Professional accountability paper

What does it mean to be a professional nurse? Nursing is a concept is really diverse and evolving and is focused upon offering care to individuals, families as well as communities in order to maintain an acceptable level of quality of life and optimum health. To me this definition offers a great insight into the role of professional nurse to contribute towards increasing the quality of life at micro as well as at macro level. What is meant to be a professional nurse is basically, for me, is to align the roles, responsibilities and skills of a nurse with the overall demands of the profession. For a professional nurse, it is important to have dedication, understanding and deep compassion and love for the people. Since professional nurses interact with people in need of help, it is therefore extremely important that a nurse must develop the skills of professional understanding, dedication and commitment to work and people. (American Nurses Association, 2010) What stereotypes do you believe the public has about nursing and roles nurses play?  There are many stereotypes that the nurses have to face due to misconception or lack of understanding about nursing as a profession by the general public. Nurses are commonly believes to be females and even male nurses are normally considered as effeminate. Nurses are also often portrayed as single, white and childless while also being portrayed as bimbos. General public also held the view that nurses are sex symbols and the term naught nurse is often used for the nurses also. However, nurses are increasingly playing the leadership roles with active involvement in the management as well as decision making process at the healthcare facilities. Nurses are also more professional and independent in their decision making while working alongside male nurses as well as physicians and nurses. I personally like Nursing Theorists Joyce Travelbee and Katherine Kolcaba as both contributed towards the development of latest and more modern theories of nursing. Joyce is especially important because developed human to human relationship model of nursing whereas Kolcaba further extended the scope of Comfort Theory. I heard being a nurse is easy; all you have to do is follow the doctor’s orders. Is this true? It is not that nurse is easy or that a nurse has to follow a doctor’s orders because many a times, nurse also exercise their independent judgments and opinions. Nurses are engaged into evidence based practice in which they can even defy the doctor’s orders if their experience and evidence suggests contrary to what is being ordered by the doctor. To exercise, evidence based practice, nurses however, and has to demonstrate knowledge and skills. Further, nurses are also responsible for team work and collaboration which makes them part of the team. Public may not be aware of this side of nursing whereas nurses are part of the team and their input and feedback is properly integrated into making overall decisions of the teams. Nurses therefore demonstrate the skills of how they can be better team players and what qualities they require to be a good team player. (Meleis, 2011) What core values or standards are at the foundation of your nursing practice? There can be different core values being followed by the nurses and each may differ despite the fact that there are professional standards which set the core values for nursing practice. Three most important core values which I actually pledge to follow during my practice include integrity, autonomy as well as human dignity. Integrity involves working according to the acceptable code of ethics and following the professional standards. Autonomy is basically all about exercising the right of self-determination and requires a broader understanding of patients’ needs while making decisions about them. Human dignity involves the respect for the individual uniqueness and their worth. (American Association of Colleges of Nurses, 2008) As an individual I will attempt to integrate human dignity as my main core value to follow during my practice. What is your overall impression of nursing as a career? Nursing is a very unique and respectable promotion and a nurse often performs duties and responsibilities which are completely different from what is being perceived as stereotype for nurses. The larger roles and responsibilities played by the nurses include not only an active involvement in determining the overall outcome for the patients but also playing a more pro-active role in managing the overall outcome for the patients. (White, 2000) As a nurse I would like to leave an impression of a person who cared for patients and provided all the professional help to maintain the dignity of patients while at the same time improving overall patient outcomes. Bibliography American Association of Colleges of Nurses. (2008, October 20). The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice. Retrieved October 12, 2013, from American Association of Colleges of Nurses: http://www. aacn. nche. edu/education-resources/baccessentials08. pdf American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. New York: American Nurses Association. Meleis, A. I. (2011). Theoretical Nursing: Development and Progress. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. White, L. (2000). Foundations of Nursing: Caring for the Whole Person. London: Cenage Learning.