Professional nursing practice

Professional nursing practice

Section One: Professional practice portfolio use

A professional practice portfolio (PPP) refers to an assemblage of well-organized facts and evidence of a nurse’s current professional practice learning and reflection (Weinstein, 2017). Therefore the PPP is used to track the various professional requirements of nurses as they advance in their daily activities. Additionally, the PPP has different components including; education, professional practice experience, performance appraisals specialty certificates, professional awards given, any scholarly publications, letters of appreciation and recommendation, personal beliefs and perspectives on nursing, future career goals and objectives and lastly a list of any professional projects done. Therefore, the PPP helps nurses to retrieve all relevant documents easily.

The professional Practice Portfolio has many uses among them being a central area that employers look at before hiring a new nurse (Bell, 2016). Additionally, the professional practice portfolio is used by nurses to develop and advance their careers in the long run. Through the information included in the PPP, nurses get a detailed and easy way of presenting facts about themselves at the workplace. Another critical use of the PPP is that it gives employers a holistic perspective about the nurse since all information about them is entailed there (Jones, 2018). Therefore, through the professional practise portfolio, nurses have been able to achieve progressive professional development which has proven to be paramount in the nursing industry for continuous self-improvement and reflection. Developmental portfolios can be used in different circumstances among them, including the following. First is when a nurse is seeking a new job or position (Bell, 2016). The developmental portfolio enables the individual to be considered since he has all the vital information with him to prove that he is the right person for the job. Secondly, is that the developmental portfolio is also used when performance appraisals are done. Lastly is that the developmental portfolio enables individuals to be continuously competent.

Another key advantage of the professional practice portfolio is that it enables nurses to evaluate and assess themselves (Jones, 2018). This gives them an opportunity of identifying their strengths and weaknesses and how they can address them to become more competent. Additionally, through the Professional Practice Portfolio nurses also identify their learning needs which enables them to see the need pf having a learning plan to meet the learning needs adequately.

The professional practice portfolio is also used by nurses to update any changes and improvements concerning the knowledge they have in their area of expertise (Pennbrant & Nunstedt, 2017). However, there are several challenges that nurses encounter while using the professional practice portfolio. First is that the nurses themselves are reluctant when it comes to preparing portfolios. Secondly, the whole process of coming up with a detailed portfolio is time-consuming. Thirdly is that many nurses lack the proper writing skills to develop a good portfolio. Lastly is that ethical issues concerning privacy and confidentiality present severe challenges while getting information.

Leadership and management concepts

Leadership and management are two closely related terms but quite distinct from each other. Leadership can be defined as the process of motivating people or coming up with a vision and encouraging people to work towards achieving that vision or goal together (Chávez & Yoder, 2015). Therefore, the primary responsibility of leaders is to get the necessary resources and support to achieve the set goals. On the other hand, management refers to the process of planning, coordinating, organizing, directing controlling and allocating organizational resources to achieve the set objectives in the organization. With the above definitions, it can, therefore, be said that good managers strive to be good leaders and in a similar vein for leadership to be effective management skills are required.

Additionally, different leadership theories and models can be used (Howland, 2015). The various theories of leadership include; trait theories that stipulate that the character traits and personality can determine if a person can be a leader or not. Secondly are behavioural theories, and these emphasize on what individuals do. According to this theory, how leaders behave determines if the leadership is effective or not additionally in this, there are three different types of leaders which are; autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leaders.

On the other hand, there are four main management theories (Howland, 2015). First is the scientific management theory that heavily stresses on scientific methods of investing issues. Secondly is systems theory that emphasizes that organizations have a different system that must work in harmony for the management to be effective. The third is the contingency management theory which has the approach that effective management is affected by various internal and external factors. In this, three factors affect organizations, and they include; the size of the organization, technology being used and the style of leadership. The last management theory is the X and Y theory. This theory has the approach that different strategies can be used to handle passionate and pessimistic employees. Therefore through leadership and management, the nursing sector has been tremendously improved (Carter, 2018). Through the use of the different theories and models, good leaders have been nurtured in the health sector who have played a key role in encouraging others to be committed at what they do. Additionally, through the management theories, health institutions have had an opportunity of experiencing good and well-coordinated of activities. In a similar vein, leadership skills are integral to enable nurses to understand the importance of the professional practice portfolio since they understand the concept of self-leadership and personal commitment.

