It is worth noting that nursing is among the most exciting as well as in-demand jobs not only in America but also across the globe. According to Freund et al. (2015), nursing works towards promoting health, preventing disease in addition to helping patients cope with ailments. Additionally, nurses are advocates in addition to health educators for ailing people, their families and the society as a whole. While offering direct patient care, nurses observe, evaluate and record the patients’ reaction as well as their progress. They also collaborate with doctors in their treatment activities.
Also, they partner with physicians in the examination of medications in addition to the provision of primary patient care in rehabilitation besides convalescence. Also, nurses operate in an environment that is continuously changing to offer the unsurpassed thinkable care for patients (McFarland & Wehbe-Alamah, 2014). For this reason, nurses are continuously learning concerning the latest technology as well as medication in addition to considering the evidence the nursing practice is founded upon. Since they spend a lot of time with patients, nurses have strong masterly of interpersonal skills. The interpersonal skills help nurses to put the patients at ease, which assists them in recovery.
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Method
Review of Literature
Jacksonvilleu.com (2018) offers a great insight concerning nursing as a profession. According to Jacksonvilleu.com (2018), nursing career provides a broad variety of roles as well as the wide scope of responsibility. Licensed practical nurses (LPN) are required to complete the least extent of education. They are required to undertake only single year of coursework after high school. LPNs are not registered nurses, and they work under the guidance of registered nurses. For one to become a registered nurse, they have to compete for either a diploma in nursing or a bachelor’s degree in nursing. In addition, they have to get good grades in the nursing license exam for the registered nurses. For an individual to become Advanced practice registered nurses (APRN), they have to accomplish the registered nurses’ requirement as well as continue to acquire a master’s degree in nursing (Jacksonvilleu.com (2018). APRN have the option of specializing in a certain field like oncology, pediatrics or obstetrics. Additionally, APRN is among the highest paid.
Also, many theories guide nurses to work. In order to provide nursing care, the nursing executes the nursing plan under the guidance of nursing theories and nursing processes. According to Jacksonvilleu.com (2018), the nursing process determines the way nurses approach every patient encounter. The nursing process is the primary thread that unites diverse types of nurses working in different areas. Also, the nursing process is important since it helps registered nursing in delivering holistic as well as patient-focused care.
Donna Cardillo also offers insight concerning the nursing. According to Cardillo (2013), nurses apply their specialized know-how, experience as well as skill set for purposes of initiating life-saving procedures. In addition, they use these skills for purposes of improving and promoting health in addition to the wellbeing of the planet. Using these skills and experience, nurses help to ease the pain, loss of life and human suffering (Cardillo, 2013). Also, nursing a united in a common mission, notwithstanding their place of work, their position, or whether they are employed or not.
Nursing is guided by a clear code of ethics. The code requires nurses to practice their work with compansion in addition to respect for the integral dignity, unique and worth characteristics of every individual. As per this code of ethics, nurses’ core commitment is to their patients, whether its an individual, a family, population or a community (Winland-Brown, Lachman & Swanson, 2015). The four elements of the nursing code of ethics include autonomy, justice, beneficence besides non-maleficence. In addition, the code requires the nurses to promote, advocate for, and protect the health, safety and rights of patients. Another provision of the code is that nurses have authority, responsibility as well as accountability of making decisions, taking actions that are consistent with their obligation of promoting health and providing optimal care ( Olson & Stokes, 2016).
Furthermore, nurses are required to collaborate with other health workers as well as the public for purposes of protecting human rights and promoting health diplomacy. Also, this collaboration helps in the reduction of health disparities ( Olson & Stokes, 2016). The code also states that through both individual and collective effort, nurses establishes, maintains and enhances the ethical environment work conditions as well as work settings of employment conducive to quality and safe health care.
In the U.S, people follow different educational paths on their way to qualifying as nurses. According to Epstein & Turner (2015), the ANA certificate is only awarded to nurses have completion of the two-year undergraduate degree. On the other hand, a bachelors degree in nursing is awarded to nurses who complete a four-year degree course in nursing. After the completion of either LPN education program, the graduates become eligible for licensing examination, which is the last stage towards becoming a credited nurse. According to Dore et al. (2017), the National Licensure Examination(NCLEX) is a standard exam that the entire nurses must take in order to be licensed. The exam cost is two-hundred dollars. NCLEX evaluate the ability of nurses to appropriately care for patients. Also, nurses are free to follow their professional as well as personal interests by working within any setting or with any group of people. However, most of the nurses follow the conventional approach of working in hospitals. Additionally, there are numerous paths that nurses can follow based on their degree type or their acquired education level.
Results
Based on the literature, there are common features of nursing. To begin with, there is a standard education that all the nurses must follow. Nurses can either acquire a diploma in nursing or a degree in nursing. Acquisition of this education levels is the first path towards becoming a nurse. However, all the nurses have to undertake the NCLEX examination (Dore et al. 2017). This exam is the last path towards becoming a nurse. After passing the NCLEX examination, the graduates are registered as accredited and they are free to practice nursing in the area they feel comfortable. Some nursing enters into private practice while others follow the conventional path of working in hospitals.
Also, from the literature review, it was established that nursing has a clear code of ethics. The code of ethics guides nurses in their day to day work. In addition, the code of ethics helps the nurses to ensure a fruitful relationship with their patients. Nurses who go against this code of ethics are said to have contravened professional mandate.
Discussion
Many features characterize profession. These features differentiate a profession from a job. First, professional is characterized by Great responsibility. According to Martin et al. 2015) , professionals deal with matters of significant importance to their customers. For this reason, professionals are entrusted with very grave obligations as well as responsibilities. Due to their inherent obligations, professionals work normally entails conditions where inadequate skill, contravention of ethics as well as carelessness have significant damage to the clients.
Additionally, professionals have a high sense of accountability. As per Wright & Cramer (2015), professionals have accountable for the quality of their work with the client. In addition, professions are based on specialized theoretical know-how. According to Wright & Cramer (2015) , professional provide specialized services founded on theory, skills as well as know-how that are in most cases unusual to their profession and beyond the comprehension of those not in the profession. The specialization extends to the access of the technologies and well as the tools needed in the profession. Another feature that characterizes profession is the existence of ethical constraints. It is worth noting that professionals are bound to a particular code of ethics. Profession is merit-based. In a profession, members are required to achieve success as well as achievement based on their qualification as well as conforming voluntary correlations instead of corrupted ideals, including extortion, mandated support or social principle ( Wright & Cramer (2015) . Thus, professionals are individuals who attract clients as well as profits on the basis of their work merits. Without merits, issue of accountability, responsibility in addition to ethical constraints are irrelevant, and this negates the entire professional characteristics.
Conclusion
Considering the features outlined above, it is clear that nursing is a profession. First, nursing has a standard education procedure. In order to become a nurse, one has to acquire either a diploma or degree in nursing after which they have to undertake NCLEX examination. An individual cannot be termed as nursing without either of these qualifications. In addition, nursing has a code of ethics; which is a characteristic of a profession. For examination, United states nursing has the ANA code of ethics. All the nurses in the U.S must adhere to the provision of this code. Furthermore, nurses have a great responsibility. They have the responsibility of caring for human life; this is risky. Therefore, nurses deal with a matter of vital significance to their clients. Considering that nurses are trusted with caring for human life, they are of great significance to the society. In the nursing profession, features such as inadequate skills, carelessness as well as contravention of ethics are discouraged. Such features have the potential of leading to loss of life. Considering that nurses possess all the characteristics of professionals, it is prudent to hold that nursing is a profession.
References
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