Professionalism in Nursing

Through the concept analysis using a clinical example Tai Tokerau Wanaga, explains how the necessity of clinical competence and excellence by believing that part of medicine’s contract with society demands setting and maintaining standards of competency and an appropriate level of sensitivity, communication, and actions. Tai’s experience with Mr. T could have gone entirely different had she been influenced by all the pre-conceived ideas about the sort of person the staff had briefed her on. Tai acted professional and put aside the information as their personal and non-professional opinion.

She acted professionally and treated Mr. T with the same level of care that she would exhibit to any other resident, to act professional she must act with beneficence and justice which means acting fairly and to the benefit of the resident. Tai’s experience with Mr. T has helped her realize that to be a professional nurse one’s prejudices toward people cannot affect the level of care they receive and in future practice she must have the same discipline to suppress her prejudices and will keep this experience in mind as a reminder that it is possible to treat complex and difficult clients with the same level of care as likable clients. This I also believe is a founding principle of being a professional nurse.

The two central components to professionalism are value-based professionalism and behavioral based professionalism. Value based professionalism can be broken down into clinical competency or excellence, humanism and altruism. These are all principles that need to be applied to be professional. Behavioral based professionalism includes service and ethical conduct. These are the behaviors one must exhibit act as a professional.