Section Two: Application of Professional Standards

Nursing is a sensitive job that requires one to be highly professional and ethical while doing his day to day activities (Dooling, 2018). Additionally, as a nurse, one ought to be passionate and committed to his job since it’s about the health of individuals.As a nurse, various responsibilities have been assigned to me by people above me, and I have always done what is required of me by following the stipulated ethical guidelines and being accountable for my actions. Sometimes back, I was assigned the responsibility of taking patient samples that included pulses, temperatures and blood pressure. This happened while I was a freshman in nursing because I had just finished my nursing degree. I did this in one of the extensive health facilities in my town since I was looking for a job to advance my career further and gain experience. The job was quite exhausting since I had to examine and take samples for almost all patient visiting the hospital. However, the task was quite easy for me since I loved doing what was assigned to me, and I was also self-driven to give my best. I, therefore, performed that responsibility very well and was later promoted to a higher rank.

Applying professional nursing standards

It is of paramount importance for nurses to observe and take the stipulated nursing standards keenly if they want to be regarded as professionals. Bearing in mind that the job entails various tasks and responsibilities being accountable, ethical and committed is very paramount. In similar vein nurses that apply the nursing standards are known to be highly successful and recommended when it comes to promotions and when looking for new jobs. As stated earlier, I have undertaken various tasks as a nurse, and in all of them, I have been very keen and careful to ensure that I do not compromise with the nursing standards put in place. First is that while I was doing the job of taking patient samples, I was highly confidential about the result of all my patients (Dooling, 2018). Being confidential is important since sharing a patient’s information can be risky to the point of being disqualified as a nurse. Therefore, I only used to share this information with the relevant people and not friends or family members.

Secondly is that I was conscientious and committed when examining all patients so that I do not obtain the wrong results/samples from the patients (Griffith, 2016). This is important since getting the wrong samples can be detrimental to the patients since they can end up being treated for the wrong illness, which can worsen their situation.

Thirdly is that I used to treat all my patients tenderly with love and without any discrimination (Dooling, 2018). This is very important since treating people differently based on colour, or social status is highly discouraged

Fourthly is that when I faced a difficulty of examining a patient, I did not force myself to do the job but refereed the patient to a more experienced person than me to help him (Saxe-Braithwaite, 2017). This was important since it is essential to be genuine and ethical while doing a nursing job.

Lastly is that while doing my job as a nurse, my actions were knowledge-based (Griffith, 2016). In this, I avoided making assumptions while examining patients since that can be very risky in the long run. I applied the knowledge I gained as a nurse so that I can be fully accountable for my actions when questioned.

References

Bell, S. (2016). Professional Nurseʼs Portfolio. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 25(2), 69-73. doi: 10.1097/00006216-200101000-00012

Carter, K. (2018). Promoting self-concept and leadership competencies among frontline nursing staff. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 49(9), 7. doi: 10.1097/01.numa.0000538922.91277.c8

Chávez, E., & Yoder, L. (2015). Staff Nurse Clinical Leadership: A Concept Analysis. Nursing Forum, 50(2), 90-100. doi: 10.1111/nuf.12100

Dooling, S. (2018). Professional nursing practises A conceptual approach. Journal of Professional Nursing, 8(5), 313. doi: 10.1016/8755-7223(92)90059-8

Griffith, H. (2016). Professional practice. Journal of Professional Nursing, 1(3), 130. doi: 10.1016/s8755-7223(85)80138-1

Howland, G. (2015). Book Review: Leadership and Management Development. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 40(3), 410-411. doi: 10.1177/1741143212438797

Jones, E. (2018). Enhancing professionalism through a professional practice portfolio. Reflective Practice, 11(5), 593-605. doi: 10.1080/14623943.2010.516970

Pennbrant, S., & Nunstedt, H. (2017). The work-integrated learning combined with the portfolio method-A pedagogical strategy and tool in nursing education for developing professional competence. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 8(2), 8. doi: 10.5430/jnep.v8n2p8

Saxe-Braithwaite, M. (2017). Professional Standards for Health Leaders: The Role of the Professional Standards Board. Healthcare Management Forum, 20(1), 10-10. doi: 10.1016/s0840-4704(10)60251-7

Weinstein, S. (2017). A Nursing Portfolio: Documenting Your Professional Journey. Journal of Infusion Nursing, 25(6), 357-364. doi: 10.1097/00129804-200211000-00003