Nursing is an important practice for hospitals and healthcare centers. In nursing, personal values, behaviors and code of ethics are mandatory because they guide nurses to provide adequate and quality healthcare to their patients. Nursing employs a unique code of ethics whereby medical experts and nurses must abide by the professional values of the practice. Some of the professional behaviors include accuracy, integrity, privacy and confidentiality. According to Parker (2001), ethics gives the caregivers and nurses various ideas and guidelines that dictate how they should behave, interact with each other, and provide adequate care to their patients. Personal and ethical values also govern the behaviors and views of the public. Such personal values and ethical considerations therefore influence nursing in a positive manner.
Why I Chose to Become a Professional Nurse and Implications for Proper Practice
For a nurse to have proper knowledge and best ethical values, it is necessary to undertake nursing as a calling. This explains why I decided to become a nurse. Personally, I have always considered a career in nursing because it is the best way to help the sick and be part of their lives. As a child, I knew that nursing was the best career that would help me realize my greatest potentials by providing better health and proper care to my patients. As well, nursing is widely acknowledged because it fulfills the needs of different patients especially with the use of modern evidence-based ideas (Parker, 2001). The career makes it easier for nurses to enjoy the art and science thus being in a position of delivering the best care to their patients.
The other important thing towards better nursing practice is having the best ethical and personal values. With such values and propositions, it becomes possible to have positive beliefs about illness, death and life (Parker, 2001). Personally, I believe that human life is righteous. This explains the need to safeguard life at all times. Patients should get the best healthcare and support from professionals like nurses and other caregivers. When it comes to illness, I believe that nurses have the responsibility to promote the healing process through provision of the best healthcare and support of the patients. Since death is inevitable, it is my duty to encourage my patients and their relatives and be prepared psychologically. My religious worldview, therefore, plays a significant role towards my philosophy of nursing. I also consider the importance of embracing the religious views of my patients because this plays a significant role towards successful care and healing.
There are different beliefs and values that define professional nursing. Such values and beliefs are necessary because they ensure the nursing profession is successful. Some of these values include commitment and continuous service to others, commitment to education, remaining autonomous, and dignity. Nurses should treat all people equally and consider life as precious. With the use of the best ethical and moral values such as privacy, commitment and ability to deliver the best care, nurses find it easier to support their patients (Parker, 2001). It is necessary to consider such values and beliefs because they make the practice successful and offer the best care and support to patients.
There is a connection between my personal values and the above-mentioned enduring beliefs and values of professional nursing. As mentioned earlier, some of my personal values and ethical behaviors include accuracy, integrity, privacy and confidentiality. With such personal values, it can be possible to rely on the enduring beliefs and values of professional nursing to provide evidence-based support and care to patients (Parker, 2001). These two set of values work synergistically to ensure patients get quality care and better health support.
The other important thing is that standards and codes of practice determine the course and nature of professional nursing. Such codes of practice establish different ethical values such as integrity, accuracy and effectiveness of nurses. This helps the nurses deliver quality care and support to their patients. It is worth noting that the standards of practice influence the incorporation of my values for better practice and service delivery to my patients in a positive manner. Such codes of practice make it easier for me to provide the best care, information, and support to all patients (Parker, 2001).
Situation When My values Might Conflict with Standards of Practice
The application of different values and personal beliefs helps nurses and healthcare professionals to provide the best care to patients. From my personal experience, I strongly believe that I have succeeded in my attempt to support most of my patients. However, my personal values and beliefs might come into conflict with standards of practice when providing healthcare to patients from different religious backgrounds (Parker, 2001). Religion plays a unique role in the healing process and health condition of patients. When providing care to such a patient, it becomes necessary to reconsider his/her values and religious worldview so that I may provide the best care and support. It would be necessary for healthcare givers to be prepared and understand how they can deal with similar situations.
Reference List
Parker, M. (2001). Nursing Theories and Nursing Practice. New York: F. A. Davis Company.