Professionalism in Nursing
Izabela Michalewicz
Chamberlain College of Nursing, NR 351
Professionalism is described as the stringent obedience towards good manners, responsibility, and honesty when dealing with individuals or other organizations in the business environment. It also shows a person’s commitment, along with their morals and competence in order to get the job done right. Treating a patient in a professional manner, showing a positive and caring attitude really goes along way, especially as a first impression. Patients can sense honesty the moment when you enter their room and it is really important to gain the patient’s trust especially when being the patient’s advocate. The performance of any health care company or hospital will grow when workers carry out their tasks in a professional and positive manner.
Professionalism is attained by showing a knowledgeable, accountable, visible as well as ethical nursing practice and maintaining a professional presence. A professional presence needs a nurse to engage in
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Courtesy and virtue go hand in hand when dealing with patients. This is the most important thing for a patient when they first meet you and helps to show the patient what kind a nurse you are. According to Milton (2008), nursing practice happens in several clinical as well as non-clinical surroundings where despite an individual's’ practice surrounding, the expectations connected to professionalism apply to all nurses. Professionalism indicates a commitment towards public interest and adopts adherence to a set of values that are maintained and understood by all. Notably, it is important that nurses invoke the elements of professionalism when; providing nursing care, collaborating with patients, fellow workers, other members of the health care group and the public, nurturing the growth of other nurses, making an effort to address workplace and system enhancements, and encouraging for health public
Although nursing is universally practiced, not all nurses values and morals are the same. Nurses and nursing students are usually put in situations where they must operate within an ethical structure which is either unfamiliar to their cultural criterion or those of the patients for whom they are taking care of. The most prominent values and morals of nurses are based on human dignity and benevolence. Human dignity is the main component that branches off into other values under caring for health and well-being. Trust, integrity, autonomy, and privacy are one of the many sub-values that fall under human dignity. It is important for the nurses to respect and understand the culture and beliefs of the patient without being judgmental or confrontational. The wellbeing of the patient is priority and so the nurses must focus on gaining the patients trust first by tending to their needs and exhibiting
Throughout the Practical Nursing program, there has been many opportunities to closely observe working nurses in different hospitals and facilities. It also has been a great chance to grasp the general idea about professionalism in the workplace and how it can have a great impact in a successful work environment. Combining what was observed and what was learnt from the class, there were three particular aspects of professionalism that seemed to be key characteristics of professional nurses: knowledge from continuous education, autonomy, and positivity. Out of all other characteristics for professionalisms in nursing, those three were the most remarkable features found from the some of the great nurses observed from the clinical sites.
The most prominent resource that emphasizes nursing professionalism is an article from the Kentucky Nurses. The author Teresa Huber thoroughly demonstrates the idea behind nursing professionalism and the importance of being a skilled nurse. The author states that professionalism is “respect for human dignity and to never discriminate against patients” (Huber 2015). Professionalism isn’t purely based on appearance but also on the attitude of the nurse and the amount of respect a nurse shows their patients. It’s important for a nurse to never judge a patient and never make a patient feel like they are in the wrong, doing so demonstrates an inability to care for the patient in a respectful manner. Also demonstrating disrespect to a patient’s wishes and concerns will only worsen the rapport the nurse must make with the patient. The author also expresses that “We are accountable for ourselves” (Huber 2015, p.1) that nurses must take responsibility for their actions and make sure that they are giving the best quality care that they can give. If a nurse doesn’t perform to the best of their capability the nurse is demonstrating a lack of motivation and determination. This article reinforces core beliefs on nursing professionalism because it helps explain that a nurse’s attitude and treatment toward the patient is essential to perform their
Not only was it easy to demonstrate, but I hit the main concepts of professionalism which accountability, autonomy, and teamwork. While in my acute care clinical, I came dressed appropriately with all my supplies I needed for the day. I also was able to be a good representation of the nursing profession and DMACC by following the ADN student outcome's professionalism. This included me being accountable when I came to clinical. I kept fidelity when I would keep my promises of coming back to the patient when I said I would. I also made sure to get my mentoring nurse, when I was unsure how to do a skill a client was asking me to do. However, I maintained a sense of autonomy when I was able to answer the questions and preforming skills by myself. However, when I needed help from a peer or the working patient care technician (PCT), I did not hesitate to ask. I also did what I could to help my nurse and PCT with their work load depicting teamwork in professionalism. As it can be seen, I had no problem demonstrating professionalism in clinicals through following DMACC's ADN student outcome's professionalism. It was feasible to be an excellent team player while maintaining accountability and autonomy (DMACC, 2017-2018,
Essentials VIII which is professionalism and professional values is one of the most comprehensive essentials. “Professionalism is defined as the consistent demonstration of core values evidenced by nurses working with other professionals to achieve optimal health and wellness outcomes in patients, families, and communities by wisely applying principles of altruism, excellence, caring, ethics, respect, communication, and accountability.” (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008, p. 26) I believe that this essential adequately sums up the roles of nursing that is performed in hospitals. Nurses work with other professionals on almost an hourly basis whether it be a nurse assistant, physical therapy, speech therapy, pharmacy, or the physician. Nurses interact with all these professions while being an advocate for their patient. This essential has terms such as altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, and social justice that really hit home for me. Nursing is all of these things, taking care of the weak and vulnerable, while advocating for them every minute. Making no judgment based on sex, age, sexual orientation, or
Professionalism is defined as the accrued knowledge and behavior possessed by individuals in order to obtain successful goals and attributes for their organization, facility or work environment (McDonagh, 2008). Being professional while at work let others know that you are reliable, respectful, and competent at what you do. Professionalism in a medical office is very important, it means putting patient needs as top priority. Professionalism in a medical office is taking responsibility of your patients, committing to patient confidentiality, and having patient-centered care for the patients.
