Research Paper on Professional Nursing: Values, Structures, Processes & High Competence

Introduction

Professional nursing practices refer to the values, organizational structures, processes, and high competence levels of the care in the nursing process (Blais, 2015). In setting professional standards, nursing personnel reflect a desired and achievable level of performance in comparison with the actual performances of a nurse. These practices help to ensure consistency in delivering care and sets a definition for the nurse authority autonomy as well as accountability in the community, state and world.

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Professional nursing practices in defining authority include the recognition ad use of rights and responsibilities of nurses to use their skills, knowledge and judgment to provide high-quality outcomes (McGilton et al., 2016). In defining autonomy, professional practices ensure the making of independent nursing decisions concerning the best practices that they could implement to guarantee the provision of safe and high-quality outcomes. In accountability, nursing practices help to define the acceptance of responsibility for their actions, judgments and resulting outcomes.

The main purpose of professional nursing practice is to direct and maintain safe and competent care for the patients. The practices are vital for the entire profession because they promote and guide the operations of the nurses. They provide a tool for evaluation for oneself and other people to ensure safety and proficiency in clinical practices. Employers use these professional practices to evaluate a nurse's care if they suspect that the nurse has developed unsafe work habits and stress on the need for adhering to policies and the widely accepted guidelines.

Using professional nursing practices will help in the utilization of standards that identify particular areas for improvement. Nurses ought to continue ensuring that their services are centered on the patients, minimizing exposure to risks of harm and providing the best outcomes. Their practices must meet or exceed established standards to make sure that they maintain trust and respect for the people they serve.

Perspectives that Constitute Professional Nursing Practice

Perspectives on professional standards mainly involve the definition of competencies. These include providing comprehensive assessments, recognizing and responding to changes as well as delivering interventions (Davis, 2017). It is necessary to identify the different areas where there is a need for recommendations to explicitly clarify the supporting role of the nurses. Perspectives include evidence-based practices, education, research, and leadership.

Evidence-Based Practices

These involve the improvement in the quality of care through the application of new knowledge and innovations as they provide evidence-based care. The aim of evidence-based practices is to improve the care processes and outcomes for patients (Kalb et al., 2015). The focus is on three aspects of quality, which are targeted health outcomes, service intervention and consistency with current knowledge.

Evidence-based practices seek to express an underlying belief that through research, there is the production of reliable knowledge about the likelihood that a specific strategy will change the present health status into the outcome expected (Stevens, 2013). The key goal in quality is that there is an alignment of services with the current professional knowledge. There is also the aim to reduce illogical variation in care through the standardization to the best scientific evidence.

The nursing personnel need to be committed to an environment that fosters innovation, critical thinking and also scientific inquiry. They need to be in support of policies, procedures and standards of care that are based on evidence. There should be programs that provide ongoing training for nurses.

Education

Nursing practices should be in an environment that supports continual learning. Nurses have the responsibility to educate and empower patients and families so that they can understand illness and treatment. They should also support these patients in making health care decisions. This way, nurses should be able to provide patient education with high levels of competency and health literacy.

There is a renewed emphasis on primary care and offering new opportunities in areas such as primary care, coordination and standard care practices to establish professional teams and meet the needs of patients (Kelly, Berragan, Husebo, & Orr, 2016). The future has great potential for expanding the knowledge base for nurses provided that the nurses are willing to innovate and demonstrate value because there is a constant change in the healthcare delivery system. Nursing models must also practice the promotion and support of all levels of professional education including transitioning to professional development.

Research

Research is an integral component of nursing practices. It is through research that there is a driving force for innovation, clinical decision making and other important parts in health care. Research has a tremendous influence on professional nursing practices hence an essential area of the educational process (Curtis, Fry, Shaban, & Considine, 2017). Research is critical in helping to advance their different fields, staying updated and also offering the best patient care.

Nursing research helps to provide nurses with the necessary information for their literacy skills. This way, they can make their own decisions and develop their conclusions based on the need for high-quality care (Young, Bakewell-Sachs, & Sarna, 2017). Similarly, nurses need research for use as a validation point for their profession. They will base their practices on scientific points through reining the existing theories and discovering new ones.

