Professional Practice What make a Nurse a professional? Discussions of autonomy, responsibility and decision making – for a start

Home Who is Marie? What is a Nursing Salon? Creative Health Care Management Relationship-Based Care Primary Nursing     Marie Manthey's Nursing Salon Monday, August 14, 2006 Building Professionalism: Trust and Risk Taking M. B., a nurse from Alberta emailed me with some comments about professionalism:   "I highly value the principles of professionalism but find in some workplaces and amongst some nursing colleagues that this has varying connotations and meanings.  I have put this question to various professionals in health care and some exclaim that it does not truly exist. The more I search I have come to realize that professionalism in an institution is largely dependent on leadership's belief and value of professionalism.    "The extent of the leadership's belief is reflected in how professionalism is exercised and maintained in culture of that work environment. If this belief is low, then any kind of behavior is acceptable in that work environment. If it is high, then that the culture will be of mutual respect and high trust.  This indeed would be the ideal workplace but I am afraid I have been exposed to both in my life time career, thus far.  The first is "hell", the second is "heaven".   Read more... 11:43:36 AM     comments. Friday, August 04, 2006 Using licensure to create role clarity   Jean Harry feels that the term "ratios" is troublesome:   I agree that the "ratios" is misleading....and that the variety of entry points into practice is increasingly confusing. We need to analyze work complexity in terms of knowledge and skills needed for safe Nursing Interventions in a particular patient population that are sophisticated enough that also take into account the workplace relationships that impact utilization of support staff. I think that by going back to the basics over and over again (knowledge and skills coupled with effective interpersonal relations)....rather than trying to differentiate by broad credentialing, we will be able to see the forest for the trees.   Read more... 11:52:31 AM     comments. © Copyright 2007 Marie Manthey. Last update: 6/18/2007; 9:51:13 AM.