Every profession has its established rules and moral guidelines, but requirements for healthcare practitioners, including registered nurses, are particularly high. Nursing is an occupation that demands careful abiding by ANA Standards of Professional Performance. They include assessment, diagnosis, outcomes identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation (Maloney, 2016). These standards also demand that nurses possess excellent communication and leadership skills, understand the importance of education, and act ethically with consideration to the principles of diversity and inclusion (Maloney, 2016). Registered nurses implement these principles on a daily basis excelling at performing their duties in an ethical and professional way.
Working with every patient starts with assessment – collecting data on their condition and situation, giving a diagnosis, and analyzing outcomes of the process of treatment. Nurses carefully plan and implement strategies aimed at achieving these objectives, constantly supervising, and evaluating progress. To give a more specific example, nurses working in the telemetry floor continuously monitor patients condition, collect and interpret data from the machines, analyzing the progress on the path to the established outcomes. Working with patients of different backgrounds, nurses treat everyone fairly and respectively. They are expected to approach people in a friendly manner and be always ready to explain and educate patients and their family members on the best practices to support and improve one’s health. During my practice, I acted as a preceptor for the newly hired nurses providing mentorship and advice. This helped me to understand that professional nurses should always be ready to share and accumulate knowledge by educating others and never ceasing to learn themselves. As they become professionals, they acquire excellent leadership skills helping them to guide patients and trainees.
To become a professional in any sphere it is important to start with acknowledging the main principles which underlie this occupation. Registered nurses understand that the way they perform their duties determines not only their reputation but also influences their patients health. Accepting this responsibility, they do their best to improve the well-being of every individual they are working with regardless of their background.
References
Maloney, P. (2016). Nursing professional development: Standards of professional practice. Journal for nurses in professional development, 32(6), pp. 327–330.