Nursing Professional Roles and Values Essay

Essentially, Jean Watson's Human Caring Theory focuses on humanitarian aspects of the caring process, experiences, and occurrences. This being said, throughout the course of my profession, this theory, has significantly influenced my career values and goals based on the fact that it is oriented towards human science. More fundamentally, this is a theory that I consider to be a philosophical and ethical foundation for my professional nursing role. Besides, the theory is primarily concerned with the manner in which the nurses care for their patients as well as how their caregiving progress into better plans which help to promote health, the patients' well-being, restore health, and most importantly, prevent the occurrence of illnesses.

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According to Watson, the nursing practice is primarily centered on caring since this helps the nurses to focus on promoting health instead of performing a mere medical cure. This being said, nurses, in the course of their profession apply this theory in various ways (Foss-Durant, 2014). For instance, owing to the fact that the theory defines the nursing practice as a process of human-to-human caring, consisting of concepts such as the caring moment, interpersonal maintenance of relationship, healing process and awareness of healing, nurses apply this theory in creating a caring relationship with their patients, an approach which displays unconditional acceptance of the patient. Besides, based on the concepts of this theory, nurses can apply a holistic treatment approach which is inclusive of treating the mins, the spirit, the soul and, most importantly, the body.

Drawing from my professional background, this theory fits in my professional practice, as a nurse in a behavioral health hospital, in the sense that, it enables me to see beyond the person with the disease. In particular, working as a behavioral health nurse involves dealing with patients with behavioral problems such as substance abuse, mental instability, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among others. Therefore, based on this context, this theory fits in my professional practice since it enables me to consider the environment in which my patients are in, as a healing space, in which their consciousness and awareness can expand their mind and promote their wholeness in mind-body-spirit, and eventually lead to their healing.

With reference to the external contribution to my profession by the nineteenth and twentieth-century historical nursing figures, I believe that Beverly Malone and Florence Nightingale of the nineteenth century, have had the greatest impact in my profession. For instance, Beverly Malone, who is the chief executive officer of the National League for Nursing in the United States, has contributed to my nursing career through her well-renowned reputation as America's "top nurse" and her extensive grasp of the nursing health policy. On the other hand, Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern-day nursing, inspires me at a personal level through her Environmental theory which gives a description of the relationship between people and their environment. As an RN specializing in behavioral health, I borrow a lot from the theory since it helps me understand that my primary role as a behavioral health nurse should center on the modification of the patients' environment for nature to act upon and for healing to occur. This being said, while Malone's contribution has helped me understand and work in line with the nursing health policies, Nightingale's principle of environmental alteration has served as a framework for my day to day interaction with my patients.

As a nurse living in the State of Texas, I have learned of the differences between the Texas Board of Nursing and the American Nurse Association (ANA). To begin with, the Texas Board of Nursing plays a significant role which is to protect and promote the welfare of the Texas people through ensuring that all people who are licensed as nurses are competent to practice safely (ANA, 2013). On the other hand, ANA, which serves as the strongest voice for the nursing profession is tasked with the role of developing mechanisms which guarantee professional accountability and hence improve the quality of care that is provided to the public. For me, these two, the ANA and the Texas Board of Nursing, have contributed to my professional success as an RN. The States of Texas Board of Nursing, for instance, has helped me to know and to conform to the minimum required standards through the rules which implement the statutes and also through additional guidance documents such as the interpretive guidelines and the position statements (TBN, 2017). Besides, the ANA, like the Texas Board of Nursing has helped expand my knowledge through providing expansion for me as a nurse and also offering me improvements in continuing my education in nursing.

Like in other states in the United States of America, the State of Texas has set aside various requirements for professional nursing license renewal. For instance, the Texas Board of Nursing stipulates that all nurses with an active Texas license should demonstrate continuing competency for them to get a re-licensure or their nursing license renewal. Besides, the state board also states that nurses will suffer various consequences for failure to maintain the board's license requirements. For instance, in the State of Texas, a nurse who fails to maintain their nursing license requirements suffers the consequences of a denial of licensure or complete revocation of their nursing license.

A comparison of the registered nursing license requirements in a compact state with those in a non-compact state yields various differences and similarities. For example, the State of Texas is one of the 25 states in which the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) has been implemented. Therefore, the registered nursing license requirements in the State of Texas differs from those in non-compact states, in the sense that, a nurse in an NLC state such as Texas, is required to hold an active RN/LVN license without current disciplinary action. This is not the case, with the nurse licenses in the non-compact state.

