Professionalism in a Clinical Nursing Setting

Professionalism in a Clinical Nursing Setting
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Introduction:
Professionalism holds within its ambit several factors that combine to give it a collective meaning. It is marked by achieving an alignment between one’s attitude and the expectations of his profession. Professionalism is the part and parcel of all major professions of the world and clinical nursing is no exception in this regard. Moreover, professional behaviors are the true manifestation of professional attitudes and hence the importance of professionalism in clinical nursing can not be over emphasized. Cambridge Dictionary defines professionalism as follows: “Having the type of job that is respected because it involves a high level of education and training”
OR
“Having the qualities that connect you with trained and skilled people, such as effectiveness, skill, organization, and seriousness of manner” (Cambridge Dictionary).
Therefore it becomes crystal clear that adhering to defined rules, regulations and procedures is the utmost pre-requisite to professionalism because of which it holds paramount significance for all professions including clinical nursing. Without specific knowledge and skilled training pertinent to a field, the true essence of professionalism can not be materialized.
Attributes of Professionalism:
There are numerous vital elements of professionalism out of which following are some of the essential attributes of professionalism: 1. Specialized Knowledge:
Specialized knowledge is the foremost characteristic of a professional. It highlights such professionals who endeavor hard to enhance and improve their skills through degrees and certifications that serve as the stepping stone for specialized knowledge (RNAO, 2007). 2. Competency:
Another powerful characteristic of professionals is competency. Professionals are always in pursuit of excellence and in order to accomplish it they adopt a competent approach. They possess the capability to fulfill their promises through dedicated commitment and adapt themselves to the changing needs of time and circumstances. Professionals focus on finding out apt solutions rather than making excuses (RNAO, 2007). 3. Honesty and Integrity:
Professionals possess exceptional qualities of honesty and integrity which enable them to attain a distinguished position in their relevant field. These attributes make them trustworthy and reliable. When it comes to their professional commitments they never intend to find the middle ground and make any compromise on their values. Moreover dedicated professionals are humble and ready to accept new emerging challenges in their field. They are always willing to increase the scope of their skills by consistently going through the learning process (MindTools). 4. Accountability:
Accountability is a vital attribute directly linked with honesty and integrity. Professionals are well cognizant of the fact that they are accountable for all their thoughts and actions and thus they are quite vigilant while carrying out their professional duties (MindTools). 5. Self-Regulation:
True professionals tackle even the adverse situations by adopting a calm and professional attitude. They demonstrate greater emotional intelligence (EI) to deal with their customers and colleagues and give highest consideration to their needs and demands. They also stay professional under pressure (RNAO, 2007).

6. Image:
Professionals always maintain their self-respect by portraying a positive image of themselves through proper dressing and outlook. Moreover, they are confident, optimistic and carry themselves professionally in every occasion and place (MindTools).
Professionalism and Professional Behavior in the Clinical Setting:
The aforementioned attributes of professionalism have a profound effect on clinical nursing. Under the garb of professionalism nurses are expected to possess a sound theoretical, practical and clinical knowledge by dint of which they can have sound hands-on-experience while dealing with their patients. They are also required to demonstrate a proficient and responsible role to render effective nursing practice within the precincts of clinical nursing. They must be confident, honest with their work and accountable at all times for all their actions. Nurses must be passionate and enthusiastic about their profession and its ethical prestige and hence demonstrate a strong dedication towards this noble profession (QPEI).
Impact of Professional Practices on Clinical Nursing:
Honesty and integrity, self-regulation and accountability are the hallmarks of nursing profession and a failure to accomplish any of these may have detrimental outcomes and as a consequence patients may become victim of sub-optimal care in medical centers and hospitals. Tardiness and failure to follow basic policies and procedures in clinical nursing such as timely monitoring of critical parameters, lack of specialized knowledge and non-utilization of Medical Emergency Teams forthrightly influences monitoring, caring and self-regulatory mechanisms leading to unfavorable scenarios such as admission of patients to intensive care units (ICU), cardiac arrest, or even unexpected death (QPEI).

Conclusion:
As it is rightly said that:
“Establishing a professional role is a prerequisite for establishing control over practice”

Hence in the light of above discussion, it can be safely concluded that nurses must consistently endeavor for quality care, quality practice and promotion of novel ideas and practices to achieve objectives of excellence in their profession. Patient safety and efficient patient care is the prior most concern in nursing profession and it can not be achieved without strengthening monitoring and management mechanisms in hospitals and clinical units. Hence clinical monitoring calls for continuous improvement to adapt to the changing needs of time in order to cope up with the challenges of health care requirements.

References:
Cambridge Dictionary
<http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/professional_1>
Impact of professionalism in nursing on in-hospital bedside monitoring practice. Retrieved from < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22924865>
MindTools - Essential tools for an essential career. Professionalism: Developing this Vital Characteristic. Retrieved from <http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/professionalism.htm>
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO). (2007). Professionalism in nursing best practice guideline. Retrieved from
< http://rnao.ca/sites/rnao-ca/files/Professionalism_in_Nursing.pdf> Professionalism in Nursing Practice. Quality Practice Environment Initiative (QPEI). Retrieved from < http://cms.tng-secure.com/file_download.php?fFile_id=10165>