Accountability of Nursing Professionals When Implementing Evidence Based Practice

268). Accountability and responsibility differ, because responsibility belongs to the person doing the task and accountability belongs to the person who assigned the task. The nurse is both accountable for the task being completed and is also responsible for evaluating the task or the results of the task. Therefore, within every delegated procedure, both the nurse and the UAP hold responsibility, yet only the nurse is accountable. If a procedure is done wrong or the patient is harmed by the task, the nurse is at fault because she delegated that procedure and she is ultimately accountable for patient outcomes.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics provides many professional traits that can be incorporated to an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals such as compassion and respect, advocacy, accountability for nursing practice and participation in advancement of the nursing career (Cherry, 2011). Compassion is a very important aspect of the nursing profession. It would be very difficult to be a nurse without being compassionate. Nurses demonstrate compassion and respect daily in their work by actively listening to patients’ and family members’ problems and concerns and by empathy when appropriate. Advocacy is a nursing trait constantly used by the entire interdisciplinary team. Nurses advocate for patients’ right of autonomy for decision making in regards to their care, treatments and procedures. Also, nurses are in the best position to serve as a bridge between the patient and the interdisciplinary team. Accountability is so essential in the nursing profession. Nurses are accountable for their own nursing practices and for our patients.

According to American Nurses Association (ANA), (2010) “the nurse promotes, advocates for and strives to protect the heath, safety and right of the patient” (p. 6). Nursing responsibilities should be acted at the highest standard and must be based on legal and ethical obligations.

A nurse is given an opportunity to help patients, either if its by helping them through a very serious sickness or just helping a patient get to the bathroom on time, or a time when happiness is overfilling the room and a child is being born. Registered nurses provide a wide variety of patient care services (Mitchell, p.12). A Nurse must always know where to begin and where to stop, as any other career in the health field there is always something that cannot be done by everyone but only the certified person, a nurse must always remain inside her scope of practice to prevent any misunderstandings. A nurse must also follow a code of ethics , the code of ethics of the American Association of Medical Assistants states that a nurse should at all times render service with full respect and dignity of humanity, respect confidential information obtained by a patients file, uphold the honor and high principles the profession and accept its discipline, and last but not least always want to improve her services to better serve the health and well being of the community. (Mitchell, p.65).

Responsibility is defined as the "reliability, dependability, and the obligation to accomplish work”, responsibility also includes each person's obligation to perform at an acceptable level, the level that the person has been educated (Kelly-Heidenthal, 2003, p. 268). Accountability is defined as, "being responsible and liable for actions or failure of actions of oneself or others in the context of delegation" (NCSBN, 2009). This is in reference to the nurse's legal liability for the actions taken and patient outcomes. Accountability and responsibility are different, as responsibility belongs to the person doing the task and accountability belongs to the person who assigned the task. The nurse is both accountable for the

I agree with you the nurse that is seeking to implement a change must be able to reach across to all stakeholders. These stakeholders come from different walks of life and the challenge here will be knowing their educational background in order to deliver a message that is not intricate to grasp. You have to also remember that people remember only 10 percent what they read, but they remember 40 percent what they hear and see. Thank you for you thoughts.

It has grown from a non-educated nurse to one that has to be even more educated to keep up with the fast changing times with diverse topics and culture differences. It is a constant challenge for physicians and nurses to do their best in the fast changing nursing field. As nurses, we have to be constantly upgrading our education. We can’t expect anything to always be the same and to never change. Register nurses today work as a team, they work every day with physicians, pharmacists, speech and occupational therapists, just to name a few. Since nurses are primarily responsible for direct patient care and coordination, I believe that they should not be these educated on the health care

Evidence-based practice has been the focus of healthcare for a long time highlighting the urgency in the need to improve healthcare. Healthcare organizations and regulations, such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the American Association of College of Nursing (2006), require DPN programs to impart sound knowledge of scientific process and content, and research methodology including a research project that is defended as a dissertation research. Notwithstanding, innovative and evidence-based practice underscored by credible research findings has become the bane of DPN program requirements. High level jobs in healthcare require a great deal of knowledge in decision making process, as well as the research process to improve

