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Professionalism in Nursing

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Professionalism in Nursing
Professionalism in Nursing

Abstract
Nursing requires not only having the education and compassion of helping others; it requires having a professional outlook. Having and displaying a professional outlook requires you to have the attitude and appearance and the willingness to help others.

Professionalism in Nursing
Professionalism
In order to understand the concept of professionalism, we first need to define the word profession. Webster describes profession as a “chosen, paid occupation requiring prolonged training and formal qualification.” Professionals therefore can be defined as individuals expected to display competent and skillful behaviors in alignment with their profession. Being professional then is the act of behaving in a manner defined and expected by the chosen profession. This framework for professionalism in nursing began with our early roots with Florence Nightingale who set the bar rather high in regards to giving of herself to others and her expectation of excellence in practice. She was an inventor, a visionary, a missionary and she delivered all with a commitment to passion and love. We as nurses are no different. We bear the tremendous responsibility of upholding the values of our profession. Our core nursing values define the driving force that dictates our beliefs and our behaviors.( Welling RE, Boberg JT. 2010)

Nursing as a profession embodies many values inherent in those who pursue nursing careers. When nurses are asked to identify their core values, they are surprisingly consistent throughout the profession globally. They include honesty, responsibility, pursuit of new knowledge, belief in human dignity, equality of all patients and the desire to prevent and alleviate suffering. In other words, all of us as nurses have chosen this profession to help others in need and to improve the quality of life for all. That mantra has not changed since the days of Florence Nightingale.( Welling RE, Boberg JT. 2010)

So how does



References: Cruess RL, Cruess SR. Teaching medicine as a profession in the service of healing. Academic Medicine 2006; 72: 941-952. Medical Professionalism in the New Millenium: A Physician Charter. Ann Intern Med 2008;136: 243-246 Inui, T.S. A Flag in the Wind: Educating for Professionalism in Medicine. Assoication of American Medical Colleges 2008 Doukas, D.J. Where is the Virtue in ProfPessionalism. Cambridge Quarterly in Healthcare Ethics. 2009; 12: 147-154. Blumenthal D. Nurses in a wired world: can professionalism survive connectivity?  The Milbank Quarterly. 2009;80(3):525-46, iv.  Panush RS.  Not for sale, not even for rent: just say no. Thoughts about the American College of Rheumatology adopting a code of ethics.  The Journal of Rheumatology.  2010 May;29(5):1049-57. Chervenak FA, McCullough LB.  Neglected ethical dimensions of the professional liability crisis.  American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.   2009 May;190(5):1198-200.  Welling RE, Boberg JT.  Professionalism: lifelong commitment for nurses. Archives of Nurses.  2010 Mar;138(3):262-4; discussion 264.

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