Practical Nursing Case Study

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. Potter, Perry, Stockert, and Hall (2015) point out several characteristics of the profession which nurses possess. Continuing education is one of the top components pointed out and

This characteristic stands out the most for nursing, because of its nature of stressful work environment with heavy accountability. It is unavoidable to observe general stress, role strain, and burnout from some nurses at the clinical sites. Cabrera states that the research shows that positive employees are directly related to greater productivity and better decision making (Cabrera, 2012). The positive nurses at the clinical sites focused on professionally achieving their daily goals yet managing to stay in positive mood. Many times, those nurses’ positive vibe aided in encouraging the other nurses and staff to be more like them, resulting in a better work environment. Cabrera also talks about the mental benefits of positivity, which is mindfulness of the surroundings (Cabrera, 2012). Being mindful of the surroundings helps with the ability to take in more information. This may benefit the nurses who always have to collect as many information in order to provide effective patient