Everywhere you go and in everything you do, professionalism comes in to account in some way or another. Professionalism has been defined as, “a strict adherence to courtesy, honesty and responsibility when dealing with individuals or other companies in the business environment” (Clarke, 2015). When it comes to the career of nursing, professionalism is taken to a whole other level. Not only does professionalism come in to account with your business professionals and peers, but you have patients with whom professionalism is highly practiced as well. Professionalism in nursing means that you are able to handle all the responsibilities given to you in an efficient and proper way. It means that when you are given an order that needs to be carried out by a doctor or a patient who needs your help, you adhere to what is being expected of you in a timely manner. Physicians put trust into nurses in order to carry out orders that are needed to save patients’ lives. If you’re not looked at as professional and responsible, it is going to be very hard to have a successful career. Responsibility is what nursing is all about. Professionalism in nursing means that along with taking on big responsibilities, you have discipline. Discipline in nursing is crucial to being successful. Not only to keep your patients safe, but so that you personally are on the ball and looked at by others as professional, therefore, making you a great nurse. Professionalism means that you have the
Professionalism to me is being honest, having a high level of integrity, striving for excellence, respecting others and providing quality care with compassion.
Nurses have long been concerned as establishing professional values and behavior compare to other profession. Nurses are career work within medical industry and therefore they have interaction with various different type people and medical condition. There is characteristic requirement for equality and human dignity and this section of the desire of professionalism that nurses have. Moreover the nursing industry is broad and including different people in various circumstances yet there are should be something that binds them as nurse. This is where the professionalism comes in nurse. According research Griffith and Tengnah (2013) defined professionalism as knowledge, attitudes, values and behaviors required to be a district nurse. The main
It is important to integrate the concept professionalism into your nursing career because it allows you to flourish personally as a nurse but more importantly allows the patient to receive the care they deserve. Throughout the course of one’s nursing career there will be many slips and falls. Mistakes will happen but we as nurses are able to reflect and learn from them in a
What does Professionalism mean to me? Professionalism in my term means it is someone who is very dedicated to their profession. It is an important and great decision to follow by the rules and ethics of professionalism. If we did not have anyone that cared about their profession it would cause a lot of problems in our society today. It could cause a lot of disruption in your workplace. In order to abide by professionalism you must take pride in your job, percieve realistic goals and values, and know what your expectations are.
To be a person who is deemed professional you have to have a sense of leadership. Leadership in the healthcare field means you have to be willing to teach others. You help build and maintain a culture that facilitates professionalism. As a leader you do not participate in workplace pranks. Another important aspect of professionalism is honor and integrity. To have honor and integrity in the workplace you need to be forthcoming with information; and not hold important information for your own benefit. You can admit your own errors. You deal with confidential information discreetly and appropriately. One of the most important attributes regarding professionalism is respect. You have to respect institutional staff and all staff representatives. You have to respect patients rights and dignity and their privacy and confidentiality. A person who is professional has to have caring, compassionate and have communication. You treat the patient as an individual taking into account lifestyle, religious beliefs, and ethnicity. You communicate bad news with sincerity and compassion. You deal with sickness, death, and dying in a professional manner with the patient and the patient’s family members.
Nurses must display a knowledge of skills by portraying a functional ability to assess, treat, and prevent illness in the clinical setting. “The nurses are obliged to gain specialized knowledge, skills and training through the rigorous study of biological, physical and behavioral sciences and then use this knowledge to diagnose and treat patients suffering from different ailments. The patients treated must be under the supervision of skilled medical practitioners and the nurse must be equally directed by the expert medical practitioner. The prevention and management of illnesses, injury and ailments also forms some of the major tasks that have to be carried out by nurses. Politeness in expression, compassion for patients and proper uniform are also some of the main parts of professionalism in nursing.” (professonalism in nursing http://www.buzzle.com/articles/professionalism-in-nursing.html)
is based on trust and putting the needs of patients above all other considerations. The aim of this
Nursing is an occupation in which professionalism (or lack thereof) can have a significant effect on not only patients and their health, but the nurse’s relationships with colleagues, patients’ families and even their community. A nurse must exemplify professionalism, especially in an environment that creates increased risk for loss of life or further injury. There are many aspects that are involved with professionalism in nursing, and many expectations set up on the nurse.
