According to the Oxford Dictionary, Professionalism is defined as the competence or skill expected of a professional (year). It continues to impact and shape the roles of many professions including the Nursing profession. (Incorporate the quote: verbally state author/book) “The nursing profession has developed a reputation for successfully delivering high quality, cost effective care” (year, page number). The standards of nursing care and nurse practice serves as major guiding components in practicing professionalism due to its uniform behavior. They lay the foundation for the ethical practices, roles, characteristics and behaviors a professional nurse is expected to exhibit. The role of professionalism in nursing will be discussed as well …show more content…
Along with the technological and medical advancements, there has been continual expansion in the role of the professional nurse. Florence Nightingale’s contributions during the 18th century helped pave the way for the identifying the patient’s needs as well as the role of the nurse in meeting those needs (author, 2015, p. # or para #). One identified need of the patient is to have someone who will advocate for them. As an advocate the nurse stands on the frontline for the patient and serves as a liaison between the patient and their family as well as health care providers. The nurse makes ethical decisions and respects the rights of the patient. (introduce the quote) “Nurses who prize their role in securing patient well being are sensitive to ethical and legal implications” (Taylor, …show more content…
According to Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, the public attitudes of nurses in the United States reveal that nurses are admired and their professional behavior has influenced the trust and willingness to allow a nurse to provide care (2015, pg. #). With this being said, one should guard their reputation as well as that of the profession. The nurse takes into account how she carries herself at and away from work. A professional nurse considers the importance of their appearance. Coming to work in uniform, clean scrubs, having clean hair, manicured nails, and good hygiene displays professional behavior. Respect is an ethically important aspect of nursing as it is the driving force of behavior. Patients should not be discriminated against based on sex, race, or cultural backgrounds. The professional nurse respects and adapts to the needs of the patient in a nonbiased manner. A nurse dedicated to professionalism exhibits a high level of integrity for the patient. The patient’s medical records are protected and kept confidential. A truly responsible nurse is one who is well understands the level of responsibility and the consequences associated with negelegince, mistakes, and non-maleficence. Being committed to providing a high level of care at all times while aiming to preserve and promote the patient’s mind, body and spirit is their
As a registered nurse practicing in the state of California I am responsible for practicing within my states legal regulations and nursing scope of practice. My concern for the welfare of the sick and injured allows me to practice ethical provisions of nursing. These are required if I am to carry out competent and effective nursing care. Nursing encompasses the prevention of illness, the alleviation of suffering, and the protection, promotion, and restoration of health in the care of individuals. Therefore, as health care professionals we must be familiar with the different philosophical forces, ethical principles, theories and values that influence nursing. At the same time, we must be respectful to our patient’s
Nurses have long been concerned as establishing professional values and behavior compare to other profession. Nurses are career work within medical industry and therefore they have interaction with various different type people and medical condition. There is characteristic requirement for equality and human dignity and this section of the desire of professionalism that nurses have. Moreover the nursing industry is broad and including different people in various circumstances yet there are should be something that binds them as nurse. This is where the professionalism comes in nurse. According research Griffith and Tengnah (2013) defined professionalism as knowledge, attitudes, values and behaviors required to be a district nurse. The main
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
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)
A nurse is given an opportunity to help patients, either if its by helping them through a very serious sickness or just helping a patient get to the bathroom on time, or a time when happiness is overfilling the room and a child is being born. Registered nurses provide a wide variety of patient care services (Mitchell, p.12). A Nurse must always know where to begin and where to stop, as any other career in the health field there is always something that cannot be done by everyone but only the certified person, a nurse must always remain inside her scope of practice to prevent any misunderstandings. A nurse must also follow a code of ethics , the code of ethics of the American Association of Medical Assistants states that a nurse should at all times render service with full respect and dignity of humanity, respect confidential information obtained by a patients file, uphold the honor and high principles the profession and accept its discipline, and last but not least always want to improve her services to better serve the health and well being of the community. (Mitchell, p.65).
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 definition of professionalism can be described as skilled and trained
(AACN, 2008) When talking about representing a profession, nurses are wearing a professional image. That professional image brings individuals who are sick and unable to act as they might, to rely on those professionals to act on their behalf. Nurses need to exhibit their confidence and integrity as expected by the patients they care for. It is the nurse’s responsibility to support patient’s decisions, protect their rights and stand up for their best interests. As highly skilled advocates, nurses require strong critical reasoning and judgment, communication skills and ethical knowledge. Therefore, nurses are committed to lifelong learning.
Professionalism as a whole is expected of everyone, and is not something that should have to be commended, because I feel it is a standard. There are varying degrees of how to act professional, and not everyone has the same opinion on what is professional and what is not. Problems arise when there are differing opinions, because which person is right? It is easy to have a clear picture of what professionalism is when there are actual guidelines in place, such as the licensed practical nurse (LPN) guidelines. These guidelines, or scope of practice is written out by the board of nursing in the state of practice (Potter et al., 2011), and then more specific guidelines are written within individual facilities based on the state.
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 IOM Report The concept of nursing practice incorporates professionals that conscientiously serve the public. Due to the delicate nature of the services that these professionals offer, the patients expect that the care provided to them is safe and ethical. In 2010, the government of the U.S. passed the Affordable Care Act to ensure the advancement of health care delivered by all practitioners (Puetz, 2013). Thus, it is one of the nurses’ obligations to ensure that the health sector achieves the objectives of the act.
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.
Nurses are subject to a plethora of legal, ethical, and professional duties which can be very challenging on a day to day basis. Some of these duties include respecting a patient 's confidentiality and autonomy, and to recognize the duty of care that is owed to all patients. As nurses our duties are always professional; however there are legal implications if these duties are breached. We also must consider when it is okay as nurses to breach these duties and therefore ethical issues arise. As nurses one of our main priorities is to advocate for our patients, without our own personal feelings on the matter taking over.
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).
Nightingale said, “The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm”. The history of nursing initially begins with Florence Nightingale. Before her era nurses had a tarnished reputation (Glasper, 2017). They were poorly educated and incompetent people. Nurses such as Mrs. Bedford Fenwick wanted to change the image of nursing. They did this by leading a campaign for professionalism. Which led to the culminated Nurse Bill receiving is royal assent in December 1919 (Glasper, 2017). July 27, 1921 was the official opening of the nursing register, there are currently 688,927 nurses registered with the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) (Glasper, 2017). The NMC code has four themes of professionalism, “Prioritizing