Registered Nurse who is being interviewed by magazine about roles and responsibilities - Research Paper Example

To a professional nurse, it this would call for an understanding of the theories and principles upon which nursing practice bases. Therefore, a professional nurse essentially needs to exhibit social perceptiveness, active listening, critical thinking and effective communication skills. Nursing profession has greatly been stereotyped. Some of these stereotypes include nursing as a profession for kind but dumb women, widely perceived to be doctors’ handsmaidens. Timby (2009) blame the media for propagating these stereotypes.

Nurses are in reality highly intelligent, required to have a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing before practicing, of which one requires to have had a diploma in nursing or passed high school proficiency examination before enrolment. Moreover, men increasingly choose nursing as a career and do well in specialties such as operating room, emergency and intensive care nursing. What the public does not know is that nurses’ roles include being a clinical specialist and practitioner. For example, a clinical nurse expert in cardiac disease would provide expertise care to cardiac disease patients and nurse practitioners have been providing primary care health services in health institutions, especially in rural areas.

Virginia Henderson, a theorist in the nature of nursing, is my role model theorist. This is because she appreciates the basic role of a nurse as assisting persons, both the sick and the healthy, gain independence, by putting oneself in the patient’s position. Nurses do not have it easy as it seems. Despite the limited room for conscientious objection to doctor’s orders, perceived as a challenge to doctor’s clinical judgment and psychiatry ethos, nurses do not just follow orders since they become morally culpable for every action they take.

Thede (2012) cites the notion of moral agency that presumes every rational being as having the ability to reason morally hence responsible for their actions. As such, just following orders would be insufficient. Nurses require scientific knowledge to be able to decide the appropriate course of action despite having orders from doctors. The public could not be aware of the nurses’ responsibility of commitment to patient and informatics. Hence, for example, nurses have to ensure that patients sleep on pressure-relieving bedding materials so as to keep them safe from pressure ulcers.

The informatics responsibility requires them, say, to use advanced computer and information technology to record patients’ notes faster and sooner than the traditional handwritten notes. There are values that are foundational in nursing career to ensure wellness outcome and optimal health in patients. Three of these that are core to keep during my nursing career include altruism, human dignity and autonomy. Altruism will see to it that I am concerned for the well-being and welfare of others as noted by AACN (2008).

This would be reflected by my advocacy and concern for the welfare of not only patients, but also nurses and other healthcare givers. The value of human dignity which entails respecting the inherent uniqueness and worth of populations and individuals will be reflected through respecting and valuing all colleagues and patients. Finally, autonomy which refers to the right to self determination will be