Accountability and Its Implications on Respect for the Nursing Profession
When looking after the well-being of others there are many factors that contribute to the satisfaction of patients. The nurse must ensure that they are providing appropriate care to the patient as well as reflecting on how their actions towards the patient can affect both the patient and themselves. Nurses are trusted professionals that must understand the definition of accountability and how this definition influences the way they perform nursing tasks. Accountability entails taking ownership for one’s actions, reporting these findings to a superior, and accepting the legal implications associated with the offense (Battié & Steelman 2014). The purpose of defining accountability
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It requires caring people to devote themselves to provide proper care to others while being subjected to workplace hazards, extended working hours, and disrespect from patients and personnel. Reflecting historically on how the media has misconstrued the nursing profession helps develop the argument that there is a lack of respect among society for the nursing profession. Nursing was once not seen as a profession, but as a task delegated to those seen as unfit to perform in any other areas. It was a servant’s position that required little training and few, if any, compensation (Thomas & Richardson 2016). These early perceptions of the nursing field possibly influenced the improper portrayals of nurses in novels, television, and movies in the early 1970s. During this time nurses were not portrayed as health professionals or seen as important members of the healthcare team; rather, they were portrayed as unintelligent and promiscuous subordinates to the doctor (Price & McGillis Hall 2014). Present day, nurses are still seen as inferior to doctors despite their growing presence as advanced providers in the positions of nurse practitioner and nurse …show more content…
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Nurses have a considerable amount of responsibility in any facility. They are responsible for administering medicines and treatments to there patient’s. While caring for there patients, nurses will make observations on patient’s health and then record there findings. As well as consulting with doctors and other healthcare professionals to plan proper individual patient care. They teach their patients how to manage their illnesses and explain to both the patient and the patients family how to continue treatment when returning home (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014-15). They also record p...
One of the many challenges in being a nurse is demonstrating the professional responsibilities of ones own practice in order to provide proper care to the patients and their families. It is crucial that nurses are in a healthy mental and physical state in order to provide adequate care for the patient. An example of Standard 1, professional responsibility and accountability, Indicator
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Barbara Melosh examined written and oral accounts of nurses in American from 1920 and through the Second World War in The Physician’s Hand: Work Culture and Conflict in American Nursing. She found that while the reform aim for nurse leaders in this period was professionalization, other nurses resisted or were distant from this process. For these nurses, the shared experience of the changing of the demands and rewards of nursing shaped their work and thinking. [1] Melosh attempts to place nursing within the context of women’s, labor and medical history. She proposes that the growing divisions within nursing itself arose from nurses’ position in the medical hierarchy, and the fight for both legitimate authority and control over the work process itself. She also posits that nurses developed an “occupational culture” that placed manual skill and direct patient contact over theoretical training at the same time that nursing elites were successfully winning a battle for degrees and credentialing over the apprenticeship model of the nineteenth century. [2] Lastly, she finds that while stratification of nursing as paid labor mirrored societal relations of gender, race and class, the experience of both apprenticeship and professionalization contributed to the separation of nursing from pre modern roots.[3]
Nursing is a profession that should be highly respected. However, many people don’t see the education and devotion that goes into this career. Nursing has a lot of stereotypes that blemish its reputation. As a current nursing major I am angered and saddened by this lack of respect. Nursing is an honorable profession because nurses save lives and also comfort lives on the verge of passing. Nurses are the ones at the patient’s bedside. It is a nurse’s care and compassion that leads to patients care. Nursing stereotypes lead to patient dissatisfaction because stereotypes are degrading, misrepresenting, and lead to nursing burnout. My purpose for this paper is to break the silence on nursing stereotypes and to explain the real roles of the nurse.
Nursing was not always the profession we know it as today. “Nurses were often lower class, usually had no education, and were often alcoholics, prostitutes, and women who were down on their luck” (Finkleman & Kenner, 2013, p. 9). There was a high morality rate due to the lack of training and unkept environment the patients stayed in. However, when Florence Nightingale came into the nursing world everything changed. She believed that nurses shouldn’t be lower-class alcoholic women but women of higher class with an education. Therefore, she opened a school in London to train and educate women because “Nursing is an art and a science” (Masters, 2015, p. 29). She believed an average person should be able to understand medical
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.
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Often time, nurses has been viewed by patients, their family members and the medical team as basic emotional care givers, pill crushers or cart pullers and not as healthcare professionals who are more interesting in health promotion, disease prevention and better patient outcomes. They also often forget the emotional, physical, mental, and caring part that is involved with the profession. And to make matters worse, nurses are continued to be viewed as a threat by doctors more than ever before especially with the opening of Nurse Practitioners programs.
Leadership and accountability go hand in hand. The American Nurses Association’ Code of Ethics defines accountability, “to be answerable to oneself and others
A myriad of challenges are faced in healthcare today. From over-crowding and long waiting lists to staff shortages which have knock on effects resulting in inadequate skills mix and unacceptable nurse-patient ratios. An aging population, high birth rates and an increase in chronic diseases also puts pressure on the healthcare system. The nursing role has had to evolve in response to changing societal needs and the challenges in the healthcare system today. (McCurry et al. 2009). This can bring additional challenges to nurses’ professional identity. ??
Nursing is a field of work that so many people find themselves fascinated with, as well as harboring a degree of respect. We look to nurses with a sense of admiration and reverence, and look to them for security in times of need. What makes nursing such a desirable and enthralling field to other people? Despite the fact that doctors are normally under the spotlight, nursing is of profound importance in American culture. Nurses provide comfort and security, as well as a knowledge of medical aid. The field of nursing has the benefit of coming from a field that is ancient, yet timeless and has blossomed throughout history to make a large impact on our culture today.
Defining what a nurse is varies from person to person. Some have described a nurse as a person who shows care to their patients while others say that nurses assist to regain the ill’s health back. There is no wrong answer in defining what a nurse is. Moreover, I believe that a nurse is one who treats their patients with the dignity and respect that they deserve, and assists them in promoting and preventing their health illness and lastly, enhancing their health to optimal status. Nursing is viewed as a human science because nurse must display a connection with each patient. One must view the patients as a person, who has feelings, who behaves a certain way and who deserve to be well cared for. In addition, nursing is not a profession that treats
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