Socialization into Professional Nursing - Essay Example

Literature Review: Socialization into Professional Nursing Literature Review: Socialization into Professional Nursing The majorityof nursing students walk into nursing learning institution having the image portrayed by the nurses they see around them. The perceptions that these students usually hold is transformed into professional comprehension which is acquired in the nursing schools. It is a process referred to as professional socialization. The learning process entails the acquisition of skills, attitude, norms, values, behaviors, and the values of the profession. Socialization in profession is crucial in eliminating tension that stem from the reality shock. It is also vital in facilitation of adaptation in the process of transition. Majority of students before their enrolment into nursing school view nursing as service oriented towards helping the sick to recover from their ailments. To incorporate the concept of social professionalism, there is a need to have absolute the comprehension of what constitutes profession. Some of the universal professional standards highly embrace honesty, integrity, and autonomy. The values provide the platform for motivation and guidance professional and individual behavior. The values are often learned during the nursing educational programs where the students develop internalize, and clarify professional values (Pei & Pek, 2012). On the other hand, professional socialization is hugely dependent on the role theory whose origin is associated with the field of sociology. The role theory focuses on student preparation for them to be able to meet the job roles and expectation. There are 2 processes through which individuals can learn their roles. One of these processes is through interaction with others or groups while the second process entails learning through role plays, modeling, identification, observations, and instruction among others. In addition, the two sociological conditions encompass cultural and structural process of professional socialization. In reference to structural roles, the determinants of individual roles are rules such as orders from doctors, hospital or health care policies, and description of jobs. On the other hand, cultural conditions consist of the prevalent systems of ideas in the society expressed either in symbols, words or even ceremonies. The development of the values in the nursing profession begins with education in the profession and is continuous throughout the practicing years of nursing. The aim of professional socialization is to enhance the development of professional identity in such a way that all the mentioned attributes becomes the part of the nurses’ professional image and behavior and personality (Pei & Pek, 2012). Professional socialization is a consequence of multiple exposures to agents of socialization who are the individuals that initiate the process. The agents in question are colleagues, clients, faculty, and health care professional, friends, and family. Due to this process of professional socialization, the students’ values that are already preset are replaced with those values acquired during the nursing profession (Dimitriadou, Pisirtzidou & Lavdarniti, 2013). There are several avenues for educational preparation that students can incorporate to become nurses who are registered. They can register for diploma or bachelors programs and eventually undergo through the licensing of exam process. Education as a way of initiating Professional socialization since it provides the platform through which students learn new roles, as well as not only observe but also experience the nursing culture. Formal socialization happen both clinical and classroom setting. On the other hand, informal socialization happens through either interaction or observation with the aid of the other health care practitioners. It is common for the new graduates in the nursing field to have high attrition due to the existence of the practice and theory gap and the case of reality shock. There are 3 varied outcomes of the process of professional socialization. The first one entails the students being socialized into the profession and internalizing the norms, behavior, attitudes, skills, and values among others successfully. Secondly, there is a group of that are socialized into the field depending on the examination evidence after which they are diverted into other clinical areas. It helps them to discover their interest in other areas of nursing apart from the clinical areas. In the process of socializing the students, some nurses are trained by preceptors that are bullies and wait for them to fail instead of true supportive mentoring. Organizations that deal with nursing have been identified for the frequent occurrence of bullying. The aspects of bullying manifest in scenarios such as: management or doctors bullying or mistreating the nurses; a nurse being bullied by other nurses; a nurse being bullied by the patient; and healthcare providers being bullied by nurses (Utley, 2011). Bullying has surface as one of the phenomenon that result into problems of retention of nurses and employees in organization. The continuous acts of bullying without intervention may results into higher chances of nurses inclusive of healthcare providers leaving their workplace. In turn, it can be detrimental to the financial operation costs since new nurses are required to replace those that already left. It will result into costs related to the recruitment process. Besides the cost incurred, the other consequence entails emotional pain that a victim of the act undergoes. It also has secondary implication on the other co-workers who witness these acts. In some situation, the victims may suffer from depression, anxiety, and may feel isolated. The third consequence is being associated with troublemaking thus resulting into individual developing fears of advancement of career development opportunities or even loss of job. Besides, the victims may also be psychological problems such as headaches, nervous tension, and eating disorders among others (Dimitriadou, Pisirtzidou & Lavdarniti, 2013). At the workplace, the performance of the victims of bullying may be affected. When their performances are affected, it may consequently result into provision of poor quality services to the patients. However, the education program and practical settings especially in the laboratories usually have positive effects on newly registered nurses. It helps in bridging the gap between the nursing theories and practical reality (Utley, 2011). In addition, the policies in place that attempted to do away with the likely occurrence of acts such as bullying are vital in ensuring that there is job satisfaction among the employees, as well as their retention. Job satisfaction can also be enhanced when the values inculcated to the nurses are commensurate with the values embraced by the organization or at the workplace. References: Pei, K. L & Pek, H. L (2012). Concept of professional socialization in nursing. Retrieved on 3rd June 2015 from: http://web.imu.edu.my/imuejournal/approved/7.Research_Lai_p31-35.pdf#page=5&zoom=auto,0,-158 Dimitriadou. A, Pisirtzidou. E & Lavdarniti, M. (2013). The Concept of Socialization in Nursing Education. International Journal of Caring Science, 6 (3): 314-318 Masters, K. (2014). Role development in professional nursing practice. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Utley, R. A. (2011). Theory and research for academic nurse educators: Application to practice. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Read More