This document discusses professionalism in nursing. It defines a profession, nursing as a profession, and professionalism. Characteristics of professionalism include knowledge, accountability, respect, ethics, appearance, emotional control, confidence, honesty, time management, and communication. Concepts of professionalism in nursing are cognitive, attitudinal, and psychomotor. Attributes include conflict resolution, ethical thinking, adaptability, leadership, and collaboration. Indicators of professionalism in nursing are positive attitude, communication, professional responsibility, self-discipline, readiness to learn, teamwork, and integrity.

1. PROFESSIONALISM
PREPARED BY:
Mr. Nirmal Vaghela
F.Y.M.Sc Nursing,
DPCN, Nadiad.

2. OVERVIEW
 Definition of profession
 Definition of nursing as a profession
 Definition of professionalism
 Characteristics of professionalism
 Concept of professionalism in nursing
 Attributes of professionalism
 Indicators of professionalism in nursing
 Challenges of professionalism
 Professional conduct

3. DEFINITION OF PROFESSION
 Profession is a type of occupation that requires
specialized education, training and knowledge in a
particular field.
 Profession typically have a set of ethical and technical
standards they are expected to follow and maintain
them.

4. DEFINITION OF NURSING AS A
PROFESSION
 According to American Nurse Association (ANA), “Nursing is
the protection, promotion and optimization of health and
abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of
healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and
treatment of human response and advocacy in the care of
individuals, families, groups, communities and populations.

5. DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONALISM
 Professionalism is the skill, good judgement and polite
behavior that are expected from a person who is
trained to do a job well.
 Professionalism is commonly understood as an
individual’s observation to a set of standards, code of
conduct or collection of qualities that characterize
accepted practice within a particular area of activity.

6. CHARACTERISTICS OF
PROFESSIONALISM
 Knowledge
 Accountability
 Respect
 Ethics
 Appearance
 Control of emotions
 Confidence
 Honesty
 Time management
 Effective communication

7.  Knowledge:- Professionalism involves gaining up-to-date
knowledge, which is often highly specialized. Its also important to
put the knowledge into the action.
 Accountability:- Professionalism involves accountability of the
professionals for their actions all time. It also means being
organized and holding on self accountable for the any decision,
words and actions.
 Respect:- Professionalism means being a role model for politeness
and good manner to everyone, not just for those who need to
impress but respect other people by taking their needs into account
and helping to protect their rights.

8.  Ethics:- Professionalism involves strict code of ethics. Even if the
organization does not have a written code but professionals must
display ethical behavior at all times.
 Appearance:- A professional must be neat in appearance. They
should follow the dress code of their organization. There should be
appropriateness in appearance such as dressing, personal grooming
and body language.
 Control of emotions:- Professionals should be able to manage their
emotions under the pressure. This is also known as “ Emotional
Intelligence”. Professionalism means keep the emotions but at the
same time it also involves expressing the feelings, in order to have
meaningful conversation.

9.  Confidence:- Professionalism pushes the person to take on new
challenges and make the professional confident about he is doing at
present and always to do it better and achieve more.
 Honesty:- Honesty is the best policy and it is one of the most
important characteristic in any profession. Honesty plays a
important role in both our personal and professional life's. So,
always be honest with the work.
 Time management:- Another important characteristic of the
professionalism is that all the professionals should know the
importance of time management. also, time plays a significant role.
To be a good professional, one should know how to manage the
time. It increase the productivity of work as well as helps to
maintain good relationship with other team members.

10.  Effective Communication:- Effective communication is one of the
most important point of the professionalism. Being a professional,
should have good communication skills. Professionals must have
good reading, writing and speaking skill. Also, listening is important
part of communication and being professional, one should not only
speak but also listen to others.

11. CONCEPT OF PROFESSIONALISM IN
NURSING
 In nursing, professionalism reflects the act of providing quality patient
care while the values of respect, advocacy and responsibility.
Professionalism also extends to a nurse’s ability to communicate
clearly, self-reflect on behavior's and actions and always working for
both professional and personal development.
 There are 3 types of concepts of professionalism in nursing such as a
cognitive, attitudinal and psychomotor.

12.  Cognitive:- The cognitive type of professionalism focuses on the
ability to continually learn about professional conduct and apply
this growing base of knowledge in work settings. Ultimately, nurses
who practice this skill should develop the key tools they they need
to priority and make decision effectively.
 Attitudinal:- The attitudinal dimension of nursing professionalism
involves the attitudes and ideas that guide nurses as they perform
their job duties and advance through their careers. Ideally, the
attitudes of nurses should position with practical standards and the
broader goals of their organizations.

13.  Psychomotor:- The psychomotor aspect of professionalism in
nursing promotes the idea that as professionals gain experience
and they can do more than build their clinical skills. They can
improve their management skills and better understand the
problems and commitments involved in the practice of nursing.
 Nurses may apply these principles of professional to become better
leader, guide actions using value judgments and establish self-
directed commitments to provide the highest level of patient care.

