Nursing Professional Roles

Professional Roles and Values Project

Cyndi Kapla

Western Governors University

A. Functional Differences

The TN board of nursing offers government funding for programs that provide education on disease prevention and methods of maintaining health to prevent disease. They are also responsible for regulation and licensure of healthcare professionals. They use laws and regulations to determine standards of practice. Professional nursing organizations such as the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) offer recourses to nursing professionals that allow them to keep current with treatments such as continuing education, research journals, and monthly newsletters. They also offer discounts on services and educational materials. The

The first provision states that “the professional nurse practices with compassion and respect for individuals and families regardless of economic status, personal attribute or the nature of the health problem”. Basically, everyone is treated equally with the same quality of care regardless of race, ethnicity, and ability to pay or attitudes about health. This includes the patient that is “pain seeking”. Nurses often have difficulty treating patients with dignity when they think the patient is only there to get pain medicine. This is not how we as nurses should behave. The 3rd provision of the code states that “the nurse is responsible for promoting, advocating for and protecting the health, safety and rights of the patient”. This means that it is the nurse’s responsibility to ensure that the patient has a safe environment to be treated and the ability to discuss health issues without unwanted

I work with patients that have suffered various types of neurological deficits such as stroke, brain tumor, aneurysm and traumatic brain injury. Many times these patients have lost function of a limb or have suffered some sort of communication impairment. Once the patient has overcome the dangers of the illness it is part of my responsibility to help them regain their independence by teaching them self-care activities. This often involves adjusting their surrounding environment in ways that help them help themselves.

E. Contributions

Florence Nightingale has impacted my nursing practice. She came into a hospital setting that had low standards and the environment had caused more problems for the patients than the war. She made efforts to clean up the facilities. She kept records of the changes and was able to show that a more aseptic environment was crucial to the healing process. This is something that I use in my daily tasks as a nurse. I wash my hands regularly, keep my patient’s rooms clean and organized and make sure that my patients have baths daily to prevent infections.

F.