Nursing as a Profession - Research Paper Example

?Nursing refers to the use of clinical judgment in relation to the provision of care with an aim of restoring or maintaining heath to a patient. Thisis facilitated by understanding the concept of nursing, which is guided by purpose, intervention and commitment to the course. The question of nursing being a profession has long been debated, and comparative analysis has been done to illustrate the attributes of professionalism in nursing. As such, it has been established that nursing is a profession, which bears its own code of conduct and philosophic views within the healthcare system (Jones and Bartlett Learning, n.d). Although nursing is regarded as a vocation calling, the findings have served to quell the critics and encourage professionalism in nursing in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment. However, there is still need to provide more information to the nursing community in order to facilitate a smooth dispensation of services. This paper seeks to highlight the aspects of information literacy in nursing, as well as the scope of its application. Information Literacy Information literacy describes the ability to find and gather critical and accurate information as required in any practice to provide quality services. This relates to skills needed to maneuver efficiently through the burst of data available and decisively acquire relevant information (Bonnel and Smith, 2010). In nursing, information is regarded as a key attribute that facilitates efficiency with regard to the scope of the duties. Nursing officers assist other medical practitioners in patient care interventions as directed and according to the plan of care. They also contribute to the collection of accurate healthcare information as well as maintaining accurate health care records. The general duties include attending to patient’s personal hygiene needs such as showering and toileting, and assisting with patient mobilization and repositioning. In addition, nurses observe the patients physical and psychological status, as well as responses during the course of treatment, which entails monitoring patients’ vital signs and recording them accordingly. Duty of care seeks to stress the need for selflessness among healthcare personnel, especially those involved in providing direct basic care to patients. Consequently, nurses are placed at a patient’s personal service through expression of kindness, moral worth and dignity of the self and others. This is irrespective of one’s cultural similarities and differences, thus placing more value on accessibility of health care services to all. Presently, information technology has found a home in most institutions in the society and the healthcare sector has had positive results with technological integration. Health care organizations are rapidly adopting and implementing health information technology such as the electronic health record systems. Electronic health recording aids in enhancing efficiency within the health provider’s organization. This translates to improved patient handling and effective treatment to ensuring appropriate patient management. This creates a smooth carryover of the patient by a new health care provider following referral for further management since the patient’s medical history is readily available. In addition, it reduces medical errors where the electronic prescribing applications would alert health care providers in case of any anticipated drug reaction. Cases of illegible handwriting have also been eliminated as progress notes are directly indicated in the electronic system. In addition to the efficiency, electronic records cut back on the risk of mix-ups in patient files where a patient is treated for the wrong condition. This is often the results of archival problems where leafs from patient files are pooled together before sorting. The use of electronic medical records saves hospitals and patients from this by securing the records appropriately that only the records of the required patient can be accessed, thus mix up are evaded (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2012). The above illustrate the proliferation of information technology and the scope of its application in health care facilities. As such, personnel in the health care settings including nurses; establish that they require adequate training in information technology. Training in basic computer skills and information literacy is, therefore, critical for nurses to facilitate efficiency with the healthcare system (Schloman, 2001). Persons hoping to improve their information literacy may attend continuing education classes or seminars offered by medical libraries (Peace, 2011). Similarly, most nursing schools offer refresher courses aimed at sharpening information literacy among other educational units. Various aspects of information literacy can be adopted by with health care facilities; this is dependent on the scope of duties and responsibilities of an individual within a healthcare setting. Aspects of information literacy that remain relevant to nurses include tool, resource, research, and critical literacy Tool literacy illustrates the capacity to comprehend and effectively apply prevailing information and research tools to improve efficiency at work. In other words, tool literacy involves general understanding of the technology used in gathering information in the relevant field. For instance, nurses should be well acquainted with the electronic record system for smooth operations in their workplaces. The resource literacy describes the competence related to comprehension of the form, format and access methods of information resources, which is in relation to the ability to explore information networks to gather vast loads of relevant information. Research literacy demonstrates the capacity of an individual to utilize information technology based tools to perform research and treat the unearthed information as a scholar while critical literacy describes the ability to evaluate the strength, weaknesses, potential and limitations of information technologies. Moreover, one should understand and evaluate the benefits and cost of implementing information literacy. However, lack of sufficient facilities in relation to access to computers, absence of coordinated teaching efforts and inadequate knowledge in computer literacy are among the challenges associated with information technology (Nayda and Rankin, n.d). Assignments The search for information and it use remain a key assessment areas throughout this course. Assignments to facilitate the success of this course should be related to the objectives, which aim at encouraging advancement of information literacy. Students will be expected to practice what has been taught to them in class when doing their assignment. The assignments employed will be based on research to assess the competence of the students in the application of research tools. The titles will remain relevant to the medical field and will engage students in critical thinking during their research. Research papers will be expected to be present precise information, which is consistent with effective information literacy. The assignments should be comprehensive with complete citations and formatting as directed. For instance, students may be required to search a specified medical journal and make deductions from it in line with precision and accuracy. The students will also be required highlight challenges encounter in the course of their research. In addition to assignments, a hands-on approach will be advocated with students effectively participating in practical in the computer lab. This will provide adequate practice with existing information technology tools. Ample time will be accorded and students allocated study groups. This is critical to the creation of an educational platform where all can learn through peer teaching and coaching. Moreover, teaching expertise will be sought from related institutions such as the library and local hospital. This is aimed at illustrating the need for efficiency during research and dispensation of information. References Bonnel, W. and Smith K. (2010). Teaching Technologies in Nursing &the Health Professionals: Beyond Simulation and Online Courses. Springer Publishing Company, New York. McGonigle, D. and Mastrian K. (2012). Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge. Jones & Barlett Learning. Peace, Jane. (2011). Nurses and Health Information Technology: Working With and Around Computers. N C Medical Journal; 72(4): 317-319. Nayda, R. and Rankin E. (n.d). Information Literacy Skill Development and Lifelong Learning: Exploring Nursing Students’ and Academics’ Understandings. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing. Retrieved from http://www.ajan.com.au/Vol26/26-2_Nayda.pdf Jones and Bartlett Learning. (n.d). The Profession of Nursing. Retrieved from http://samples.jbpub.com/9781449649029/46066_CH01_6031.pdf Schloman, B. (2001). Information Resources: Information Literacy: The Benefits of Partnership. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Columns/InformationResources/InformationLiteracy.html Read More