Abstract
Nursing requires not only having the education and compassion of helping others; it requires having a professional outlook. Having and displaying a professional outlook requires you to have the attitude and appearance and the willingness to help others.
Professionalism in Nursing
Professionalism
In order to understand the concept of professionalism, we first need to define the word profession. Webster describes profession as a “chosen, paid occupation requiring prolonged training and formal qualification.” Professionals therefore can be defined as individuals expected to display competent and skillful behaviors in alignment with their profession. Being professional then is the act of behaving in a manner defined and expected by the chosen profession. This framework for professionalism in nursing began with our early roots with Florence Nightingale who set the bar rather high in regards to giving of herself to others and her expectation of excellence in practice.
She was an inventor, a visionary, a missionary and she delivered all with a commitment to passion and love. We as nurses are no different. We bear the tremendous responsibility of upholding the values of our profession. Our core nursing values define the driving force that dictates our beliefs and our behaviors.( Welling RE, Boberg JT. 2010)
Nursing as a profession embodies many values inherent in those who pursue nursing careers. When nurses are asked to identify their core values, they are surprisingly consistent throughout the profession globally. They include honesty, responsibility, pursuit of new knowledge, belief in human dignity, equality of all patients and the desire to prevent and alleviate suffering. In other words, all of us as nurses have chosen this profession to help others in need and to improve the quality of life for all. That mantra has not changed since the days of Florence Nightingale.( Welling RE, Boberg JT. 2010)
The Term Paper on Professionalism In Nursing 2
There are many professions and disciplines in which professionalism is of the utmost importance, and nursing is among them. Within the field of nursing, there is much value to be placed with the enhancement of professionalism within the profession. Nursing is a profession that relies on practitioners to act in a way that represents the virtuousness of the broader discipline, as all nurses are in a ...
So how does this transfer to the expectations of your practice wherever you interface with patients? Your professionalism will be judged in your personal behaviors and how you present yourself to all those around you, and through those behaviors, you tell the world who you are. Components of your professionalism include your attitude, your appearance and your willingness to help others.(Doukas, D.J 2009)
Attitude
Attitude is everything! The way you view your world and portray that view to others is everything. I am sure that you all can identify someone in your work environment with a terrible attitude that does their best to make the rest of the staff miserable. Unfortunately, many times they are successful pulling everyone into the puddle with them. People behave like this because they are looking for attention and by sucking everyone else into their drama they get that attention and control the environment. This type of behavior is counter to the expectations of the nursing profession to focus on helping others rather than focusing on our own problems. Personal issues need to be left at home and not taken into the work area. There are always going to be times when we face issues in our lives that threaten our positive outlook. I find it helpful to be grateful for everything I have.
I believe that waking up in the morning is the best thing that can happen to me and the rest of the day becomes a gift. My mom told me this story about how she had the opportunity to meet a wonderful lady who lost her daughter to cancer recently. A tremendous lesson for her was to be grateful for every minute she had with her daughter and to convert the “have to’s” to the “get to’s.” When her daughter was depressed that she had to go for more chemotherapy, she reframed that to the fact that she “got to” go for more chemotherapy which kept her alive for much longer. If we begin to be grateful for what we have, our whole outlook on life changes and the way we relate to people becomes more meaningful. Be grateful because you “get to” be a nurse, you get to pick up your kids from sports, you get to go grocery shopping, you get to wake up in the morning: the list goes on and on.(Cruess, R.L 2006)( Blumenthal D. 2009)
The Term Paper on Nursing and Care
The concept of Synergy can be applied to the practice of nursing by means of education and service. To obtain Synergy in nursing the nurse’s knowledge and skills are able to meet the individual needs of the patient population that is presented. Currently in Western Pennsylvania, there is a rising number maternal substance abuse during pregnancy. This epidemic in turn creates a different type of ...
Appearance
There is no way around the fact that people judge you by your personal appearance. Clean scrubs, neat hair, clean shoes and a well groomed look makes the statement that you care about yourself as a person and therefore have the capacity to care about others. People that look sloppy may be perceived by others as unorganized, lazy, and uncaring. If you do not care about yourself, how can you truly care for others? A little attention to how you look goes a long way to display your professionalism.(Welling, R.N 2010)( Blumenthal D.2009)
Willingness to Help Others
What has amazed me in nursing since I have been going to different clinical sites for 4 years is the observation that nurses do not necessarily support each other as we should. There needs to be solidarity in our profession, and yet, what I have observed, is a more individualized approach where we, as nurses, are more worried about ourselves than the whole of the profession. This translates into your willingness to help others and to work together as a team, as well as speak positively about your profession whenever you can. Remember, your profession is different than your job. At times we, as nurses, may tend to talk negatively about the nursing profession because we do not like where we work, and that you have control over.
There is no question that nursing is a tough profession, both physically and mentally, and that with changes in the economy and the pressures of health care reform, the work environment will become even more challenging. To survive and actually thrive in nursing, we will all need to pull together as a profession and begin by working together at the bedside and being great team players willing to support each other. Something magical happens when we give to others; wonderful things begin to come back to us in far greater ways than what we have originally given.(Inui, T.S 2008)
The Research paper on Health Care and Nursing Home
A Report Submitted to the Continuing Care Committee within NHS Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Care Trust Plus’. A Report Submitted to The Open University Contents:- 1. Introduction 2 2. Perspective on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and Stroke 3 2. 1 Professional perspective 4 Illustrate the traumas which where faced by Earl. By studying Earl’s case study who 63 year, is currently a ...
Nurses are the most trusted profession in the world; we have so much to give. Show the world how wonderful we are by always putting your best foot forward not only for yourself, but for all of us in this wonderful profession! Make a difference!
References
Cruess RL, Cruess SR. Teaching medicine as a profession in the service of healing. Academic Medicine 2006; 72: 941-952. Medical Professionalism in the New Millenium: A Physician Charter. Ann Intern Med 2008;136: 243-246 Inui, T.S. A Flag in the Wind: Educating for Professionalism in Medicine. Assoication of American Medical Colleges 2008 Doukas, D.J. Where is the Virtue in ProfPessionalism. Cambridge Quarterly in Healthcare Ethics. 2009; 12: 147-154. Blumenthal D. Nurses in a wired world: can professionalism survive connectivity? The Milbank Quarterly. 2009;80(3):525-46, iv. Panush RS. Not for sale, not even for rent: just say no. Thoughts about the American College of Rheumatology adopting a code of ethics. The Journal of Rheumatology. 2010 May;29(5):1049-57. Chervenak FA, McCullough LB. Neglected ethical dimensions of the professional liability crisis. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2009 May;190(5):1198-200. Welling RE, Boberg JT. Professionalism: lifelong commitment for nurses. Archives of Nurses. 2010 Mar;138(3):262-4; discussion 264.
