Nursing Carrer and Nursing Standards

Introduction:
Standards are important aspects of nursing that a nurse must learn and implement every day for the rest of their nursing career. These standards provide for a nurse’s competence in the quality of care they deliver to the public. Standards offer a necessary guidance to nurses everywhere in an effort to ensure that people are treated correctly and ethically. Patients expect nurses to have a general knowledge of the medical realm and to know exactly what it is they –as nurses- are responsible for. Nurses need to have a sense of professionalism that enable the patient to feel safe and secure, knowing that a competent person is caring for him. A lack of professionalism does the opposite, making it impossible for a patient to trust or respect the nurse caring for him. Standards of nursing, if utilized correctly, give the nurse that sense of professionalism the patient is expecting. It insures for the safety of the patient and allows the nurse to provide quality health care that is expected of a medical professional.
Discussion:
The six standards of practice are very important. Under the first standard, assessment, the nurse evaluates health information related to the patient. This information could be a health issue such as asthma, or a psychological issue such as anxiety that is necessary knowledge needed before treatment can begin. Once this is accomplished the second standard, diagnosis, begins. Under this standard the nurse takes the information gained from the assessment and utilizes it to derive a diagnosis of the individual. The third standard, outcomes identification, has
STANDARDS AND PERFORMANCE OF CARE 3 the nurse thinking of predicted outcomes for the patient that involves abs...

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...ike a blur. In such fast and erratic circumstances, when things are happening so quickly that it becomes hard to think (such as in the case of an emergency), these 15 standards of nursing act as stable ground for a nurse to stand on. They provide the elements necessary for critical thinking, an ability that describes the difference between a nurse and a great nurse.

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Reference
Association, A. N. (2010). Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice. (2nd ed.) Maryland: American Nurses Association. Retrieved January 20, 2014 from http://media.wix.com/ugd/8c99f2_4fde86431966e34f2e03bbb137edfee3.pdf
Ecker, M., & Potter, P. A. (2009). Critical Thinking and Professional Standards in Nursing
Practice. In P. A. Potter, & A. G. (7th ed.) Perry, Fundamentals of Nursing (pp. 215-324). Saint Louis MO: Mosby-Elsevier.