The nursing profession is a career that has been tasked with the role of preserving human life and dignity. I realized that patients are mostly ill or debilitated, and thus they should not be looked down upon. This explains the role of emphasizing professionalism in nursing as it depicts that I should treat patients as a whole, as humans, and not the disease only or its symptoms only.
In most countries, including the USA, the nursing profession is governed by a code of conduct, the legislations ruled out by the government, the International nursing council guidelines, and the ANA code of ethics provides provisions which nurses should abide. Being a nurse does not exempt one from being a citizen, and thus the land’s laws are always taken into consideration.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
I was able to understand that nurses should treat every patient with the utmost respect, dignity, and respect (Revell, 2013). The nurses ‘primary commitment is to the patient and not the community. They should also ensure that they provide patent safety at all times (Epstein & Turner, 2015). All orders and instructions issued out carried out should reflect this. The nursing role ensures that despite their commitment to others, they should also provide time for personal growth and individual development. Nurses should also collaborate with other departments and teams to ensure full patient recovery. Finally, the nurse should ensure ethics around the workplace, and this should be reflected throughout social justice and her environment (Revell, 2013).
The nursing code of medical ethics and laws depicts its principles which are: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and social justice (Percival, 2014). Beneficence outlines that all nurses should act with good interests of the patient, non-maleficence, and ensures that no harm should be done of the patient (Tingle & Cribb, 2013). Autonomy depicts that the patient should be informed of the treatment options so that they could choose independently. Social justice then ensures that resources are shared equally between patients, with no favoritism (Tingle & Cribb, 2013).
I should also abide to promoting cultural safety at the workplace (Giger, 2016). The world has become interconnected, and patients, workers, and staff stem from different societies. It is my role that I ensure promote cultural safety and diversity.
In practice, I should always use the professional 5 step procedure before providing healthcare. It involves the assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation of the interventions (Revell, 2013). This is done to prevent wrong diagnosis and iatrogenic injury. This is depicted in the scope and standards of practice indicating what, who, when, where, when, and how to do things (ANA, 2020.)
During placement, I encountered an old lady who couldn’t understand English and was in pain. Instead of giving her drugs direct, I sought a translator to understand the condition of the patient and grade the pain. I then sought administration orders from the pharmacist and physician before administering the ibuprofen. In this, I adhered to the principles of ensuring patient safety, preserving her culture, and demonstrating professional competence, by assessing the pain using pain assessment tools, involve my seniors before implementing the treatment plan.
In summary, my experiences throughout the hospital enabled me to grasp the principles of nursing that nurses should adhere to patient safety, the nursing guidelines issued, and practice within their scope of work. This is to ensure patient safety as well as avoid breach of practice.
References
ANA. 2020. Nursing Scope Of Practice | American Nurses Association . [online] Available at: <https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/scope-of-practice/> [Accessed 15 May 2020].
Epstein, B., & Turner, M. (2015). The nursing code of ethics: Its value, its history. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , 20 (2), 1-10.
Giger, J. N. (2016). Transcultural Nursing-E-Book: Assessment and Intervention . Elsevier Health Sciences.
Percival, T. (2014). Medical ethics . Cambridge University Press.
Revell, M. A. (2013). Professionalism in Nursing: A Foundation for Practice . Cognella.
Tingle, J., & Cribb, A. (2013). Nursing law and ethics . John Wiley & Sons.
