1. “Attitude Matters”
By
Kenechi Onwumelu BSN Student Nyack College, Nyack NY
Maureen Kroning,, RN EdD
Nurses are bound like other professionals to a shared set of behaviors, values and attitudes that
are conducive to a professional environment. The set of professional behaviors nurses possess
include: care, compassion, effective communication, responsibility, accountability, sense of duty
or obligation, collaboration with patients, families and other members of the healthcare team.
The core values all nurses share include: human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism and social
justice. Each value is essential to the profession of nursing. Our nursing values are necessary for
nurses to integrate caring behaviors towards their patients and to all members of the healthcare
team. Even with a shared set of values and behaviors, we cannot underestimate the nurse’s
attitude towards: others, their patients, their co-workers, and the organization they work for and
towards the profession of nursing.
According to the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics, “The nurse creates an
ethical environment and culture of civility and kindness treating colleagues, coworkers,

2. employees, students and others with dignity and respect (p.9). However, working in today’s
hectic and often stressful healthcare environment can create a challenge to this very code of
ethics. In fact, it is not uncommon for those working in today’s healthcare environment to have
a negative or “bad” attitude. This “bad” attitude creates an even greater stress to the work
environment and to all those working in it. Employees that have “bad” attitudes can create a
negative culture for their co-workers and the institution. Employees with “bad” attitude need to
be held accountable and the institution needs to deem it unacceptable in order to maintain the
integrity of the institution. According to the ANA, “Disregard for the effects of one’s actions on
others, bullying, harassment, intimidation, manipulation, threats or violence are always
unacceptable behaviors” (p.9). It is important that not only each person is held accountable for
unacceptable behavior and “bad” attitude but that we help one another during any hard times,
hurt feelings, heartache and physical and emotional pain.
According to SUCCESS magazine (2015):
“One of the most important steps you can take towards achieving your greatest
potential in life is to learn to monitor your attitude and its impact on your work
performance, relationships and everyone around you”. Furthermore, “We all have
a choice. We can choose an inner dialogue of self-encouragement and self-
motivation, or we can choose one of self-defeat and self-pity.” It’s a power we all
have. Each of us encounters hard times, hurt feelings, heartache, and physical and
emotional pain. The key is to realize it’s not what happens to you that matters; it’s
how you choose to respond”

3. Nurses are responsible for their actions and their attitude. It is important to remember that one’s
attitude and behavior contribute to a professional healthcare setting and foster a healthy work
environment. A healthy work environment is essential to: the care for our patients, for creating a
system of accountability, for conflict resolution and to successfully collaborate with the
interdisciplinary team.
The job of nurses is not an easy one. Working in today’s healthcare environment can be chaotic
and stressful therefore, it is even more important that everyone working in healthcare maintain a
positive attitude and we strive to support one another. We need to remind ourselves and our
colleagues of our profession’s core values and our professional behaviors and that our attitude
does matter. Our attitude matters to our coworkers, our healthcare organizations, our patients
and to ourselves.
References:
American Nurses Association (2010) Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements
American Nurses Association (2011). Nursing at its Best: Competent and Caring
American Nurses Association (2010). Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice
Fahrenwald, N, Bassett, S.,Tschetter,L,Carson,P.,White, L.,WInterboer,V. (2005). Teaching
Core Nursing Values. Journal of Proessional Nursing, 21(1) p.46-51.