Nurses operate in different health care settings in an attempt to improve the welfare of their respective patients. They can apply diverse approaches to ensure the unique needs of different communities or individuals are met. These practitioners should also develop specific values and core competencies to inform their nursing philosophies. Such core values empower nurse practitioners (NPs) to develop positive relationships with different patients and colleagues (Shahriari, Mohammadi, Abbaszadeh, & Bahrami, 2013).
The possession of different nursing values can foster professional and personal development. Some of the common values include altruism, human dignity, and autonomy. NPs who embrace these values find it easier to meet the diverse needs of their patients. The practice can eventually impact nursing practice and education positively.
The first professional nursing value is altruism. In nursing education, learners should be equipped with appropriate competencies to become skilled caregivers (Al-Banna, 2017). Altruism encourages people to be concerned about other people’s wellbeing and health outcomes. In nursing, the value guides caregivers to advocate for positive health outcomes for their patients. The learning process should be characterized by this value to prepare more nurses for advanced roles (Ma, 2017). The NPs will be willing to support the welfare of every patient. This practice will eventually result in superior and culturally competent health care delivery processes.
The second critical value associated with nursing is human dignity. This value is informed by respect and ability to uphold the beliefs of different populations or individuals. Nursing education has considered the role of this value in an attempt to develop practitioners who respect the views of other people. The ultimate goal is to respect other people, support their needs, and empower them to realize their objectives. This value is critical in nursing education since it guides students to become competent professionals who are willing to meet the diverse needs of every stakeholder. The emerging level of respect for human life creates the best environment for improving the quality of services available to different patients.
Autonomy is another professional value capable of transforming the effectiveness of many NPs. This value promotes a person’s right to freewill (FitzPatrick, 2017). It is agreeable that human beings tend to have their unique rights, expectations, and decisions. Many scholars believe strongly that nurses should be in a position to respect the rights of their respective patients. The individuals will be empowered to make decisions that can affect the health care process. In nursing education, curriculum developers can use the value to come up with appropriate competencies that can guide more caregivers to support their patients’ freewill (Zoboli & Schveitzer, 2013). Consequently, the nurses will become skilled caregivers capable of offering evidence-based, quality, and culturally competent medical support.
In conclusion, nurses can benefit significantly from the major professional values associated with medical practice. Most of these values act as guidelines that encourage nurses to focus on the best practices. Such practices will maximize the health outcomes of the targeted patients. The above values can work synergistically to ensure more nurses are willing to analyze the unique health needs of their patients and develop evidence-based care delivery models. The rights of different patients are taken seriously to deliver culturally competent and quality care (Schmidt, 2015). Different theorists and nurse practitioners can embrace these professional values to design new models capable of addressing the diverse needs of more underserved populations.
References
Al-Banna, D. (2017). Core professional and personal values of nurses about nursing in Erbil City Hospitals: A profession, not just career. Nursing & Care Open Access Journal, 2(6), 56-62. Web.
FitzPatrick, W. (2017). Human altruism, evolution and moral philosophy. Royal Society Open Science, 4(1), 1-13. 1. Web.
Ma, H. (2017). The development of altruism with special reference to human relationships: A 10-stage theory. Hypothesis and Theory, 5(271), 1-14. Web.
Schmidt, B. (2015). Core professional nursing values of baccalaureate nursing students who are men. Nursing Ethics, 23(6), 1-14. Web.
Shahriari, M., Mohammadi, E., Abbaszadeh, A., & Bahrami, M. (2013). Nursing ethical values and definitions: A literature review. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 18(1), 1-8.
Zoboli, E., & Schveitzer, M. (2013). Nursing values as social practice: A qualitative meta-synthesis. Rev. Latino-Am. Enfermagem, 21(3), 695-703.