Nursing is a profession whose focus is not only to care for the physical aspects of an illness but also to integrate the psychological, spiritual, and social aspects of the client’s life into their care. The values of the nursing profession are based upon the teachings of Florence Nightingale; a pioneer of the nursing profession. Nursing is not only based on scientific knowledge and evidence-based practice, but also on a foundation of moral values that help provide the client with the most humane care possible. A Coat of Arms is the integration of a variety of symbols that illustrate the values of a family, person, or in this case; a profession. A Coat of Arms is not only used to symbolize values, but is perceived as a sign of honour and power. A Coat of Arms that effectively represents the Nursing profession must include symbols that illustrate the values of leadership, advocacy, critical thinking, knowledge, professionalism; and empathy that are part of everyday nursing. My group and I came together to create a Coat of Arms that clearly represents our vision and beliefs about the nursing profession, while also integrating the values mentioned beforehand. Our Coat of Arms consists of a shield with puzzle pieces, a question mark, and the outline of a brain as its background. At the top of the shield lies the figure of a lion alongside a balanced scale. At the bottom of the shield two hands come together to form a heart, and finally a man and a woman are pictured on both sides of the shield. This Coat of Arms is a clear depiction of what we, as a group, perceive the nursing profession to be. Critical thinking and knowledge are the foundation of nursing practice, and the most essential elements in providing quality nursing care. Nu... ... middle of paper ... ... Through the demonstration of these values on a daily basis, the nurse is able to not only take better care of his or her patients, but is also able to take care of his or herself. Through self-care, the nurse is able to better understand the phenomena of the client, and is able to provide better client-centered care. Works Cited Advocacy and conflict in nursing. (2010). International Nursing Review, 57(3), 277. doi:10.1111/j.1466-7657.2010.00843.x Hanks, R.. (2008). The Lived Experience of Nursing Advocacy. Nursing Ethics, 15(4), 468-77. Retrieved February 27, 2012, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1486004371). Kirk, T. W. (2007). Beyond empathy: clinical intimacy in nursing practice. Nursing Philosophy, 8(4), 233-243. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2007.00318.x Roy, C. (2009). The roy adaptation model. (3 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
The need for advocacy is most often first noticed by the nurse through empathy. When nurses are able to empathize with their patients it begins the process of advocacy. When the nurse empathizes with their patient an altruistic attitude towards the patient grows, this improves caring and caring is essentially an innate form of professional ethics. The want to advocate by the nurse is greatly enhanced when the nurse truly cares about the patient; which is best developed through empathy. The want to advocate for the patient by the nurse is the biggest factor in positive advocacy outcomes (Reed, F., et. all, 2016). Professional caring combines caring and empathy with nursing knowledge and competency; together these factors enable the nurse to serve as a capable moral agent for their patient within the healthcare system. It is not possible to advocate for a patient properly without being first able to empathize and create a therapeutic nurse-client
Monaliza, K. R. (2014). Registered Nurses" Experiences of Ethical and Human Rights Issues in Nursing Practice: Frequency and Handling,. Baba Farid University Nursing Journal, 15-22.
Nursing is the core of care. The essential is not communication via words or language, but care that is imparted by sincere interest is interdenominational and transcends culture, language, and treatments. Relational consciousness is a significant component of a compassionate nursing practice. Doane, & Varcoe, (2015) state that relational awareness encompasses recognition that individuals are situated and constituted through cultural, interpersonal, social, political and emotional processes. Operating from the center of which we are, with insight and awareness is essential to phenomenological nursing practice. I will be exploring my personal values and beliefs
According to Bandman & Bandman (1995), critical thinking is defined as the rational examination of ideas, inferences, assumptions, principles, arguments, conclusions, issues, statements, beliefs and actions. In this subject ‘Critical Thinking in Nursing’ has emphasized critical thinking as an essential nursing skill and its definition of critical thinking have evolved over the years. In short, the general definition of critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored and self-corrective thinking. Every nurses must cultivate rigorous standards for critical thinking, however they cannot avoid completely the situatedness and structures of the clinical traditions and practices. They must make decisions and act quickly according to
Davis J. Anne Diane Marsha and Aroskar A. Mila (2010). Ethical Dilemmas and Nursing Practice. Pearson
Therapeutic relationships are an essential part of nursing; they are the foundation of nursing (CNO, 2009). The National Competency Standard for Registered Nurses states that nurses are responsible for “establishing, sustaining and concluding professional relationships with individuals/groups.” Throughout this essay, the importance of forming therapeutic relationships will be explained. The process of building a therapeutic relationship begins prior to time of contact with a patient, the interpersonal skills of the nurse; then the process includes skills required by the nurse to communicate effectively, including respect, trust, non-judgment and empathy. The way to portray these skills can be via verbal or non-verbal cues that are important to understand how they influence a person.
