Nursing: Code of Practice - Essay Example

Nursing: of Practice Introduction Nursing literally means the work of caring for the needy, the sick, injured or infirm. This is a noble profession of fulfilling the medical needs of a person which provides the best care to him and helps in getting over the sense of pain and agony. While trying to pursue the career goals and their professional requirements, the nursing community in general is supposed to take care of some behavioural norms and ethics so that the personal ambitions do not come in the way of professional conduct. The Nursing and Midwifery Council has come out with a code of practice for the Nursing community, which provides broad guidelines of practice. This paper is an effort to analyse the 'code of practice' and highlight some of the salient features, which helps the Nurses and Midwives in undertaking practice with highest regard to human values and ethical conduct. Purpose and Role of the Nursing and Midwifery Council The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the apex body representing the nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses. The council also registers people from the nursing community, which helps them in taking up jobs in UK. The NMC is continuously on the lookout to establish standards of education, training, conduct and performance for nursing and midwifery, so that the services are always found to be at par with the best for the society1. This requires NMC to undertake researches in order to assess the needs of the society and medical fraternity on a regular basis and thus helps in safeguarding the wellbeing of the general public. NMC in fact works as a connecting link between the government, the industry, the research community, the practitioners and the society. Some of the salient features of the code are practice are; It is quite apparent from the code that the people being cared by the nursing community are accorded the highest priority. But, it needs to be emphasised here that when the individual feel comfortable with the care being taken, the Nursing community has a reason to be safe and satisfied. Therefore, the protection of the practitioner is inextricably linked with the protection of the public. It has been mentioned in no uncertain terms that the practitioner will be held accountable for any acts of omissions and shortcomings. The code emphasises that people be treated as 'individuals' and not merely as 'customers' or business entities. Today we are living in a world where quite often marketing forces determine the nature of services being provided to customers. Though, the globalisation regime calls for quality consciousness and value addition in order to take on the competition, but for a profession like Nursing, the practitioners are supposed to consider their customers as 'individuals' as well, thus respecting their dignity and privacy with a caring attitude. Fu-Jin Shih et. Al (2006) stated that 'humanity as demonstrated by empathic and respectful attitudes' is one of the core values of Nursing. The code calls for a personal as well as professional commitment to equality and diversity, without any discrimination on the basis of nationality, race or religion. In fact NMC strives to inculcate these very values during the training imparted to the nurses. This helps in preparing nurses fit enough to serve all kinds of circumstances. Burgio & Burgio (1990) cites a number of studies having come out in support of the notion that training leaves a positive impact, particularly in the extent to which the work practice of employees such as nursing assistants can affect the well being of users. In order to make the practitioners accountable to their conduct, the code emphasises that Nurses must keep a truthful record of all the discussions, assessments, treatments, incidents and medicines during the course of the treatment of an individual. The records are to be kept either in the form of registers or in electronic form with clear identities of the person/s making those entries. The records are not to be tempered in lieu of any undue favours etc. Quality is the key criteria for making a valuable contribution together with advancing the business goals of the organisation. This is considered an important element for product or service differentiation. Making use of the latest gadgets and techniques helps in coming out with the best quality services. Sell (2002) points out towards the modern training systems in vogue now a days, which give an edge to the modern day Nurses. It is worth mentioning here that while benefits of training can be easily judged for an individual in a production or manufacturing environment for it is more difficult to evaluate on the quality of care that nurses have learned (Sargeant, 2000). This in fact requires consistency and continuity in commitment on the part of nurses. The code also calls upon the nurses to make fullest use of the learning opportunities, collaborative efforts with their team members. It is emphasised that an important component of team spirit is 'delegation', and delegating the responsibilities at opportune times so that every team member feels important and valued. The code in general strives to; Inculcating a sense of commitment on the part of nurses Projecting the profession as a noble one, which takes pride in helping others Protecting the nursing community from any insidious allegations Enriching the profession by including newer dimensions as and when the need arises Bringing in a sense of confidence and comfort amongst people in need of nursing care Providing well trained and best available nursing practitioners to the society Expressing commitment to the universal human rights as enunciated in the charter of United Nation. Making the nursing practitioners accountable and responsible towards their actions Inculcating a team spirit amongst the nurses. This in turn leads to making the services more effective and efficient. It needs to be pointed out that the essence of coming out with such guidelines is to provide the profession a modern look, comfort to people, and credibility to the practitioners. Such an arrangement not only helps the nurse to excel in the profession, it also helps the organisation in truthfully pursuing their missions and objectives. Organisations on their part keep motivating good nurses to pursue their career goals while serving the humanity. The adherence to the 'code of practice' highlights the commitment of the organisation and nurses to serve the people without any malfeasance. References: 1. Burgio, L. D. & Burgio, K. L. (1990) Institutional staff training and management: a review of the literature and a model for geriatric, long-term-care facilities, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 30(4). 2. Fu-Jin Shih, Meei-Ling Gau, Yaw-Sheng Lin, Suang-Jing Pong and Hung-Ru Lin (2006), Death And Help Expected From Nurses When Dying, Nursing Ethics 2006 13 (4), Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd 3. NMC (2008). Nursing and Midwifery Council. Available online at http://www.nmc-uk.org/ (December 8, 2008) 4. Sargeant, A. V. (2000) An exploratory study of the effects of progression towards National Vocational Qualifications on the occupational knowledge and care practice of social care workers, Social Work Education, 19(6). 5. Sell (Dr.), SL Van Kalofissudis (2002). The Theory of Nursing Knowledge and Practice. Available online at http://www.nursing.gr/theory/Holistic.html (December 8, 2008) Read More