The American Nurses Association (ANA) defines nursing as “the protection, promo-tion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of heal-ing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advoca-cy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities , and populations” (American Nurses Association, 2016). But, what does it mean to be a professional nurse? Being a professional means “adhering to the standards of conduct, performance, and ethics of nurses” (Woogara, N., 2011).
Northwest Christian University’s RN to BSN program course, NURS 340: Role of the Professional Nurse defines these concepts. The text used in the class, Role Development in Pro-fessional …show more content…
With nurses in high demand and the aging workforce there is a prevalence of the comfort in how things “have always been done”. Nurses who have been in practice for many years may not be as familiar with, changes in policy, knowledge of best practice, and may revert back to the way they were taught. Novice nurses and new grads are more familiar with the new-est and best practice. They are more likely to consult policy and procedure due to their inexperi-ence and supervision of trained preceptors. While inexperience can lead to errors, so can compla-cency. There is a phrase that many a nurse have heard in their careers and that is “see one, do one , teach one”. Prior to the advancement of evidenced based care and best practice this was busi-ness as usual. While many RNs have picked up safe short cuts and tricks of the trade, there are as many who are practicing outside of safe, quality care and could be putting a patient in harms way. Standardization is based on evidence-based and best practice and designed to ensure a standard and safe delivery of care is done with every patient, every …show more content…
Each of these concepts is integral in the improvement of safety and the quality of care. “Critical thinking is the compe-tent use of thinking skills and abilities to make sound clinical judgments and safe decisions” (Masters, 2017, p. 217). Nurses must be able to recognize subtle changes in condition, make quick and appropriate decisions, and know when to notify the provider. Delays in patient care can result in serious consequences. Errors can increase a hospital stay, have life-altering effects or result in death. The repercussions can vary from the emotional stress of litigation for the nurse, the reputation of the organization not to mention the safety and well being of the patient and their loved ones. Financially, it can be devastating for all
Northwest Christian University’s RN to BSN program course, NURS 340: Role of the Professional Nurse defines these concepts. The text used in the class, Role Development in Pro-fessional …show more content…
With nurses in high demand and the aging workforce there is a prevalence of the comfort in how things “have always been done”. Nurses who have been in practice for many years may not be as familiar with, changes in policy, knowledge of best practice, and may revert back to the way they were taught. Novice nurses and new grads are more familiar with the new-est and best practice. They are more likely to consult policy and procedure due to their inexperi-ence and supervision of trained preceptors. While inexperience can lead to errors, so can compla-cency. There is a phrase that many a nurse have heard in their careers and that is “see one, do one , teach one”. Prior to the advancement of evidenced based care and best practice this was busi-ness as usual. While many RNs have picked up safe short cuts and tricks of the trade, there are as many who are practicing outside of safe, quality care and could be putting a patient in harms way. Standardization is based on evidence-based and best practice and designed to ensure a standard and safe delivery of care is done with every patient, every …show more content…
Each of these concepts is integral in the improvement of safety and the quality of care. “Critical thinking is the compe-tent use of thinking skills and abilities to make sound clinical judgments and safe decisions” (Masters, 2017, p. 217). Nurses must be able to recognize subtle changes in condition, make quick and appropriate decisions, and know when to notify the provider. Delays in patient care can result in serious consequences. Errors can increase a hospital stay, have life-altering effects or result in death. The repercussions can vary from the emotional stress of litigation for the nurse, the reputation of the organization not to mention the safety and well being of the patient and their loved ones. Financially, it can be devastating for all