Professionalism is one of the components of South University’s conceptual framework. Professionalism is a complex concept that comprises competency, ethical, legal, economic, and political issues (Ghadirian, Salsali, Cheraghi, 2014). Professionalism is an important concept in nursing because it enables nurses to provide standardized and quality care. The current changes in societal value systems means that nurses are experiencing more philosophical and ethical changes in providing care than before. These changes have led to environments that demand professionalism in nursing. Thus, the definition of professionalism in nursing and its components requires clarification and adaptation with these changes. For this purpose, developing a theoretical basis for professionalism in nursing is imperative. The theoretical basis for professionalism in nursing starts with concept development since concepts form theories.
Professional knowledge is therefore an important element of professionalism. The objective of nursing education is to develop professional knowledge in students. All students are required to have a rudimentary cognitive framework for understanding professionalism. Obtaining all the important aspects of professional knowledge in all stages of professionalization should be considered and its principles combined at various levels of education. The development of learners starts from a basic understanding of the underpinning principles of professional practices and underlying reasons, and lastly, the students are expected to prioritize and reach decisions. Five phase of training for professional nursing education have been suggested. These stages include developing a practical false identity of a professional among learners, trial and error, the gravity of behavior, relocation to the bedside, and professionalization (Ghadirian, Salsali, Cheraghi, 2014). Furthermore, training on ethics, professionalization, or research are also necessary elements of nursing education. Professional training in nursing can be formal or informal. Formal training is provided through training modules, role playing, clinical courses, and simulation of patients. However, professional training programs must be designed to satisfy professionalization.
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Attitudes are also critical to professionalism in nursing. Values are the norms and ideals of persons or groups. Professional values are the practical standards that develop a framework for the assessment of ideas and attitudes that determine behavior in professional nurses. Obtaining professional values is the core of any professional development. As a component of professionalism, some aspects of culture can be autonomous, retained jurisdiction, corporative, membership to professional organizations, compliance with codes of nursing, community service, and professional development. Cultural features of nursing professionalism can be grouped into personal, knowledge, and state-dependent features. Personal features include willingness to help, team work, tolerance, flexibility, and the ability to understand others’ feelings and problems. Knowledge-based characteristics comprise scientific accuracy, knowledge and skills, and research (Ghadirian, Salsali, Cheraghi, 2014). State-dependent features include assuming responsibility and focusing on the attractive external appearance.
The ‘professional self” is another attitudinal feature of professionalism in nursing. Professional self refers to the secret knowledge that indicates the extension of a profession. It is the sense of experience that comprise a professional identity, and is the outcome of the education system, skills training, and professional development.
Professionalism in nursing also has a psychomotor dimension. In essence, professionalism in nursing is associated with clinical working. It is a perspective that has contributed to the broadening of the nursing role to include therapeutic activities grounded on their qualifications and are actively engaged in patient care. Thus, professionalism is a management technique through which nursing professionals understand their commitment and responsibilities. This, perspective is consistent with the “knowledgeable doer” that is found in novel discussions in nursing.
Finally, developing the antecedents and implications of a concept is part a theatrical analysis. Antecedents refer to the events that took place before the occurrence of the concept, while implications can occur as a consequence of them. Professionalism is a continuum that takes place during the professional process. Antecedents of nursing professionalism are grouped into demographic, experience-related factors, training-related factors, position-related factors, and value factors (Ghadirian, Salsali, Cheraghi, 2014). Among the demographic factors is age, which is identified as one of the effective factors in nursing. Furthermore, ethnic and gender differences have been shown to influence professional values. Experience-related factors such as the duration of service, past experience, and clinical experience have been shown to influence professional attitude and professionalism. Experience derived from experience also affects professional attitude.
Education-related factors comprise educational training, membership to professional organizations, specialized certification, educational readiness, political awareness, and training have been shown to influence professionalism is academic studies. Position-related factors comprise position as nurse practitioners, employment and caregiver status, type of organization and organizational culture, presence of a reward system, personal circumstances such as stress and fatigue, and expectations from organizations. These factors have been shown to affect professionalism in nursing. Lastly, value factors that affect professionalism include professional freedom, satisfaction, organizational commitment, motivation, belonging, guidance, support, and acceptance (Ghadirian, Salsali, Cheraghi, 2014). By including professionalism as part of its framework, South University ensures that its nursing workforce has the right competencies and attitudes to work in the current clinical setting. Professionalism is an intricate, varied, and an inevitable process in nursing. It started with the creation of educational standards and certificates, but has developed to include codes of conduct and social cognition.
Reference
Ghadirian, F., Salsali, M., Cheraghi, M. (2014). Nursing professionalism: An evolutionary concept analysis. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res; 19 (1): 1–10.