My definition of professionalism is a person that carries themselves in a respectful manner. The professional is educated, has a clean appearance, well spoken, and treats others with respect and integrity. When a person is not professional it reflects poorly on the company. I have experienced unprofessional behavior quite often. I have seen nurses, and other medical professionals, act unprofessional. I will share a story of a very unprofessional situation. This situation put me in a position where I had to make a moral and legal decision and take the appropriate action. Two nurse aids were bathing a man that was in a coma. He had a penal implant from having prostate cancer. The implant was a pump. While bathing him the girls pumped his penis up, took pictures and sent the pictures to my phone along with derogatory remarks. The girls thought this was funny. I did not. I thought it was extremely unprofessional, and degrading to that patient. The girls were my friends, so the decision I had to make was not easy. I went to my nurse manager and took the appropriate action and steps. The girls did lose their jobs. I did feel bad for them, but I felt worse for that man. I had to do what was right.
Professionalism as a whole is expected of everyone, and is not something that should have to be commended, because I feel it is a standard. There are varying degrees of how to act professional, and not everyone has the same opinion on what is professional and what is not. Problems arise when there are differing opinions, because which person is right? It is easy to have a clear picture of what professionalism is when there are actual guidelines in place, such as the licensed practical nurse (LPN) guidelines. These guidelines, or scope of practice is written out by the board of nursing in the state of practice (Potter et al., 2011), and then more specific guidelines are written within individual facilities based on the state.
F to define professionalism. He defined professionalism as to conduct to the moral and nursing guidelines of care. Then, he added that professionalism is being courteous, truthful, and honest of what is said and how someone presents themselves. As professionals, we should keep a good attitude, be liable, and take responsibility in holding your license and other accreditations up-to-date. Making every effort to do your best, showing respect, being a leader, and the skills to make good judgments are ways of acting like a professional. Furthermore, he stated that professionalism is an essential component of nursing because professionalism as a nurse is revealed by how you behave and act in the safety and overall health of patients.
In a highly respected profession such as nursing, professionalism is an important element to staying employed and setting one’s self apart from the rest of the applicants when competing for a potential job. By definition professionalism are the qualities and traits that describe a professional. While knowledge is crucial in any profession, according to an article published by the University of Kansas (2012), “all medical professionals must strive to retain those humanistic qualities integrity, respect, and compassion that constitute the essence of professionalism.” Whether you work in a hospital or administration these three qualities encompass the core of nursing and exemplify what it means to be a professional.
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).
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines professionalism as the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. Yet the White Paper on Pharmacy Student Professionalism says it is displaying values, beliefs and attitudes that put the needs of another about your personal needs. There is still another definition. The Medical Professionalism Project says professionalism is the basis of medicine's contract with society. It demands placing the interests of patients above those of the physician, setting and maintaining standards of competence and integrity, and providing expert advice to society on matters of health. In my opinion, a person's attitude, values, and behaviors
Professionalism can be defined as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person.”(Merriam-webster) My interpretation of this definition is that professionalism is a standard that we must hold ourselves accountable to in order to provide the best service. How do we get from a basic understanding of this definition, to practicing and applying professionalism? Major attributes that lead to professionalism can include accountability, communication and reflective practice. Reflective practice in the healthcare system is when “practitioners engage in a continuous cycle of self-observation and self evaluation in order to understand their own actions and the reactions they prompt in themselves” (becoming a better university teacher…). In the day-to-day life, everyone performs a type of reflection whether it is by unconscious thought or by habit. When it is unintentional it is hard to learn and grow from the knowledge that can potentially be gained. Therefore we need to find a way to effectively incorporate reflective practice into our daily lives, especially as radiation therapy students.