Errors pervade in our lives whether it is our home, in our workplace, or in our society. The effects of healthcare errors have impacted all our lives either directly or indirectly. Patient safety and quality care are at the core of healthcare system which strongly depends upon nurses. “To achieve goals in patient safety and quality, thereby improve healthcare, nurses must assume the leadership role. Nurses need to ensure that they and other healthcare providers center healthcare on patients and their families. Even though the quality and safety of healthcare is heavily influenced by the complex nature

I always love to hear the response when children are asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Some will say “firefighter,” “police officer,” “doctor,” “artist,” “musician,” or “astronaut,” among others. At seven years old, I had grand plans of becoming a cashier. My parents supported me in my endeavors, as they always have, so it was no surprise when my mom allowed me to scan the groceries in the self-checkout line whenever we went shopping. A few years passed and as I got older, those plans developed into something more related to my passion. After school, I would arrange all of my dolls and stuffed animals in rows on the floor, hang my homework page on the whiteboard I had in my room, and teach my “students” how to do the problems listed on the worksheet. I loved it so much that, from that

A professional nurse is one who puts the needs and importance of patient care above all others. While striving for professionalism, nurses need compassion, patience, empathy, strong moral and ethics, accountability and the commitment to always act in the best interest of their patients. Nurses are held accountable for providing quality, safe, and effective nursing care (Hood, 2014). A professional nurse has the responsibility to continually improve and implement nursing standards while maintaining integrity by involving themselves in various tasks. Regular involvement in reading professional literature and sharing of evidence- based research with other healthcare personal helps increase knowledge and skills. This nursing ability can be used to encourage the actions of others in the healthcare team resulting in improved patient care. Nurses should encourage each other to become involved in hospital committees, provide an environment to encourage the discussions of ethical dilemmas, promote professional growth of nurses to voice their concerns and share viewpoints to address issues. “A professional nurse should expect to commit to a life of continuous learning growth and development”. (Hood, 2014, pp. 29). Nurses choose this profession to help others. As professional nurses we must maintain our ethics, values, characteristics, and commitment to drive our profession forward (CCN, 2015). Nurses must be autonomous, accountable, and be able to delegate to unlicensed assistive personnel. Being autonomous as a nurse means having control over their practice (Hood, 2014). It allows a nurse to take risks while being held accountable for ones’ actions (Hood, 2014).

According to the IOM report, the nursing profession is undergoing fundamental changes within the underlying operations of the field. A new regulatory environment coupled with increased scrutiny of the profession will dramatically impact the nursing profession. As the report indicates nurses, in the near future, will have job requirements that are business oriented. Nurses will need to have a better understanding of quality management methods in addition to overall concepts of management. As the health care system continues its rapid reform nurses must also be cognizant of the effects these changes will have on their overall roles and responsibilities. This involves a transformation of the roles and responsibilities of nurses as they enter the profession. As the health care landscape continues to change, so too must the nurses of the future. A dedication to continual learning is therefore needed to help diminish the influence of antiquated and obsolete knowledge regarding the profession.

Changes in the Health Care System and the Practice of Nursing have become complex. Technological changes, complicated client needs, short hospital length of stay, and departure from acute care to community based care, all these changes have underscore the need for professional nurses to think critically in order to provide safe and effective client care. A better educated nursing workforce can provide good health education to patients and their families. The affordable care of 2010 has required the need for nurses to expand their role of practice to meet complicated patient demands. This has prompted the Institute Of Medicine to review the “Future of Nursing, Leading change and Advancing Health”. {Creasia & Fribery,2011}

Too often, patients are afraid to question the orders given by their doctors; some patients are more comfortable expressing concerns to nursing professionals, who then have a moral duty to advocate for patient concerns when appropriate. For some nursing professionals, this can be difficult, as it often involves standing up against individuals that might not be receptive to change. However, the bond between patient and nursing professional is often stronger than the bond that a patient has with his or her physician, particularly within the hospital setting. To this end, nursing professionals find it within their purview to maintain awareness of

Ongoing development and changes in healthcare delivery enable nurses to maintain standards of nursing and develop their competence and performance. Through this the patients well-being is maintained, respecting them through accessing up to date knowledge and skills that are essential in an ever changing environment.