Nursing Professionalism: A Case Study

Professionalism or the lack there of, does not only affect the patients or family members that a nurse may interact with, but also their fellow employees. There are a number of factors that contribute to professional behavior in a workplace environment some of which include, accountability, respect, and trust.

A professional in any working environment has to show that they are accountable. “Accountability is accepting responsibility for one’s actions” (Saunders, 2015, p. 61). Each practicing nurse should know the roles and responsibilities that they have for the state in which they are licensed. By knowing these responsibilities, the nurse is able to help manage care for every patient they are assigned. This also allows the nurse to delegate

If the patient does not trust the professional, then the amount of information shared or care that they will allow the professional to provide will be minimal. Some ways that a healthcare professional can gain trust from the patient is by using therapeutic communication. Therapeutic communication is a delicate blend of verbal and nonverbal cues. Verbal communication can be more simple and direct about the messages that are received by a patient or fellow coworker. With verbal communication it is important to watch the tone of voice, volume, and vocabulary being used. Vocabulary is important because not all patients or families will understand certain medical

As Potter and Perry suggest (2015), nonverbal forms of communication may include, posture and gait, facial expressions, eye contact, and gestures. It is important for a healthcare professional to express that they are interested in what a patient may have to say, an example of this is by standing with their arms uncrossed, keeping eye contact with the patient and watching for the patient’s cues. There are a number of times when a nurse may get behind on a medication pass because one of their patients wanted to speak to the nurse about a doctor’s appointment that they had that day. Though it may seem like common sense for the nurse to listen attentively and answer any questions the patient may have, some nurses may roll their eyes and brush the patient off, this is very unprofessional. Not only will did this nurse stop the patient from sharing information and questions, but they may have broken the trust between the two. If there is anything of importance later on in the care, the patient may feel in unimportant to share because of the lack of interest in this