Around the 1960s, nursing educational leaders wanted to formulate a nursing theory that contained knowledge and basic principles to guide future nurses’ in their practice (Thorne, 2010, p.64). Thus, Jacqueline Fawcett introduced the metaparadigm of nursing. Metaparadigm “identifies the concepts central to the discipline without relating them to the assumptions of a particular world view” (MacIntyre & Mcdonald, 2014). Fawcett’s metaparadigm of nursing included concepts of person, environment, health, and nursing that were interrelated. The metaparadigm ultimately contributed to conceptual framework to guide nurses to perform critical thinking and the nursing process in everyday experiences in clinical settings.
Preusser, B. (2008). 4th Ed. Winningham and Preusser’s critical thinking in nursing: Medical-surgical, pediatric, maternity, and psychiatric case studies. New York: Elsevier/Mosby Inc.
As a nurse it will be my responsibility to take care of others who may not be able to care for themselves. So it is critical that I know how to take care of myself so that in turn I can help others. Being able to know what self-care is for myself is a very valuable tool as a nurse and to the larger society. If I have a patient I can express to them the importance of self-care and show them how I take care of myself and the benefits of personal self-care.
One of the most essential aspects of doing a job well, no matter what job it is, is the ability to think critically about a situation. Finn (2011) defines critical thinking as “the ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons and evidence rather than emotion or anecdote”. The difference between assessing a certain situation critically and assessing it without any evidence to corroborate your claims is that when you look at something critically, you are using your ability to “come up with the alternative explanations for events, think of research findings and apply new knowledge to social and personal problems” (Finn, 2011). When you can come up with other explanations using evidence, you can also create an alternative way of enhancing the situation. Critical thinking skills are especially important to nurses in a fast-paced setting. Nursing is a very demanding and rewarding field to enter into; it becomes enjoyable when you are good at it. In order to be good at their jobs, nurses need to learn the skills required to think critically and also, relate those skills to their everyday routines. This is known as evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice is defined as “using the best scientific evidence available to guide clinical decisions and interventions with the goals of fostering self-management skills and improving health outcomes” (Miller, 2011). This paper examines the skills required for critical thinking, how to learn these skills, and how to apply them in clinical settings. (Miller, 2011; Finn, 2011; Noonan, 2011; Lunney, 2010; Wangensteen, Johansson, Bjorkstrom & Nordstrom, 2010; Chitty & Black, 2011).
A coat of arms is an arrangement of heraldic symbols, demonstrative of great achievement and significant qualities that date back to the Middle Ages. The arms was established to identify knights during battle and has since then evolved to represent nations, post-secondary institutions and eventually, professions. A coat of arms distinct to an occupation may depict the goals of the professional body and emphasize essential qualities unique to it. The nursing profession is characterized by a multitude of traits and our coat of arms has captured six of those multidimensional qualities vital for nurses. Symbols representative of compassion, perseverance, trust, advocacy, knowledge, and critical thinking have been illustrated on our coat of arms.
In addition a positive self-awareness gives a sense of continuity, wholeness and consistency to a person. In relation to nursing, self-awareness helps nurses to learn about their strength and weaknesses. “It helps nurses to deliver better client care thus; client gets well soon and builds a trusting relation between the client and the nurse. Self-awareness helps nurses to identify several problems that might be a cause I providing better care”(Nancy Burns, 2005).
Prior to entering the professional role of nursing, a nurse should also determine the principals and personal values that will guide their nursing practice. Personal values, past experiences, and influences of other nurses are what attract many to the profession of nursing. Nurses have a profound impact on the lives of their patients, their families, and the community. Nursing is a constant process of building a prevalent knowledge base while maintaining a sense of compassion and empathy for those during a time of need. Nursing is more than a career, it is an art form that is continuously being molded by personal experiences and the gain of knowledge; what we do with it is that defines us as nurses.
Critical thinking is defined as the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment. Critical thinking enables the nurse to consider multiple possibilities in clinical situations; identify alternatives to the data, problems, and interventions; weigh the consequences of different alternate actions; and arrive at sound decisions (Case, 1994; Oermann, 1998; Oermann &Gaberson, 1998; Whiteside, 1997). By using critical thinking exercises in orientation, continuing education programs, and interactions with staff, nurse educators and administrators can better prepare nurses to meet the challenges of today's practice.
In the healthcare setting, a systematic process to ensure maximum care and maximum recovery in patients is needed, which is called the nursing process. This process consists of four steps: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation (Walton, 2016). The nursing process is important to ensure quality care and to get the preferred outcome. In the nursing process, critical thinking is used to recognize the issue and come up with a logical solution to solving it. One important aspect of the nursing process is that the plan is not set in stone; it is meant to be manipulated in order to better suit the patient. Nurses must be able to think critically in order to recognize the issue, develop a way to correct it, and be able to communicate the issue to others. Throughout the nursing process, critical thinking is used to determine the best plan of care for a patient based on their diagnosis.