Healing, Helping, Caring: Opportunities and Obstacles for Good Work in Nursing Amber Ginty
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR 101: Transitions in Nursing
September 21, 2014 Healing, Helping, Caring: Opportunities and Obstacles for Good Work in Nursing Every day in clinical practice, nurses work in complex, dynamic, and uncertain situation.. Despite barriers to excellence in nursing practice such as diminished resources, time constraints, and perceived threats to quality of care, many nurses perform what may be called good work. According to Miller (2006), good work in nursing is described as “work that is technically and scientifically effective as well as morally and socially responsible” (p. 477). When nurses perform good work
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The study concluded that entering professional nurses tend to avoid conflict in the work setting, and experienced nurses formed teams of decision makers who share similar values to resolve conflict (Miller, 2006). The study also explored the keys to success when caring for patients. Essential elements to professional care include: affection, cognition, volition, imagination, motivation, and expressiveness of action. These conditions are supported by virtues such as respect, compassion, intellectual honesty, accountability, empathy, and altruism, all supporting the importance of caring in the nursing profession (Miller, 2006). Understanding what quality care is important and should be a primary mission of their work. One nurse in the study stated: I think it [quality care] involves respecting people as individuals, looking at people regardless of their wealth or poverty, and trying to do for the patients here what you would like to have done if you were a patient here. In other words, putting yourself in the patient’s position. (Miller, 2006, p.
Professionalism in the workplace in many professions can be simplified into general categories such as neat appearance, interaction with clients, punctuality, general subject knowledge, and likability. In nursing, professionalism encompasses a much more broad and inclusive set of criteria than any other profession. Nurses specifically are held to a higher standard in nearly every part of their job. Nurses are not only expected to uphold what it seen as professional in the aforementioned categories, but they are also expected to promote health, wellbeing, and advocate for patients, but also continually provide the highest standard of care, demonstrate exemplary subject and procedural knowledge, and abide by the Code of ethics set forth by the American Nurses Association. This Code of Ethics includes the complex moral and ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, honesty, and integrity.
Without these traits, nursing practice would be marred by many unprofessional and unethical behaviors that would compromise the quality of services offered by the nurses. First Domain: Professional Practice. Under the professional practice, the nurses should ensure that they possess the relevant skills that are expected of them by the nursing board (Thomas, 1998). The professional practice should have a detailed plan and information on what to expect from the nurse upon getting employed. The major aim of developing the professional practice plan is to ensure that the nurses integrate both nursing and health care knowledge for the improvement of the entire profession (Trossman, 1999)....
To be involved in the nursing profession, you must abide by the Code of Ethics provided for nurses. Nurses must hold the good of the patient as its most important value; this is the ultimate goal in the nursing profession. They must treat each patient as an individual, care for them with respe...
According to Black (2014), professional nursing is the protection and promotion of good health, preventing illness and injury, and relieving suffering through treatment and diagnosis. Nurses are also known as advocates in the care of individuals and their support systems. In order to fulfill these roles, a successful nurse must be a very compassionate person who stays true to her
In today’s world, one of the most competitive and most rewarding jobs is in the Health Care Field. This field is composed of different areas of specialization that focus on treating, preventing, and diagnosing anything that is threatening patient health. Different professional individuals devote their knowledge to taking care of the health of their patients. However, from all the professions, the professionals that spend the most time with the patients are the nurses. Nurses spend a lot of time with the patients, implementing the orders given by the physicians and monitoring the patients status.
Nurses must have a professional relationship with all types of people. The nurse must be a professional with their coworkers, superiors, and patients. The most important relationship is with the patient; if a professional relationship does not exist with them, the nurse as well as the organization will get a bad reputation. This in turn will ruin our professional relationship with our coworkers and superiors and will eventually cost that person a
In nursing school, nurses are taught to apply the nursing process to administer care safely and effectively. However, that value doesn’t always coincide with the employer. Instead it is about the e...
Working in health care is an important job. People put their trust in us to do our very best to provide them with the absolute best care. Being entrusted with such responsibility requires nurses to conduct themselves both professionally and ethically. Nurses must adhere to the professional values of human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism, and social justice. It is these five values that guide us in our practice and as nurses we must promote and emulate these values. They play an important role in the quality of treatment and success of an organization and help us determine right from wrong.
Other attributes of a professional nurse would include genuine compassion and caring for patients. This helps to instill feelings of hope in times of turmoil, while neutralizing the sense of fear. Sometimes, no one else is there. Moreover, the nurse may be as invaluable as the next breath of fresh air in rekindling hope and a will to live. In a personal interview Real Estate Broker Brandi Callum, shared her testimonial about how her nurse gave her the hope to hold on to life when her pregnancy with a beloved ...
Professional values that are incorporated into my nursing practice include veracity, kindness, support and understanding. It is important to be honest with patients and help them set realistic goals during their recovery process. It is also important to be kind to those that are ill, as they may not have the best attitude at tim...
Subsequently, my understanding of Quality nursing care was for health professionals to abide by the national care standard of dignity, privacy, choice, safety, realising potential, equality and diversity when delivering care. Additionally, my understanding about quality nursing care was showing unconditional positive regard to patients, not being judgemental towards people, being empathetic and congruent professional when providing
Persky, G., Nelson, J. W., Watson, J., & Bent, K. (2008). Creating a profile of a nurse effective in caring. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 32(1), 15-20.
Over the past century, nursing made remarkable accomplishment that has led to the recognition of nursing as an academic discipline and as a profession. Essential in this journey, has been both, the belief that nursing must raise the nature of its work and that nursing is different from medicine, but similarly worthy of professional status. While there is no general agreement as to what establishes correct features of a profession, the following features are frequently distinguished: “a unique body of knowledge, altruistic service to society, a code of ethics, significant education and socialization, and autonomy in practice, i.e. reasonable independence in decision- making about practice and control of the work situation and conditions” (Liaschenko & Peter, 2003, p. 489). These features are clearly distinguished in nursing profession and validated by pr...
I believe that nursing should be a holistic approach, dealing with a patient’s body, mind, and soul. It is definitely a physically demanding job, but equally as important is the demand for emotional commitment. My past academic performance, as well as my personal qualities, provides the foundation for my career. A core characteristic of a successful nurse is teamwork and the ability to act as the liaison between the patients and the other members of the patients’ care teams. Besides working well in a team, it is also important to seek out help when necessary. Another vital quality is culture competency. Prosperous nurses understand diversity, and embrace and honor, rather than judge or ignore, what makes people different. Furthermore, critical thinking skills allow nurses to recognize possible patient problems. The intellectually disciplined process enables the nurses to respond to the constant changes and needs of a patient in their charge. Lastly, the nurse’s role has a zero tolerance for error where the smallest mistake may result in a life-threatening event. To ensure patient safety, it is critical to pay attention to detail and use caution no matter how stressed or overwhelmed a person might feel. These are the core qualities that I hope to attain as a registered nurse and important goals to adhere to for as long as I’m in this
Nurses play a huge role in the health care system. A nurse is a bridge between doctor and patient. s/he is a compassionate, understanding and nonjudgmental yet firm and grounded. S/he is probably one of the most important yet least appreciated person in a patient’s life. When many think of a nurse they probably recognize them by a white hat and uniform. Today those white uniforms have been replaced with vividly colored scrubs worn by both male and female nurses, and many other employees in healthcare. Nurses are not just the people that are limited to bedside care and drug administration; they are highly skilled and well-educated nursing professionals.