Professionalism in Nursing

There are many fields and professions in which professionalism is of the highest reputation, and nursing is among them. In the area of nursing, there is much importance to be placed with the improvement of professionalism within the profession. Nursing is a profession that depends on practitioners to perform in a way that characterized the goodness of the wider discipline, as all nurses are in a position of accountability and responsibility. This essay will further look into the topic of professionalism in nursing, the role of a registered nurse, and having competence in relation to this role. Furthermore, this will also discuss how a registered nurse demonstrates professional practice in relation to the New Zealand Nursing Council (NZNC) Registered Nurse Competencies, the Health Practitioners Competency Assurance Act of 2003, NZNC Code of Conduct, New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Code of Ethics, NZNC Guidelines for Social Media and Electronic Communications, and lastly the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumer’s Right.

Generally, the meaning of professionalism in nursing covers a wide scope of thoughts and ideas. First, it is vital to understand the definition of a profession before one can correctly consider the meaning of the nursing profession. According to Oxford dictionary (2013), a profession is defined as “a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long academic preparation”. It is evident that nursing profession is one that requires specialized knowledge and training. And it also applies to a career that involves formal education or qualification. The nursing field includes a set of skills that unites creativity, flexibility, knowledge and communication that is learnt in a formal education by taking the bachelor of nursing (New Zealand Nursing Council [NZNC], 2008).

After having an intensive and long formal education in nursing, gaining autonomy in practice, and being recognised by the government with licensure, a person will

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