Leadership

Professional nursing practices require leadership qualities that ensure high-level teamwork. Nurse leaders are expected to be highly visible and very accessible. Transformational leadership ensures that nurses are empowered to be leaders of patient care at the bedside. The leaders also need to maintain the rigorous standards of care that families and patients expect from exemplary healthcare facilities (Scully, 2015). These leaders help to bridge the gap between policies and practise through ensuring that members of the team obey safety protocols.

Changes to strengthen the current professional practice of nursing and relation to knowledge, skills and attitudes

One great change to strengthen professional practices is through innovative nursing practices (Tingen, Burnett, Murchison, & Zhu, 2009). These help to generate new knowledge and ensure evidence-based care. The public trusts the nurses to meet the health needs of patients and ensure their safety. They are to involve them in their own care, treat them with respect and dignity and demonstrate empathy. Thus, there is a need for more research to strengthen the level of practices. Collaboration will be helpful in ensuring dedication in health care and improving outcomes.

Strengthening these practices is related to knowledge, skills and attitudes in that, there I a guarantee for excellence in delivering patient care and clinical outcomes. These recommendations help to deepen the connection between learning and clinical experiences. Professional practices will help to promote application and synthesis of knowledge applying to the various complexities of practice.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the professional nursing practices help to ensure consistency in delivering care and sets a definition for the nurse authority autonomy as well as accountability in the community, state and world. It is necessary to identify the different areas where there is a need for recommendations to explicitly clarify the supporting role of the nurses. Perspectives include evidence-based practices, education, research, and leadership. The main purpose of professional nursing practice is to direct and maintain safe and competent care for the patients.

References

Blais, K. (2015). Professional nursing practice: Concepts and perspectives. Pearson.

Curtis, K., Fry, M., Shaban, R. Z., & Considine, J. (2017). Translating research findings to clinical nursing practice. Journal of clinical nursing, 26(5-6), 862-872. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jocn.13586

Davis, C. (2017). The importance of professional accountability. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/nursingmadeincrediblyeasy/Fulltext/2014/09000/The_importance_of_professional_standards.1.aspx

Kalb, K. A., O'Conner-Von, S. K., Brockway, C., Rierson, C. L., & Sendelbach, S. (2015). Evidence-based teaching practice in nursing education: Faculty perspectives and practices. Nursing education perspectives, 36(4), 212-219. https://journals.lww.com/neponline/Abstract/2015/07000/Evidence_Based_Teaching_Practice_in_Nursing.3.aspx

Kelly, M. A., Berragan, E., Husebo, S. E., & Orr, F. (2016). Simulation in nursing education-International perspectives and contemporary scope of practice. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 48(3), 312-321. Retrieved from http://eprints.glos.ac.uk/5122/1/Berragan%202016%20Simultation%20in%20Nursing%20Education.pdf

McGilton, K. S., Bowers, B. J., Heath, H., Shannon, K., Dellefield, M. E., Prentice, D., & Boscart, V. M. (2016). Recommendations from the international consortium on professional nursing practise in long-term care homes. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 17(2), 99-103. Retrieved from http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/14206/9/Recommendations%20from%20the%20International%20Consortium%20on%20Professional%20Nursing%20Practice%20in%20Long%20Term%20Care%20Homes.pdf

Scully, N. J. (2015). Leadership in nursing: The importance of recognizing inherent values and attributes to secure a positive future for the profession. Collegian, 22(4), 439-444. Retrieved from https://www.collegianjournal.com/article/S1322-7696(14)00086-9/fulltext

Stevens, K. R. (2013). The impact of evidence-based practice in nursing and the next big ideas. Online J Issues Nurs, 18(2), 4. Retrieved from http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-18-2013/No2-May-2013/Impact-of-Evidence-Based-Practice.html

Tingen, M. S., Burnett, A. H., Murchison, R. B., & Zhu, H. (2009). The importance of nursing research. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(3), 167-170. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3677814/

Young, H. M., Bakewell-Sachs, S., & Sarna, L. (2017). Nursing practice, research and education in the west: the best is yet to come. Nursing Research, 66(3), 262-270. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/nursingresearchonline/Fulltext/2017/05000/Nursing_Practice,_Research_and_Education_in_the.8.aspx