Professional identity and stewardship

Professional identity and stewardship

Professional Identity and Stewardship- Part I: Peer Review

Introduction

This article outlines an interview between the author and intensive care nurse Lena Shark. Lena agreed to meet for a one-on-one interview to discuss many issues regarding her professional identity and leadership as an intensive care unit nurse. The questions asked were on her role as a member of the healthcare providers, her view on professionalism, she believes on the organization’s leader as a manager, and finally, on how professionalism matter in her work. Given the current propaganda, authenticity, power, and influence professionalism can affect work ethics. It is important that all members of the medical team demonstrate professionalism and leadership.

Role as a healthcare team

Lena’s role as a member of the healthcare team is to provide quality, collaborative care not only to patients, but also to their families, employees, and the profession itself. She believes that her role is to provide patients with the health care they need and to foster communication between all participating disciplines. A patient in the ICU unit needs Lena’s attention that might only be able to fully care for two or three patients. She assesses, monitor and maintain the health of the patients and ensure the bodily function is as smooth as possible. She recognizes that her role is challenging, but it is also rewarding.

Professionalism

Lena defined professionalism as the ability to retain the required and expected skills for nursing. She further explained that this ability was not just taught to intensive care nurses but to all nurses. It is the power and understanding of how to present oneself to the patient who is in despair and suffering. Professional responsibilities affect Lena’s work and make her responsible. At the same time, she believes that it is her duty to possess the relevant knowledge to properly care for patients passing through the door. She believes that care requires a higher level of professionalism because many situations, such as life and death, need to be addressed. She uses her moral values and will of helping others to enhance her professionalism and put patients ‘needs first.

Stewards of Healthcare

It was expressed that she felt that the leaders of her organization were showing good signs of health caregivers. Lena states that patient care managers, hospital managers, and physicians, are leaders and active members who portray the responsibilities of carrying out the organization’s mission statement. Leaders have a major struggle to manage staff and provide the wisdom necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the facility (Kim, 2016). They support, encourage and provide leadership to all team members who work. According to Lena, the leaders in her organization take responsibility in providing healthcare services, and they are advocators of better public health status.

Professional advocacy, authenticity, strength, influence

Lena replied that it is essential for her that leaders demonstrate professional advocacy, authenticity, power and influence, especially in the healthcare field. Taking care of people means providing everything the health providers can offer them. For this reason, Lena firmly believes that leaders should not only encourage such actions, but they should also provide this rough example during their work and more moral leaders than commanders should. Lena respect is what makes the team survive and achieve its objective, and without it, colleagues often lose their desire and ability to improve themselves and provide better care. Therefore leaders are expected to not only be advocators of patients needs but to also support and influence other professionals to ensure better performance and patient outcome (Kim, 2016).

My Impression and Comparison

Lena has been a registered nurse for ten years. She is proud of her ability to maintain a full-fledged family life and successful career. This interview gave the idea that professionalism is important for any nurse status and not just for organization managers and leaders. Professionalism and leadership have a significant impact on all members of the medical team.

References

Kim, E. H. (2016). Relationships of nursing professionalism, self-leadership and empowerment of nursing students. Journal of Korean Clinical health science, 4(1), 532-541.