Nursing surrounds the concept of patient care physically, mentally and ethically. The therapeutic relationship that is created is built on the knowledge and skills of the nurse and relies on patient and nurse trusting one another. The use of nursing skills can ensure these boundaries are maintained, it allows for safe patient care. Professional boundaries are the line that nurses cannot cross, involving aspects such as patient confidentiality and privacy, ensuring legal aspects of nursing and the boundaries put in place are not breached. However, nurses accepting financial or personal gain from patient can also cross these professional boundaries. It is only through education in this area that the rights of patients can be preserved, as well as the nursing standards. Through education in areas such as confidentiality, boundaries can remain in tact and the patient care can remain within the zone of helpfulness.
While on the unit I made sure to use my time wisely, I completed my assessment in a timely manner, advocated for pain medication, checked on fellow nursing students, and kept patient’s rooms organized and clean. Professionalism was also exhibited in my clean outfit, with my hair back, name badge on, nails cut, and appropriate footwear and clinical tools on hand.
Professionalism, within the nursing context, can be a concept that is complex. The definition of professionalism, according to the textbook, Nursing Now!, is “The demonstration of high-level personal, ethical, and skill characteristics of a member of a profession” (Catalano, 2017, p. 5). There are many characteristics that define professionalism in the workplace and actions that a nurse can take to portray a professional attitude and manner. In nursing school, professionalism is taught in the classroom using different examples of education.
Professionalism is an adherence to a set of values comprising both a formally agreed-upon code of conduct and the informal expectations of colleagues, clients and society. The key values include acting in a patient's interest, responsiveness to the health needs of society, maintaining the highest standards of excellence in the practice of medicine and in the generation and dissemination of knowledge. In addition to medical knowledge and skills, medical professionals should present psychosocial and humanistic qualities such as caring, empathy, humility and compassion, as well as social responsibility and sensitivity to people's culture and beliefs. All these qualities are expected of members of highly trained professions.
Nurses must have a professional relationship with all types of people. The nurse must be a professional with their coworkers, superiors, and patients. The most important relationship is with the patient; if a professional relationship does not exist with them, the nurse as well as the organization will get a bad reputation. This in turn will ruin our professional relationship with our coworkers and superiors and will eventually cost that person a
The combination of professionalism and ethics can be equated with an extraordinary nurse because they are core components in the nursing profession and crucial to patient trust, confidence and wellbeing. Having a degree in nursing is not what makes one a professional. Professionalism is
Professionalism in the workplace in many professions can be simplified into general categories such as neat appearance, interaction with clients, punctuality, general subject knowledge, and likability. In nursing, professionalism encompasses a much more broad and inclusive set of criteria than any other profession. Nurses specifically are held to a higher standard in nearly every part of their job. Nurses are not only expected to uphold what it seen as professional in the aforementioned categories, but they are also expected to promote health, wellbeing, and advocate for patients, but also continually provide the highest standard of care, demonstrate exemplary subject and procedural knowledge, and abide by the Code of ethics set forth by the American Nurses Association. This Code of Ethics includes the complex moral and ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, honesty, and integrity.
Working in health care is an important job. People put their trust in us to do our very best to provide them with the absolute best care. Being entrusted with such responsibility requires nurses to conduct themselves both professionally and ethically. Nurses must adhere to the professional values of human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism, and social justice. It is these five values that guide us in our practice and as nurses we must promote and emulate these values. They play an important role in the quality of treatment and success of an organization and help us determine right from wrong.
Professionalism is defined as one's conduct at work. The quality of professionalism is not restricted to those in occupations with high level of education or high earnings. Any worker regardless of their level of education or occupation should demonstrate a high level of this trait (About.com, 2013). Acting professionally at workplace makes others think of you as reliable, respectful, and competent.