Nursing is a Profession
Nursing is a profession that blends the rich traditions of the past with the ever changing realities of today's health care industry. Nursing is not simply an assortment of special skills and the nurse is not simply a person proficient in performing these specific tasks. Nursing is a profession. I believe this statement to be true because of several factors. The Title 19 Code for Nurses is titled "Standards for Professional Nursing Practice". The status of nursing as a profession reflects the values that society places on the work of nurses and how central nursing is to the good of society. "By being a professional we imply that the person is conscientious in actions, knowledgeable in the subject and responsible to self and others." (Potter & Perry, 1993, p. 27)
Flexner's characteristics of a true profession are:
- Is basically intellectual (as opposed to physical)
- Is based on a body of knowledge that can be learned
- Is practical, rather than theoretical
- Can be taught through the process of professional education
- Has a strong internal orga...
Nursing’s development from an occupation to a profession follows the devotion and sacrifice of many amazing women throughout history. Considered to be one of the oldest professions, women have performed what could be considered nursing duties since the beginning of time. Although there have been many events and many individuals who have contributed to nursing’s evolution from the occupation it was once considered to the profession that now exists, the development of formal education opportunities and scholarly resources and the women who created them is what fascinates me most. Without knowing, each of the following five women helped lay the groundwork for what Lucie Kelly, RN, PhD, FAAN, eventually termed the eight characteristics of a profession
Nursing is both a profession and discipline. The terms profession and discipline are interchangeable in Nursing and education today. Profession comes from Latin meaning, “Public declaration ("utc.edu," 2014, p. 4). This is the drive for nurses to have the commitment of caring for patients. Discipline, also a Latin word means both teaching and knowledge. Thus, providing nurses the need for knowledge to care and teach patients. There are many different frameworks which nurses go and learn by. Otterbein’s tapestry of caring contains six components that are intermixed into the education that we pride ourselves as nursing students on. The mission, values and purpose of the education given to students, prepare them for their nursing profession can be based on the following: caring, commitment, compassion, conscience, confidence, competence and conduct.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston as Health Science Center at Houston
In today’s society nursing meets all the requirements of being a profession. To be considered a profession, one has to be dedicated to their career, abide by standards and a code of ethics, and have a higher education and a body of knowledge, duty to provide service, have autonomy and be part of a professional organization. Nurses take the traditional role of caring for loved ones to a whole new level of care.
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.
The truth is many of our healthcare peers in other disciplines have higher entry-level standards or have raised the bar to graduate level degrees for most jobs. I don't for one minute believe that higher education makes a nurse better. There are great nurses at all education levels. However, there has to be a standard to be recognized as a profession. Otherwise, any caregiver can claim to be a nurse and often ancillary staff will say they are nurses to the general population when they are nurse aides. Could this be a contributing factor to why nursing is not respected as professionals? Sometimes layman sees all caretakers as non-professional. Therefore, nursing knowledge is questioned at times. Please, do not misconstrue the point
Nurses provide an invaluable contribution to healthcare. ***Shields et al (2011) state that there is ‘good evidence that a highly educated nursing workforce reduces patient and hospital mortality’ (p 314). As a result, nurses more than ever need to have a clear sense of their professional identity.
Nursing has always been a key career in the health care system. Although it is not often focused on in media and stories surrounding health care, nursing is a career of great importance. If any patient was asked about their experience at a hospital or a care center, many will mention the capability and care that they received from the nurses. The health care system could not function efficiently, if at all, if nurses were not present to perform their part. Nurses are more than just physicians support staff. Of interest in this paper is why people choose to study nursing in university or college. From students just graduating high school to mature student who have prior degrees or education, nursing is a popular choice as a path to study
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
Nursing is a profession that I have always been fascinated with. Nursing is defined as "health promotion, health maintenance, health restoration and providing care to the sick and dying" (Kozier and Erb). There are five values essential to nursing, which include altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity and social justice (AACN). Nursing is a profession in which the nurse uses caring as a central concept. Some other characteristics of the nursing profession include art, science, advocacy, and offering holistic care. Nurses use critical thinking in order to problem solve because every patient is unique. The nursing process when assessing a patient includes, data collection, analysis, planning, implementing, and evaluation. Nurses need to be able to deal with change in stressful, fast paced, hectic environments. The treatments and technology is constantly changing therefore nurses need to be able to make quick and important decisions.
I believe that Nursing is a profession that is unique to the individual. My reasons for choosing such a profession is due to the fact that I have a desire to help others. Growing up with a very sick parent of whom I traveled back and forth over the years to many physician offices, lead me to develop my career path at an early age which was nursing. I watched the many doctors and nurses providing care to my mom in such a compassionate way, and as a result of the kindness they showed my sibling and me, I was very much aware this was as some may say, “my calling”. I had a conversation with my mom and told her that one day I was going to be a nurse so that I could care for her in the same manner that I saw the nurses and physicians caring for her. I wanted to
Worldwide, nurses have developed themselves into professionals with a great deal of knowledge. Despite these developments towards professionalism, nurses are still portrayed in a misleading and inaccurate way and are not given the recognition for the skills they have acquired. The essence of nursing is not always clear and nurses still suffer from stereotypes (Hoeve,2014). A stereotype can be defined as “a cognitive representation or impression of a social group that people form by associating particular characteristics and emotions with a group” (Smith and Mackie, 2007). Of the many types of nursing, a very popular stereotype that is depicted of nurses is being doctor’s handmaiden and only performing repetitive and simple tasks (Hoeve,2014.) This public image of nursing does not match their professional images, in fact, it is quite the opposite. Nurses are strong independent individuals that play just as big a role in the hospital as due the doctors or surgeons. The problem is nurses are not depicted as professionals and the public is not aware that nursing today is very theory-based oriented and a scholarly profession. Over the last few decades, nursing gone through extensive and important
Professional nursing practice has been developing for several centuries. Nursing as a profession can be traced back to the early Christian era. Since then the perception of nursing practice has changed significantly. “Nursing is caring, commitment, and dedication to meeting the functional health needs of all people” (Craven & Hirnle, 2009, p. 32). First of all I want to find out if the nursing is actually a profession. So let’s explore the definition of the profession and if nursing has got all the components to it. Dr John Southwick in 1997 defined the profession as
Nursing is one of the oldest professions. It isn’t a static occupation, as it has changed frequently over time. Its development and evolution has changed differently depending on the historical influences. As of today the nursing profession is changing and becoming larger and greater. Nursing has gone from being a career that did not require an education, to being one that is very respected and demands a high education.
Nursing is a discipline of knowledge acquired through formal education and through life experiences. My philosophy of nursing is to always see the beauty in the art of being a nurse. I chose nursing as my profession as caring for people and the nursing profession is a true art form.