Background
Professional identity is a type of social identity that collectively describes all the skills, values, beliefs, and attitudes common in a given profession. It defines the interaction between members of a profession and their relationship with the people they serve and the professional roles and standard requirements of a member in that field. It also gives a basis for the distinction between one profession from another. In the context of nursing and nursing practice, professional identity defines nurses and their functions, giving the field status and a sense of belonging for nurses.
The development of professional identity for nurses starts from the time studying the course and training and carries on throughout a nurse's professional life. Knowledge, training, and experience are important aspects that confer identity. Nursing being a health discipline, professional identity is very important. It stipulates the ethics of practice and practice boundaries reducing instances of role confusion, especially that the health field is quite integrative.
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The Role of the Nurse and Scope of Practice
The American Nurses Association describes nursing as an art and science, a heart and mind, bearing core regard for human dignity and discernment for patients' needs. It involves protection and optimization of health, disease prevention and mitigation of suffering through diagnosis and treatment (American Nurses Association, 2001). As a registered nurse living and practicing in Florida, I understand the key roles of a registered nurse including conducting physical exams and taking patients’ health histories, health education and counseling, medication administration, and work coordination with other health care professionals. The other important role is the personalization of interventions as individual variability among patients is very common.
The scope of practice depicts the “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why," and “how” of the practice of nursing. The dynamics and complexities of this profession are only complete when these questions are answered (American Nurses Association, 2009). The answers to this are registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses, the nursing practice, 'when' describes the time when nursing knowledge and practice is needed, occurring in any environment answers 'where,' duty of the nurse to the society describes ‘why’ and ‘how’ is answered by methods of practice.
Importance of the Code of Ethics in Nursing and Standards of Practice
The code of ethics for nursing is crucial as it stipulates nurses' ethical obligations and shows the comprehension of their role and commitment to society. It also guides nurses in the practice of the profession and serves as a hallowed standard of ethics for the nursing practice. It also plays a vital role in ensuring continuous education on evidence-based practice and patient-centered care (American Nurses Association, 2009). Responsibility, patient confidentiality, accountability, and upholding integrity of the profession are also important definitions of the code of ethics.
The standards of practice define nursing care at a competence level, as shown by the nursing process. The nursing process is a critical thinking model that consists of several components which form the basis of decision-making in nursing practice. As defined by the American Nursing Association, these components are namely; assessment, diagnosis, outcomes identification, planning, implementation, coordination of care, health teaching, and health promotion.
Personal Professional Identity
I am a registered nurse and practicing in Florida. My belief in caring in nursing is the ability to find compassion and kindness towards a patient and be attentive to a patient's needs. My professional identity as a nurse is to be what the profession describes, serve in any environment, and practice in methods acquired through knowledge and training. My purpose is to uphold the nursing practice's integrity and values and better the healthcare environment both for my patients and other healthcare professionals. I also purpose to grow in this field as a professional. I aspire to join the National League for Nursing for opportunities in continuous education and development through networking.
References
American Nurses Association. (2001). undefined . Nursesbooks.org.
American Nurses Association. (2009). Nursing Administration: Scope and standards of practice . Nursesbooks.org.
