Explore the role of professional organizations in current nursing practice.
Learning Resources
Prior Knowledge
Nurses are often faced with challenging obstacles that prevent or impede their ability to provide high-quality care to their patients. Mandatory overtime is just one example of such obstacles. Collective bargaining is one of the tools that nurses use to force positive change in their workplace. Reflect on your own experiences as a professional. Think about how collective bargaining does or does not impact job satisfaction for nursing and the quality of patient care, for example, by bargaining for reduced overtime, lower patient ratios, or otherwise.
Required Resources
Media
Video: Laureate Education (Executive Producer). (2009). Issues and trends in nursing: Professionalism and professionalization of nursing. Laureate Education Inc.
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 12 minutes.
In this program Dr. Joel, Dr. Mancino, Dr. McClure, and Ms. Ferguson discuss the importance of nurses being a part of professional organizations. They describe the inherent nature of nursing and how this further drives the need for nurses to gravitate toward organizations that support and regulate actions within their profession.
Note: As a reminder, additional Learning Resources for the week are listed below the Media Player. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the web page to view the complete list of Required and Optional Resources.
Reading
Course Text: Professional Issues in Nursing: Challenges and Opportunities
Chapter 16, “Whistle-Blowing in Nursing”
Chapter 17, “Impaired Nursing Practice––What Are We Doing About It?”
Chapter 18, “Collective Bargaining and the Professional Nurse”
Chapter 19, “Assuring Provider Competence through Licensure, Continuing Education, and Certification”
Chapter 23, “Nursing and Public Policy: Getting Involved”
Chapter 23 explores the role of nurses in changing policy regarding nursing practices. The chapter reviews historic foundations and current policy and politics.
Chapter 24, “Nursing’s Professional Associations”
This chapter identifies different professional nursing associations. It explains the growth of these associations in general and their role in shaping nursing into a profession.
Course Text: Mason, D. J., Gardner, D. B., Outlaw, F. H., & O’Grady, E. T. (2016). Policy and politics in nursing and health care (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Chapter 73, “Current Issues in Nursing Associations”
This chapter identifies the issues confronted by the nursing profession and discusses the role of nursing associations in addressing these challenges.
Chapter 74, “Professional Nursing Associations: Operationalizing Nursing Values”
Chapter 74 briefly describes the evolution of nursing organizations, as well as the opportunities and benefits afforded to their members.
American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing’s social policy statement: The essence of the profession. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing: Scope & standards of practice. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Articles
Drenkard, K. (2013). Credentialing as a commitment to excellence. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43 (3), 119-121. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
This article describes how research confirms that certification helps nurses perform better on the job. Studies demonstrate that certified nurses feel more confident in their clinical abilities, collaborate better with physicians, and report higher levels of empowerment than do their noncertified counterparts.
Websites
American Nurses Association (n.d.) Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements.
Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses.aspx
Boston College School of Nursing (n.d.).
Nursing Ethics
Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/son/ethics/swf/NursingEthics.swf
U.S. Department of Energy (2014).
Human genome project information
Retrieved September 19, 2014 from http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml
Optional Resources
Professional Nursing Organizations
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (n.d.). The impact of education on nursing practice. Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/impact-of-education
American Nurses Association (2014). ANA’s constituent member associations. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://www.nursingworld.org/functionalmenucategories/aboutana/whoweare/cma.aspx
American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) (2014). About ANCC. Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www.nursecredentialing.org/FunctionalCategory/AboutANCC
International Council of Nurses (ICN) (2014). About ICN. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://www.icn.ch/about-icn/about-icn/
National League for Nursing (NLN) (2014). About the NLN. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://www.nln.org/aboutnln/index.htm
With these Learning Resources in mind, please proceed to the Discussion.
Professionalism and Professionalization of Nursing
Nursing has taken many positive steps to solidify its status as a profession. They include licensure, certification, credentialing, and accountability. Professional nursing associations further the professionalism of nursing through evidence-based practices, professional codes of conduct, and standards such as the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics Conduct and Scope of Practice. Nursing associations and unions support their members through various means. Nurses are becoming more involved in the political processes that influence both licensure and delivery of care.
Nurse Practice Acts in each state defines nurse responsibilities, the range of nurse activities and services, and the qualifications for practice. It is critical that nurses are engaged in their professional associations and collectively bring their concerns to policy makers with a united voice.
This week, you will further examine the characteristics of nursing as a profession. You will explore the role of professional organizations in current nursing practice and examine professional codes of conduct and standards. As you review the resources and information this week, you will see how these codes and standards impact nursing behavior.
Objectives
Students will:
Assess the influence of professional organizations on nursing practice and health care delivery
Describe how Nursing Practice Acts in each state and the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice influence professional nurse behaviors
Paper :
Legal and Ethical Issues Related to the Workplace
More than 100 years ago, state governments began enacting laws under the ambit of the public’s health and welfare which authorized government oversight designed to ensure the safe practice of nursing. By now, all states and territories have enacted a Nurse Practice Act (NPA). Additionally, state boards of nursing (BON) charged with the responsibility of administering the NPA have been legislatively authorized to develop and promulgate administrative rules, or regulations in some states, to interpret and clarify the NPA for regulated parties, namely nurses.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) provides important nursing practice guidance and guidelines. For example, the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses is a definitive guide that demonstrates how to perform nursing responsibilities while providing quality care in a manner that meets ethical obligations. ANA Position Statements provide explanations, justification, or recommendations for a course of action pertaining to relevant and current topics in nursing practice. ANA Principles for Nursing Practice are promulgated principles aimed at providing practical information for practice, frompay to staffing, delegation to documentation, and even cutting-edge topics such as the social media. The ANA also publishes the Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice which provides a broad, non-clinical description of the art and science of nursing.
For this Application Assignment, locate your chosen work-related issue/problem from the week two discussion. Based on your week two discussion, write a 4 to 5 -page paper addressing the following:
Your state’s Board of Nursing (BON) approach to your work-related issue in the BON’s Nurse Practice Act and the efficacy of the BON’s approach in the context of your workplace issue/problem;
Two American Nurses Association (ANA) sources from the preceding ANA publications that address your work-related issue and the efficacy of the ANA’s approach in the context of your work environment.
Support your analysis with the information presented in the readings from the professional nursing literature. Refer to the Week 5 Application Rubric and Assignment Guidelines prior to submission.
I am a nurse in Canada so I am wondering if I should add something in my paper ? however I think I will just follow the readings . Your thoughts …… I need 4 pages in this paper including references listed in the the above
