be defined as a “prestigious occupation with a high degree of identification among its member that requires a length and rigorous education in an intellectually demanding and theoretically based course of study; that engages in rigorous self-regulation and control; that holds authority over clients; and that puts service to society above simple self interest” (Schwirian, 1998, p. 6). Nursing is just that, and with its specific body of knowledge, standards, and codes of ethics, it is only fitting that it be self-regulated (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2012). The College of Nurses works with registered nurses, registered practical nurses, and nurse practioners to determine whether or not standards and best practices are met and that the public’s safety is protected.
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
My three goals for this course are as follows: to better understand the current legal and ethical climate of health care and specifically nursing, to be aware of that climate as I enter clinical, and to understand how I as a nurse can work to make the system more ethical. I chose these three goals, because they provide me with the opportunity to first learn about the current legal and ethical climate of nursing from an academic standpoint while examining how that knowledge translates to what I’m experiencing in clinical. My last goal is reflection-focused, and will allow me to take 5101 course content with me as I move forward as a professional nurse. I plan to accomplish these goals by being present in class preparation, lecture, and seminar,
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 &
Nurses must display a knowledge of skills by portraying a functional ability to assess, treat, and prevent illness in the clinical setting. “The nurses are obliged to gain specialized knowledge, skills and training through the rigorous study of biological, physical and behavioral sciences and then use this knowledge to diagnose and treat patients suffering from different ailments. The patients treated must be under the supervision of skilled medical practitioners and the nurse must be equally directed by the expert medical practitioner. The prevention and management of illnesses, injury and ailments also forms some of the major tasks that have to be carried out by nurses. Politeness in expression, compassion for patients and proper uniform are also some of the main parts of professionalism in nursing.” (professonalism in nursing http://www.buzzle.com/articles/professionalism-in-nursing.html)
Being a nurse is not just a profession, it is a privilege and an honor. With it being a profession where there is an opportunity to touch many patients’ lives, there must be regulations, laws, and codes that nurses must abide by. There are certain professional traits that a nurse must possess to make them not only a good nurse but a great nurse. There are various nursing theories that a nurse can base their practice upon and many historical figures of the past that guide the nurses of today and of the future.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a brilliant set of laws put into place to protect patients’ privacy rights. These laws are extremely tedious, covering every single aspect of privacy rights, what is considered a breach of privacy, and what happens to the individual who commits this breach. When looking at the legal consequences given to those who break HIPAA laws, they are no slap on the wrists. HIPAA violations can lead to fines in the millions and even jail time for so much as a peak at a patient’s private documents. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.
Even though hipaa violations are an important standard in preventing many individuals from causing several breaches of information from getting out, it is important to work on a strategies within several health care organizations that will work with the privacy rules regarding violation laws. “Jill Granger & Laura Cataldo (2013) reports When working in the healthcare setting, it is important to consult with the guidelines established by one's institution and to participate in any training programs to insure that the appropriate steps are being taken to maintain privacy. There are also a variety of additional resources available from the federal government and professional organizations to assist in the training process that may be especially
In 1996, Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA. The purpose of HIPAA is to provide guidance and tools to protect and secure patient’s medical records. There are two sections of the act that will be today’s focus – the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule. At the end of this training, employees will understand what HIPAA is, how it applies to [Hospital], and the penalties for violation.
Nursing is an occupation in which professionalism (or lack thereof) can have a significant effect on not only patients and their health, but the nurse’s relationships with colleagues, patients’ families and even their community. A nurse must exemplify professionalism, especially in an environment that creates increased risk for loss of life or further injury. There are many aspects that are involved with professionalism in nursing, and many expectations set up on the nurse.
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
The public expects nurses to have high standards of professional behaviour. For nurses, this involves a high degree of knowledge, suitable behaviour, well developed skills and a desire to improve their skills. A high degree of knowledge for nurses means to have gained a recognised degree and the right to practice. For example, New Zealand nurses must be registered with the Nursing Council of New Zealand. We need to be cautious about what behaviour we reveal in our professional and personal life. An example would be social networking, posting anything that may offend someone’s privacy and dignity (Social media and Electronic communication, 2002). Professional behaviour requires nurses to act in accordance with the Code of Conduct and ensure our actions are ethical, as we are responsible for the quality of health care offered to the public (Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2012). Accurate knowledge, good skills and positive attitudes are key to well-developed professional behaviour. Being open to peoples’ professional advice and learning from it, is an important part of professional behaviour (Milton, 2008).
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.
A professional nurse is one who puts the needs and importance of patient care above all others. While striving for professionalism, nurses need compassion, patience, empathy, strong moral and ethics, accountability and the commitment to always act in the best interest of their patients. Nurses are held accountable for providing quality, safe, and effective nursing care (Hood, 2014). A professional nurse has the responsibility to continually improve and implement nursing standards while maintaining integrity by involving themselves in various tasks. Regular involvement in reading professional literature and sharing of evidence- based research with other healthcare personal helps increase knowledge and skills. This nursing ability can be used to encourage the actions of others in the healthcare team resulting in improved patient care. Nurses should encourage each other to become involved in hospital committees, provide an environment to encourage the discussions of ethical dilemmas, promote professional growth of nurses to voice their concerns and share viewpoints to address issues. “A professional nurse should expect to commit to a life of continuous learning growth and development”. (Hood, 2014, pp. 29). Nurses choose this profession to help others. As professional nurses we must maintain our ethics, values, characteristics, and commitment to drive our profession forward (CCN, 2015). Nurses must be autonomous, accountable, and be able to delegate to unlicensed assistive personnel. Being autonomous as a nurse means having control over their practice (Hood, 2014). It allows a nurse to take risks while being held accountable for ones’ actions (Hood, 2014).
Professional nurses encounter a variety of legal ethical and bioethical issues on a daily basis. For this reason, it is essential that all nurses are aware of current state and national legislation, acts and guidelines and the implications of these for nursing practices as well as legal processes, principles of open disclosure and the role of a coroner in the health sector. In this way, nurses can adhere to the overarching guidelines for practice as well as working within the code of conduct, competency standards and scope of practice. This paper will provide an overview of legal and ethical parameters of professional nursing practice.