There are various nursing regulatory agencies in the State of Texas. For instance, agencies such as the Texas Medical Board, the Texas Health and Human Service (HHS) as well as the Texas Board of Nursing, are some of the most significant regulatory agencies which have impacted my profession. In particular, these agencies have ensured that I perform my role as a licensed nurse and that I am an advocate of protection and promotion of healthcare in my state.

As an RN working in a Behavioural Health hospital, my primary and most important role involves delivering quality care to my patients. However, there are cases when the patient may choose an alternative treatment method. In such cases, there is more to my provision of high-quality care than just knowing the diseases. Therefore, as a nurse advocate, I am tasked with the role of helping patients make informed decisions regarding their health. This is inclusive of helping behavioral patients in navigating complex medical systems as well as helping them make ethical decisions. More so, the state of Texas has the Nurse Practice Act, whose primary responsibility is to regulate the nursing licensure, education, and practice. I consider this NPA to be of great significance to my professional nursing career since as an RN working in the State of Texas, it has increasingly helped me remain within the legal scope of professional practice. More fundamentally, in my state, the scope of practice for an RN involves taking responsibility and accepting accountability for practicing within the legal scope of practice (Fegert, & Vitiello, 2007). This requires me to be always prepared to work in all health care settings and may engage in the independent nursing practice without any supervision by any other healthcare provider.

The State of Texas defines delegation for the Registered Nurse (RN) as an essential tool that should be used by the RNs to maximize their nursing care that they offer to their clients. Based on this context, the RN delegation process, according to the Texas Board of Nursing is multifaceted. Therefore, it defines that the RN delegation should be based upon:

• i. The complexity of task
• ii. The assessment of the potential for patient harm by the RN
• iii. The needs of the patient and the stability of the patient's condition and many more.

As a Registered Nurse, my responsibilities are significantly related to my professional practice as a detective, scientist, and as a manager of the healing environment. This is substantiated in the sense that, as a manager of the healing environment, I play an important role in promoting public health. Besides, the Standards of practice for me as an RN require me to act as a detective who identifies as well as responds to professional practice issues that interfere with my ability to function according to the Standards and the Code of Ethics for RNs (Malloy & Penprase, 2010).

The American Nurse Association Code of Ethics (ANA) stipulates various provisions which primarily influence my professional nursing practice. For instance, the third and the seventh ANA code of ethics' provisions have had the greatest impact on my profession. Specifically, the third provision, which states that "the nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of patients" has enhanced my professional responsibility by preparing me to execute responsibilities within my scope of practice. The seventh provision, on the other hand, clearly delineates the core values of a competent nurse and this has helped me grow a great desire to advance my profession through scholarly inquiry and research (Nichols, 1979).

While operating in clinical practice, one of the most common nursing errors is the wring administration of medication which could also be associated with failure to communicate the proper information to either the patient or their family. However, with reference to the third provision of the ANA Code of Ethics, this error can either be solved or avoided since the nurse learns more about their professional responsibility in protecting and advocating for the safety of the patient.

Working as an RN, there are various leadership qualities that I am expected to have to meet the objectives of fostering new leadership talent. For instance, in my profession, some of the most renowned leadership qualities are professional socialization, critical thinking, respect, and integrity. While these qualities are applicable in a vast range of nursing roles, the professional socialization quality could be considered most effective for a nurse serving as a bedside leader. In particular, serving as a bed-side leader a nurse is required to offer direct patient care which may involve a lot of socializing with the client. In a similar regard, as an RN, one may be required to work within a nursing or an interdisciplinary team, in this case, they might be required to uphold high integrity levels since they will always be expected to uphold strong moral principles among the members they are leading (Dinmohammadi, Peyrovi & Mehrdad, 2013).

Conclusion

With regard to the nurses' professional working environment, studies substantiate that, amid conflicting demands in caring for the patients, nurses face competing values which affect various aspects of their profession. For instance, the nursing professional working environment impacts nursing leadership in the sense that it allows the nurse professionals to demonstrate their skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are necessary for them to achieve their set goals and objectives (Lin, & Liang, 2007). Besides, the environment also affects a nurse's decision-making pro...