Accountability is a professional value that supersedes boundaries. It is taking responsibility for one’s actions despite the consequences. Also, it embraces refraining from making excuses or casting blame on another member of the team just to be acceptable by authorities. In the following pages of this document the author will discuss in detail what it means to be accountable.
Nursing: Professional Accountability
Professional nursing encompasses practicing as a professional nurse. It is distinct from all other health care disciplines. The Calgary Health Region Framework embraced the concept that ‘professional nursing is a commitment to compassion; caring and strong ethical values’ (Girard et.al, 2005). It involves continuous self-development taking into consideration the same for other on the team. The requirement of accountability and responsibility for insightful practice is advocated. Importantly, professional nurses demonstrate a spirit of collaboration and flexibility (Girard et.al, 2005)
Subjects taught in the core curriculum are introduction to nursing practice; psychology, pharmacology and health assessment techniques leading towards a nursing process intervention. The concept and training means that I will be equipped with skills fundamental to performing as a very efficient professional nurse. As such, the characteristics mentioned in the foregoing definition I interpret to be significant in fulfilling my unique in the professional practice.
Nursing Roles
The public perceives a nurses’ role to be administering medications, catering to patients’ needs and carrying out doctors’ orders. This is summarized as caring reflecting Dr Jean Watson’s Caring theory. This theory embraces three assumptions. First is the carative factor, which involves attending to the individual from a holistic perspective, spiritual, social and physical. Second, pertains to establishing a transpersonal caring relationship whereby the nurse and the patient develop ways to resolve health issues leading to wholeness. Thirdly, caring moments when the professional nurse devotes considerable time to educate, counsel and listen uninterruptedly to patients’ concerns (Watson, 1988).
However, according to Whitney Howell (2012) the major role of a professional nurse is care coordinator whose aim is to maximize care and minimize costs. For Howell (2012) herein lies the degree of accountability within nursing practice. She emphasized that nursing roles are changing to accommodate health care reform internationally. Therefore, twenty-first century nursing roles must be adjusted to meet these demands. Hence, the accountable care model, which encompasses roles of assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation at every level of the patient care intervention. In executing these roles individually and collectively the professional nurse must develop the expertise of aligning appropriate staff to function efficiently within their specified roles in maximizing care and minimizing costs. Consequently, roles of coordinator, accountant and team leader are not visible to the public.
Nursing Responsibilities
Three responsibilities that professional nurses hold which are not obvious to the public consist of safety for patients within their care; applying evidence based interventions in execution of duties and adopting a patient centered approach towards nursing management.
Patient safety relates to ensuring that aseptic techniques are maintained throughout hospitalization and outpatient care. This eliminates incidences of cross infection and hospital accidents including, but not limited to medication errors and mistakes in interpreting doctor’s orders. In applying evidence based nursing intervention assures the nurse that there are empirical reasons for carrying out procedures and making decisions. They are not done from intuition, but sound research findings. The responsibility of adapting a patient centered approach towards designing intervention is confirming the nursing service goal of restoring the patient’ s to wholeness. This also affirms the concept that the patient is at the center of the business. He/she is the client and consumer of care who has to be satisfied.
Professional Nursing Values
Three core values which are essential to my practice as a professional nurse includes taking responsibility for the decisions I make in the execution of my duties. Secondly, abiding by the ethical standards set forth in my professional practice and thirdly is being a role model to my subordinates so that they can have an excellent example to follow in professional practice.
Taking responsibility for my decisions irrespective of the outcome is an unmatched core value. For example, if during my collaboration staffing role I assigned an LPN to conduct a CNA’s duty due to staffing deficiencies and the nurse subsequently makes a complaint regarding my allocation incompetence I must tell the truth that it was a deliberate action due to shortage of staff in my clinical rotation. It was not an attempt to ignore the person’s ability to function within their licensure specifications.
Functioning within professional ethical standards is another important value, which ought to be respected. In practice daily nurses face ethical dilemmas and are caught in the cross fire of doctors’ orders and patients’ refusal to take treatment. Applying my responsibility of articulating a patient centered approach it is my value to advocate for the patient based on ethical standards informing my profession.
Articulating the value of a role model entails operating from the paradigm of ‘do as I do’ and not just ‘do as I say.’ Appropriate modeling earns respect from subordinate staff and they can always match the professional nurse’s actions with his/her words in building integrity.
Conclusion
The lasting impression I would like to leave with my audience is that nursing is an emerging science. Professional practices must accommodate the evolutions contained in globalization and social change. Therefore, this exercise helped me to embrace my role to change and adapt to new dimensions in the health care industry.
References
Girard, F. Linton, N., & Besner, J. (2005). Professional Practice in Nursing: A Framework.
Nursing Leadership, 18(2), 0-0
Howell, W. (2012). The Changing Role of Nurses. Hospital Health Networks
Watson, J. (1988). Nursing: Human science and human care. A theory of nursing (2nd printing).
New York: National League for Nursing.
