The Nine Essentials Of Professional Nursing Practice

In this essay we are going to explore the connection between professional nursing practice and professional caring. I will outline the terms of professional nursing practice and what makes nursing a profession? I will describe the term of professional caring and the connection to the nursing practice and discuss the dilemma of care and cure. And also determine the importance of both in professional nursing practice.

Healthcare systems and the way safe, quality health care is delivered are continually changing to better serve patients and communities. Professional nursing practice is a large component in the healthcare system today. Back in the 1960s, professional nursing leaders tried to adopt the bachelor degree programs as the only educational track to become a registered nurse (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). Due to nursing shortages and demands this motive did not hold fast. Individuals entering the nursing profession today must first decide which educational pathway to take to become a Registered Nurse (RN).

The Baccalaureate Essentials are educational tools that are utilized to prepare the graduating Baccalaureate Generalist nurse to practice at the professional level delivering safe, top-quality, competent care to an ever-changing diverse patient population. “Baccalaureate-prepared nurses provide patient-centered care that identifies, respects, and addresses patients’ differences, values, preferences, and expressed needs” (AACN, 2008). The Essentials expand on previous learned skills and knowledge of sciences and humanities to promote enhanced communication, critical thinking/reasoning and encourage the continuation of life-long learning.

With an ever-increasing body of knowledge in the field of nursing, more education is being required to enter the field of nursing. Many healthcare institutions are raising the educational requirements in order to become employed or maintain employment in their facilities. Healthcare organizations are transitioning to hiring registered nurses (RN) who have a higher level of education, such as, a graduate from a Baccalaureate Degree Nursing (BSN) program. The goal of these institutions is to have nurses with a broader array of skills that can meet the growing demands of our patient population. BSN prepared nurses are recognized for their well-rounded skills in critical thinking, management, case management and health promotion versus Associate Degree nurses (ADN)/Diploma nurses that focus on direct patient care.

Nurses must achieve a higher level of education in order to meet the demands of evolving health care and the changing needs of patients (Rosseter, 2012). Nurses will need to be prepared for a broader scope of practice and to maintain quality within the health care setting. Associate degrees are still valuable tools when used as stepping stones to baccalaureate programs and performing the technical aspects of nursing. BSN-educated nurses are equipped with a more diverse skill set that assists them in leading and reacting appropriately in critical situations. In addition, they have the opportunity to pursue advanced practices. Baccalaureate programs can help develop a good or adequate associate degree nurse, into an outstanding nurse.

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.

Professional practice models can help guides nursing practice in any healthcare setting. Nursing care models are commonly adopted by Magnet organizations because they promote staff autonomy, shared decision making, patient-centeredness, and quality care. Nurses most often develop PPMs which reflect not only nursing values but the organization’s values as well. This paper will explore several elements of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s (BWH) Professional Practice Model (PPM). First, the model’s fundamental nursing framework will be identified. Next, a brief discussion on how the model promotes patient-centeredness, evidence-based practice, and interdisciplinary collaboration will be presented. Lastly, a summary of how the model fosters quality, safety, informatics, shared governance and leadership will be reviewed.

Philosophy is a set of ideas, values, and beliefs behind what a person does (Merriam- Webster Dictionary, 2015). All nurses have beliefs about what nursing is and is not. It is important to stay true to one’s personal, moral, and ethical values at all times. Nurses are morally and ethically responsible for their patients, decisions, and actions (Lindh, Barbosa, Berg, & Severinsson, 2010). Every nurse brings something different to healthcare because they have different philosophies and/or believe in different nursing theories that guide their practice.

There are five integral components to nursing practice that reinforce the framework of the nursing profession. The conceptual framework pillars are the following: Caring, Communication, Critical Thinking, Professionalism and Holism. Further, Caring is an essential pillar in the nursing profession and is defined as embracing empathy for the patient and being able to interpret the principles of altruism, integrity, human dignity, autonomy and reflect sensitive, compassionate, safe and outstanding quality care. Communication is s process in which information is shared formally or informally between individuals. Critical Thinking is extraordinarily acquired thought that indicates inquiry, evidenced based research, reasoning, analysis and

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).

The American Nurses Association (ANA) established The Standards of Professional Nursing Practice (2010). The Standards of Professional Nursing Practice consists of Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional Performance. The standards serve as guidelines to define the profession of nursing and define the scope of practice for professional nurses. All standards presented in the The Standards of Professional Nursing Practice (2010) are essential for the nursing professional to function, legally, ethically and professionally in the healthcare organization.

“Throughout the last decade, policymakers and practice leaders have recognized that education makes a difference” (Impact of Education, n.d.). Hospitals are also trending towards preferred hiring of bachelors prepared nurses for their workforce. Even national organizations are jumping on the bandwagon requiring “all nurse managers and nurse leaders to hold a baccalaureate or graduate degree in nursing by 2013” (Impact of Education, n.d.), likewise the Institute of Medicine has also recommended that all hospitals have at least 80% of their nursing staff with a BSN or higher by the year 2020 (Impact of Education, n.d.).

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

Many people believe mandatory residency programs for newly licensed nurses are long overdue. The knowledge needed to practice nursing has grown to include health policy, ethics, public health, research, healthcare delivery improvements, as well as leadership skills. Nurses are part of the multi-disciplinary team and must work together with healthcare providers who possess masters or doctoral degrees. Nursing school prepares nurses with the basic information they need to know in order to practice safe nursing. However, modern nurses are faced with ever increasing demands. New nurses must know how to collaborate with the healthcare team, manage their priorities, stay organized and recognize life-threatening situations. Many new grads are overwhelmed with the demands of nursing, which can lead to compromised patient care and safety. Formalized, supervised guidance will improve patient care and retain nurses. The study also recommended doubling the amount of nurses with a masters or doctoral degree by 2020 in order to provide an adequate supply of nurses who are able to assume nurse faculty, primary care providers, and researcher positions.

Patient outcome are the principal for continuing education. The level of educational preparation required by a baccalaureate-degree nurse allows for more equip decision-making in approach to patient care situations. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing,