Professionalism in Nursing - Essay Example

"Professionalism in Nursing" is a worthy example of a paper on care.
Nursing is a profession that centers on taking care of patients and societies in order to improve the living standards of people. It is one of the major professions where it is highly necessary to maintain a level of professionalism. It was during the Crimean war that Florence Nightingale laid the basis and the founding principles on which the nursing profession has been built today.

The professional role of a nurse is very vast. Generally, it revolves around the chief role of a caregiver. The nurse is supposed to show support and concern for the client through actions and attitudes. In addition to this nurse is to be the patient’s advocate and should promote what is best for the client and try to protect the patient’s rights. Counseling is also an important aspect of nurses’ role. The nurse should encourage the client to observe alternate behaviors and develop a sense of control. As a result, professional nurses assume the role of a leader and a manager working tirelessly and managing different cases and activities for the benefit of the patients in a cost-efficient manner. Furthermore, nurses also work as coordinators as they are supposed to shape the relationship between patient and nurse, nurse and doctors, and also between different nurses.

Professional nursing is characterized by many different aspects which altogether highlight the importance and significance of professionalism in nursing. Professional nursing has its own defined and written code of ethics which is compulsory for every nurse to follow (Peter and Storch 28). In addition to it, communication and thinking skills also play an important part in professional nursing. The values of honesty, integrity, respect, responsibility, empathy, passion, and dedication define professionalism in nursing.

Ethics and values are the keystones in professional nursing. The Code of ethics for registered nurses is just an example of its importance and significance. It allows the nurses to identify ethical concerns, issues, and dilemmas in various cases and allows them to act and make a decision by using their ethical knowledge. Furthermore, it lets them maintain an environment that supports nurses, value their ethical responsibilities, and keeps them engaged in profitable discussions.

Cultural diversity is also an important part of professional nursing. Keeping in view the increase in population from different cultures, this forces the health care system to also adopt a similar pattern wherein nurses from different cultures should be recruited. Cultural competence, therefore, creates a very healthy environment both among the patients as well as the nurses. Discriminatory and racist behavior should be addressed as it is an important aspect of professional nursing. Along with this communication skill also plays a significant role in creating professionalism as this allows effective communication between clients and colleagues through empathic listening and non-judgmental open-ended questioning.

Health informatics plays a very major role in shaping the structure of professional nursing (Anderson 620). This technology has allowed the nurses to maintain a very organized system of records which gives off a feeling of professionalism. Furthermore, this has also helped in increasing the efficiency of work and has produced better results.  It has been a driving force and has managed to communicate information, knowledge, and wisdom into nursing practice.