Professional Image Of Nursing Essay

Introduction

Nurses are located across the healthcare spectrum in various care settings carrying out specific scopes and practices. Regardless of the different nursing job scopes and practices that each nurse has to carry out, nursing is a profession and there are practice standards that each nurse must uphold and maintain. Major institutions like hospitals and governmental bodies will have policies and protocols in place for nurses to abide to maintain the level of quality in the profession. For example, nursing care plans and pathways for ward nurses, and assessment grading guidelines and criterias for nursing lecturers. As for nurses who are employed by doctors in private clinic setups, standards of practice are generally left up to the employer and the clinic nurse to uphold. This has posed a unique situation for nurses in the private clinic setting.

Workplace Challenges

I have been working in an orthopaedic clinic setting for a total of

Apart from donning the clinic uniform, we also set guidelines on general appearances and basic grooming standards to complete the professional image. “Although the main roles of nurses involve assessment, planning and delivery of nursing skills, nurses today are actively involved in providing patient education, counselling and working in close collaboration with their medical counterparts” (Kannusamy, 2005, p. 595). Therefore, we are also looking at organizing customer service courses for the nurses. It will equip them with the confidence and professionalism to handle the day-today interactions and issues that surface during the course of the care provided. Also, they will be able to put to good use the appropriate interpersonal skills when dealing our patients and other professions in the healthcare