Being a nurse, professionalism is a top priority. Whether we decide to be floor nurses in a hospital, public health nurses or working in a home health setting, we are all held up to the same standard. Professionalism can mean a number of different things. For me, it means respecting the dignity and safety of my patients, being dressed uniformly and presentably, attitude, and personal integrity and accountability. In the coming paragraphs, I will explain what each of these aspects means as well as what they signify to me.
Respect is something that all patients not only deserve, but need and want as well. While sometimes it may be hard to show respect for many reasons, such as just having a rough day ourselves, or the patient may be a little grumpy, we still need to show them that we care, we are
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I vividly remember a particular question in multiple tests going through both CNA and LPN school: “How should you dress for work?” The answer was always something along the lines of “dress like you enjoy and have pride in your job as a nurse”. This is an unequivocal form of professionalism! If a nurse goes into work dressed in dirty scrubs, messy hair and just looking rough, it will be hard for both patients and other health care professionals to take them seriously. This also conveys that they don’t really care about the job and the comfortability of everyone around them. I usually feel uncomfortable if my counterparts aren’t dressed up to par. Imagine being a patient, having a nurse who looks grungy taking care of them and potentially preforming sterile procedure. This is not a good practice. Dressing in nice, clean and appropriately cut scrubs is “the image of the nurse,” stated an RN of more than 50 years, “it denote[s] that [they have] the knowledge and skill that make[s] [them] professional[s]” (Shweigert,