Accountability in Nursing Profession - Essay Example

1. What is Accountability? The well experienced trainers and HR managers often explain that we can train thousands of employees how to manage and administer things but we cannot make them accountable for what they are assigned and liable to. Accountability if considered according to its objective and purpose is basically a responsibility to act. It is an ethic that must be counted at very start of the management and HRM process. However, unfortunately the organizations today have no formal accountability strategy implementation. It does not mean that accountability is no more in today business, it is still in trends but the real spirit of the accountability is not being seen in organizational management. The organizations today are trying to accept the challenges of making them improved and advanced in providing the best services to their stakeholders, but the question is why we are accepting challenges, whey we are struggling to bring more improvements and why we should do this (Dealy and Thomas 2007,42). The professional nurse accountability is an act of taking responsibility of what the nurses are liable and being expected to do regarding their profession that is directly and indirectly related with the client’s well-being and health. Several government, non-government and semi-government departments are imperatively implementing the accountability strategy within the organization specifically the health departments. However, health department is the most sensitive area of any business that purely related with the lives of people. From doctors to ordinary watchmen and sweepers, all are liable and accountable to the managers and head of department for each and every action without even prior instruction, duty and training. In our research paper we will discuss the professional nurse accountability, groundwork of the accountability and present and future accountability for nursing profession. 1.2. The Professional Nurse Accountability As mentioned above, the accountability is not only liable and considered necessary for the managers and leaders, but every individual in the organization is liable and accountable. It is an act to be responsive to something done by him/her or for what he/she is supposed to do. The professional nurse accountability is related to the responsiveness of the nurses to the peers, patients, oneself, his/her profession and to the society. The nursing profession is very much accountable and connected with society and nursing peers. The nurses are accountable and responsible for their deeds and responsibilities based on the code of nursing, nursing practice standards, development of nursing theory, educational requirements, and certifications. Different bodies set and design the standards for the health care and nursing profession and practice. This means nurses are accountable of different levels of responsibility from nurses. They have to be aware of each nursing profession standard, because everybody that sets the standards for nursing profession has their own standard to apply as well as the penalty to implement if these standards are not met. There is no single resource of accountability for nursing profession. When we in detailes focus on the accountability factor of the nursing profession, we see that there are more than one source to provide the different types of accountability for nursing practice. These types may come from the legality aspects, media platforms, agencies, government departments or councils of nursing and midwifery profession. All these resources bring major amendments and improvements in nursing profession accountability (Caulfield 2011). 1.3. To Whom the Professional Nurse Is Accountable? The nursing profession is very much compelled and accountable to grant the ample and proficient nursing concern. Therefore, it is the personal responsibility of the nurses to pay proper attention and care to sustain the aptitude in practice. Hence, this accountability act is necessary for the nurses for basically two major purposes: firstly, to develop, maintain and promote their own profession; and secondly, to take care of client’s wellbeing. The professional nurse accountability is related to the responsiveness of the nurses to the peers, patients, themselves, his/her profession and the society. Nurses are accountable for the judgments and decision made and actions taken in the course of nursing practices. Both the physician’s orders and the employing agency’s policies mitigate the nurse of accountability for events taken and judgments prepared (Schwab et al 2005,69). Nurses take the accountability concept in different ways. Some think that to be accountable means being blamed and responsible for the actions of other people as well as for their own (Caulfield 2011). The nurses may ask if I am accountable for this act, or it is only my responsibility. This situation happens when nurses face the critical situation during their nursing practice. Some people take the accountability as a responsibility act. This concept reduces the scope of the accountability. This reduction may cause the defensive nursing practice. This often happens when nurses are worried about the situation or may think they would be singled out of condemnation. While the very concept of the accountability is that it is accede to self-assurance as a proficient that permits a nurse to take arrogance in being translucent about the way he/she has conceded about their performance. It becomes important to inform and prepare the nurses about the decision made. In other words, we can say that nurses corporate with clients and patients to work on combined accessibility with complete assurance (Caulfield 2011). 1.4. The Groundwork to Accountability The nursing accountability is basically founded on the special framework that has four pillars. Professional Professional accountability is basically a back bone of the nursing profession. This accountability act allows the nurses to work under the settled framework of practice by following the standards, ethics and principles of conduct that promote and develop the nursing profession and build the trust of patients on the nurses. Ethical The ethical accountability forms in the influences of several resources. The accountability ethics is formed with the interference of media, law, employers and other health professions. The nursing councils also play its vital role in founding nursing profession accountability. Legal Parliament deals with issues such as suicide, medicines, organ and tissue donation, and mental health issues and crimes committed. The civil and criminal law is applied in the nursing legal accountability. Employment Employers play their important role in forming employment accountability for the nursing profession. In employment procedure, the nursing will get the employment contract that contains the detailed information about each duty and responsibility of the nurses and complete accountability framework (Caulfield 2011). In order to be accountable, nurses perform under the code of moral demeanor that is stranded in the ethical principles of commitment and admiration for the distinction, merit and willpower of the clients. The nursing profession has adopted the best accountability ethics, and it is developing more ways to make it improved and clearer (Schwab et al 2005,69). 1.5. Accountability in the Era of Cost Containment In the end of the World War II, the United States faced two medical revolutions, one was the era of extension and the second was the era of the cost containment. Now the third era is going in the US. In era of expansion, there was the rapid growth of the hospital facilities, employment and promotion of physicians, and insurance coverage. The new health and nursing institutes were established to train more professionals by following the updated technology. Especially for nursing profession, the accountability factor was mainly focused and highlighted. Special training was given in established nursing schools. These speedy developments led unavoidably to the next era that could be called as the upheaval of the payers or the era of cost containment. The expenses of hospital beds, latest technology and employing more physicians were explosively inflationary mixture, so it was really hard and critical when costs began to rise rapidly. The implementation of new technology, hiring and training the nurses and polishing the accountability factors, specially for nursing profession, became hard in the era of cost containment. We are moving to the new era, the need of accountability and assessment is necessary to implement and if already applied, then development is essential (Rosen, et al, 2012,128). 1.6. Accountability in the Future It is true that stakeholders, payers, providers, managers, manufacturers and patients are placing the liability and emphasis to get more services and positive outcomes from health sectors, including nursing profession. Still, the long milestone can be assumed to access the era of assessment and accountability (Rickles et al 2010). Nursing shares the accountability to take high quality care of the patients’ well-being. Therefore, nursing profession needs excellence and experience very much. This is a reason of why the nurses are required to have knowledge pertinent to the existing scale of nursing practice, altering concerns, and principled perceptions and commands that do not alleviate the nurses’ accountability for constructing decision about the allocation of the nursing care behaviors (Schwab et al 2005). Works cited Caulfield, Helen. Vital Notes for Nurses. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Web. Dealy, M D and Andrew R. Thomas. Managing by Accountability: What Every Leader Needs to Know About Responsibility, Integrity-and Results. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2007. Print. Rosen, Bruce, Avi Israeli, and Stephen M. Shortell. Accountability and Responsibility in Health Care: Issues in Addressing an Emerging Global Challenge. Singapore: World Scientific, 2012. Print. Rickles, Nathaniel M, Albert I. Wertheimer, and Mickey C. Smith. Social and Behavioral Aspects of Pharmaceutical Care. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2010. Web. Schwab, Nadine, Mary H. B. Gelfman, and Gerald N. Tirozzi. Legal Issues in School Health Services: A Resource for School Administrators, School Attorneys, School Nurses. New York: Authors Choice Press, 2005. Print. Read More