Professional Standards of Practice for Nursing
Like all other professionals, nursing is guided by standards of practice (Carson & Koenig, 2004). These standards have been put in place to gauge the performance of professionals and the field. The standards are vital for they provide guidelines of what is expected of the nurses and physicians. In addition, they give directions to the nurses and physicians. Nursing has fifteen standards namely: assessment, diagnosis, outcome of identification, planning, implementation, evaluation, ethics, education, evidence based research, quality of practice, communication, leadership, collaboration, professional practice evaluation, resource utilization and environmental health (Carson & Koenig, 2004).
Professional standards of nursing address spiritual care in various ways. Spiritual care is provided by the tenth professional standard of practice which touches on the quality of the practice. Quality of practice entails nurses’ contributing to the type of care provided in medical institutions (Carson & Koenig, 2004). Studies reveal that in order to provide quality services, the concept of care giving must be incorporated. Care giving on the other hand includes considering the spiritual needs of the patients. It is the heritage of nurses to include spirituality into the type of care they provide. The ability of nurses to ensure spiritual well-being of the patient is vital for quick recovery. Furthermore, it is of great importance because nurses are the ones interacting with the patients often (Carson & Koenig, 2004).
The standards of nursing have addressed spiritual care by making it a traditional practice. It is now evident that nurses from all fields practice spiritual care. They have done so by coming up with spiritual support and studying various cultures and religions (Carson & Koenig, 2004).
References:
Carson, V.B. & Koenig, H.G. (2004). Spiritual Caregiving: Healthcare as a Ministry. West Conshohocken: Templeton Foundation Press.
