NURSING

FOUNDATION
NURSING AS A PROFESSION ( SET 2)
 Qualities of a nurse :
 Caring nature:
• Nurses deal with the sick and injured and their families
on a daily basis, and must be able to show thatthey truly care
about the situation.
• Empathic attitude
• Nurses must be able to put themselves in their
patients’ shoes to provide the quality care needed.
• Detail oriented
• Nurses must remember to make entries on patients’
charts and to bring
 Emotionally stable
• Nurses feel the joy of seeing a new
baby born as well as the pain of losing a long-term
patient. Emotional stability is crucial to deal with the
wide range of emotions nurses must endure.
• Adaptable
• People are unpredictable at the
best of times, but become even more so under
stress, so a nurse’s typical workday will require
flexibility and adaptability.
 Hardworking :
Nursing is a never ending job. It is
unusual for a hospital or medical center to be
overstaffed, which of course means more workload on
each nurse in the unit.
Quick thinker : • When a nurse notices something is not
right with a patient, they must be able to make decisions
quickly and put their plans into action instantly, because
a fraction of a second can mean the difference
between life and death.
 Physical endurance
• Nurses are on their feet all
day, sometimes 12 or more hours at a time, and
are often required to assist patients with activities
that require physical strength.
Good judgment
• A nurse must be able to look
at a patient’s current state and accurately assess
what is needed, especially during emergencies.
 Good communication skills
• Nurses must communicate
with other nurses, doctors, patients, and patients’ families
clearly.
Responsible
• Good nurses know how to
perform all of their responsibilities with the utmost
accuracy and detail. They play a major role in assessing
and treating patients’ , and when dealing with the health
of another human being, so nurses must responsibly carry
out their duties at all times.
N – Nobility, Knowledge
 U – Usefulness, Understanding
 R - Righteousness, Responsibility
 S – Simplicity, Sympathy
 E – Efficiency , Equanimity
 Profession– is a calling that requires special
knowledge, skill and preparation.
 An occupation with ethical components , that
is devoted to the promotion of human & social
welfare.
Aprofession is “ an occupation or
calling requiring advanced training
and experience in some specific or
specialized body of knowledge
which provides service to society in
that special field.”
 Criteria of Profession:
 To provide a needed service to the society.
 To advance knowledge in its field.
 To protect its members and make it possible to
practice effectively.
 Bixler and bixler criteria for profession:
• A profession is a form of
employment especially one that is respected in society
as honourable and is possible only for an educated
person and after training in some special branch of
knowledge.
 It has its own body of knowledge based on social & scientific
principles.
 The members of this profession utilise this knowledge to identify &
solve problem
 Has a service aim as well as academic & theoretical aim.
 Constantly enlarges its body of knowledge through research
inorder to improve its services.
 It determines the qualifications necessary for those who enter
into practice.
 It has a code of ethics
 Functions autonomously in the formation of professional
policy & in control of professional activities.
 Itprovides a freedom of action ,opportunity for continus
professional growth & economic security.
A profession recognizes its responsibilities to develop
educational programes in cooperation with institutions
in order to develop skills &to learn method of services.
 Characteristics of a Profession:
 A basic profession requires an extended education of
its members, as well as a basic liberal foundation.
 A profession has a theoretical body of specialised
knowledge leading to defined skills, abilities and norms.
 A profession provides a specific service.
 Members of a profession have autonomy in decision-
making and practice.
 The profession has a code of ethics for practice.
 Authority to control its work.
 Service to the society
 Extensive period of formal training
 Self – regulation
 Credentialing system to certify competence
 Legal reinforcement of professional standards
 Ethical practice
 Creation of a collegial subculture
 Nursing as a profession:
• NURSING
- is a disciplined involved in the delivery of health care
to the society.
- is a helping profession
 -is service-oriented to maintain health and well- being
of people.
 -is an art and a science.
 NURSE – originated from a Latin word NUTRIX, to
nourish.
 Characteristics of Nursing:
 Nursing is caring.
 Nursing involves close personal contact with the recipient of care.
 Nursing is concerned with services that take humans into account
as physiological, psychological, and sociological organisms.
 Nursing is committed to promoting individual, family, community,
and national health goals in its best manner possible.
 Nursing is committed to personalized services for all persons without
regard to color, creed, social or economic status.
 Nursing is committed to involvement in ethical, legal, and political
issues in the delivery of health care.
 ELEMENTS :
1. Accountability : service involves intellectual activities
,individual responsibilities
2. Autonomy : practitioners are relatively independent &
control their own policies & activities
3. Altruism : practitioners are motivated by service &
consider their work as an important component of their
lives
4. Association : there is an organization that encourages
& supports high standards of practice
Categories of nursing personnel
• Staff nurse
• Senior staff nurse
• Nursing superintendent grade II
• Nursing superintendent grade I
• Nursing tutor/clinical instructor
• Principal, school of nursing
• Lecturer, college of nursing
 Assistant professor, college of nursing
• Professor, college of nursing
• Principal, college of nursing
• Senior assistant director of nursing
• Public health nurse- district family welfare
bureau
Continues….