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The development of a professional identity is crucial in any profession. This literature is based on using the information in the NMC code (2018) to explore the meaning of professionalism for nursing students. Professionalism simply means acting appropriately and acceptable manner while conforming to a professional code of conduct (Dejong, 2014). Professionalism is displayed by acting in the best interest of the patients in your care, notwithstanding the position of the caregiver or nurse at where the care is delivered. Through this, the nurse becomes a role model who inspires and brings together practice and behavior in harmony (NMC, 2018). It is necessary to understand how students experience professionalism to provide the required education experiences to promote this aspect of professional socialization (Poorchangizi et al., 2019).
The Meaning of Professionalism Using The NMC Code (2018)
The NMC code has a standard that is required to be upheld throughout the UK. The code ensures that the interest of the patients and services providers are paramount (NMC, 2018). The main core values of professionalism stated by the NMC code are to prioritize people, practice effectively, preserve safety, and promote professionalism and trust (Glasper, 2017).
Prioritise people: To maintain dignity and ensure that individual needs are assessed, recognized, and managed properly, it is important to treat service users with professionalism and ethics. A key requirement of the care process is that patients should be treated with respect and the patient’s right should be given priority above all else. (NMC, 2018).
Practice effectively: To effectively practice as a nurse, there are numerous components to consider and these include the ability to function appropriately and practice in line with the best available documentation (Finney et al., 2016). Additionally, nurses are required to perform optimal care timely while ensuring a clear line of communication with clients and conforming to the professional standards of record-keeping and data sharing (NMC, 2018).
Preserve safety: student nurses must know their limitations and skills while acting professionally. They should know when to call for help when delivering care to a patient (Royal College of Nursing, 2016). They are required to be familiar with the care processes of others and be alert to the possibility of lapses in safe care, which may have adverse effects on the patient’s well-being. They should be able to distinguish between safe and unsafe practices and be confident to report and address safety risks timeously (NMC, 2018). In any form of practice, it is critical to remember that nurses have a legal and professional obligation to be open and honest with patients about any faults in their care and treatment. A crucial component of the new Nursing and Midwifery Council Code is a professional duty of candor. (NMC, 2018).
Promote professionalism and trust: In being a professional, respecting diversity and promoting equality will ensure people receive good quality care (Care Quality Commission 2021). Always show honesty and integrity, and treat everyone equally without discriminating, harassing, and insubordination (NMC, 2018). Uphold your position as a registered nurse, cooperate with all investigations, and respond to any complaints made against you professionally (NMC, 2018).
As student nurses, being professional means that nurses maintain their NMC registration and revalidation. This highlights the importance of updating skills and maintaining professional development (O’Brien, Strzyzewski, and Szpara 2013). The Royal College of Nursing states 35 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) which must include 20 hours of participatory learning is mandatory for all UK nurses as part of the revalidation requirements (Royal College of Nursing, 2014).
Florence Nightingale was the first person to develop schools to coach new nurses on caring for the frail, being the founder of professional nursing, Nightingale could see the need for change during her generation. She was also the first to explain the importance of nursing to an uneducated group who pride themselves as nurses either by sickness from relatives or vocation. This birthed professionalism in Nursing (Egenes, 2017).
According to Sherring, (2012), Research proposes that education plays a crucial role in the idea that nursing students have of their future profession (Sherring, 2012). Nursing students describe their encounters that clinical placements may likely lead to disagreement between the realities they face in the clinical environment and what they value within their developing professional image (Grainger and Bolan, 2006). Negative experiences were likely to impact poorly on student successes while positive relationships tend to improve professional self-development. To this end, Mentors are required to use effective evidence-based support strategies to improve the professional image and build positive relationships among nursing students (Clement et al., 2016).
The professional image of a nursing student is greatly influenced by their profession’s collective professional identity. Usually, this starts from their undergraduate degree and even after being a registered nurse under the influence of professional socialization and cultural adaption of the workplace (Willets and Clarke, 2014; Johnson et al., 2012).
An investigation carried out in the United Kingdom by Clement et al., (2016) shows students’ ideas of the development of professional identity and its effects on student successes citing clinical placement experience as an influential aspect relating to student relationships with some health professionals and own self-appraisal (Clement et al., 2016). The need for socialization in nursing education cannot be overemphasized however the pivot is also required on identity development through revitalized learning mechanisms that allow students to face changes in self-understanding and self-concept to transition from nonprofessional to professional (Nurse Education, 2021). Nursing programs in higher education play a crucial role in ensuring that nursing students form a professional identity based on research, evidence-based practice, and professionalism which will inculcate these values practically to students from their first year of study.
Conclusion
In conclusion, various challenges prevent a student nurse from displaying professionalism in the practice of these values. One challenge is a deficiency in psychological knowledge and self-awareness, unfairness, and bias (Johnson et all., 2012). Nurses are currently required to acquit themselves to other professional activities that aim to promote knowledge, optimal practice, and communal values. In other words, nurses are meant to act as leaders, researchers, educators as well as care providers. These roles demand a great degree of individual knowledge, however, there could be an overlap between the roles (Parahoo, 2014). In advocating for their patient’s needs, nurses must display leadership skills and fulfill their primary care role simultaneously as stated in the code (NMC, 2018).
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