14. ATTRIBUTES OF
PROFESSIONALISM
 Professionalism encourage the development of many soft skills.
Nurses may learn these skills through their life and work
experience and develop them over the course of their careers.
Common attributes of professionalism are:
1. Conflict resolution:- This involves a professional’s ability to solve
a problem. It requires the nurse to consider the needs of
everyone involved in the conflict, while communicating possible
solutions with respect.

15. 2. Ethical thinking:- This skills able to nurses make value-based
judgements that place with professional standards and moral
codes, priority the needs of patients and team members ahead of
their own.
3. Adaptability:- This demonstrates the capacity to combine new
information with education, experience and professional
guidelines to re-evaluate a situation and make changes that lead to
more effective solutions.

16. 4. Leadership:- Leadership is founded on excellent communication
skills, attention to detail, respect and resourcefulness.
Professionals commonly build leadership skills as they move on to
more senior roles, in which they can guide others to provide higher
levels of care.
5. Collaboration:- This is the key to professionalism. Working with
others and being able to communicate and cooperate is crucial to
developing an efficient work environment that places patient
needs at the forefront.

17. INDICATORS OF PROFESSIONALISM IN
NURSING
 In nursing, professionalism is judges based on personal behavior's,
appearance and presentation. There are various indicators of
professionalism that include positive attitude, communication and
interactions, professional responsibility, teamwork and integrity. Main
indicators of professionalism are as follows:
 Positive attitude:- The first and most important indicator of
professionalism in nursing is a positive attitude. As a nurses are the
backbone of health care system, they must work to maintain a positive
environment and communication in all areas and at all times.

18.  Communication and interactions:- Nurses are the primary point of
contact for every patient, who comes to hospital. Therefore, it is
paramount that every nurses capable of interacting positively and
productively with each patient. They must treat the patients with
the almost dignity in every circumstance interactions of the nurses
with patients should always convey compassion. The felling's of the
clients must be respected, even if the nurses do not agree with their
choices.
 Kindness:- Approaching others with patience and respect for their
perspective enables constructive criticism and strong collaboration.
Treat others as one’s like to be treated.

19.  Professional responsibility:- A key indicator of professionalism in
any career is the appropriate handling of responsibility. In health
care where people’s well-being and lives are in the hands of health
professionals. A nurse has to care for patients, monitor their vital
signs using equipment's and handle medications. Nurse must take
this very seriously at all times by demonstrating an awareness of
the consequences of a mistake and how to prevent them from
occurring.
 Self-discipline:- Professionalism in nursing also involves self-
discipline. Nurses are to an extent under the supervision of their
seniors, they must be self-motivated by keeping their duties on top.
Self-discipline is essential in ensuring high standards of patient care.

20.  Readiness to learn:- Another element of professionalism in nursing
is the willingness to learn and develop. In any field of health care,
education does not end after completing the degree course. Nurses
must be interested in actively keeping up-to-date with the latest
medical research and nursing best practices.
 Teamwork:- Teamwork is central to any health care career. It is
essential for nurses to maintain collaborative and cooperative
relationships with everyone from follow nurses to doctors and
consultants. Regardless of the personal feelings toward other team
members, they must put patient’s well-being first and work closely
and effectively with each team members. This involves effective
communication, taking the time to help others.

21.  Integrity:- Every nurse must maintain complete integrity throughout
her career. Nurses must know when to compromise in conflicts and
when to stand up for their beliefs. They must be able to advocate
for their patients and consult the appropriate people if they have
any concerns within the workplace. However, they must also be
self-aware and willing to assess where improvements can be made.
 Honesty:- Another indicator of professionalism involves honesty.
Nurses must be able to honestly explain to patients their diagnosis,
prognosis and treatment, no matter how hard it is. Nurses also
need to be humble enough to admit if they have made a mistake
and put in the necessary steps in the situation.

22.  Unbiased approach:- nurses must have a good sense of ethics and
be able to treat every patient equally, regardless of their age, race,
genders, condition or socio-economic background.
 Work ethics:- Nurses must follow professional ethics at work place.
Working with children, youth and families is one of the most
rewarding and at the same time challenging. It requires dedication,
commitment, problem-solving skills and a willingness to learn,
change and flexible in order to address the multiple and often
complex needs of various individuals.

23. CHALLENGES OF
PROFESSIONALISM
 Professionalism in nursing comes with its own set of challenges:
1) Ethical problems:- Nurses may face ethical problems related to
patient care, confidentiality and decision-making which can
challenge their professionalism. Nurses often encounter
challenging situations that require them to make difficult ethical
decisions. Balancing the best interests of the patient with
professional responsibilities can be a challenge. Especially in cases
where personal values or beliefs may conflict.

24. 2) Nurse-Patient boundaries:- Maintaining appropriate boundaries
with patients is important in professionalism. Nurses must
navigate the delicate balance between providing comprehensive
care and ensuring professional distance. It can be challenging to
establish boundaries. Especially when patients may develop strong
emotional attachments to their caregivers.
3) Communication:- Effective communication with patients, patients
family members and other team members is essential. But it can
be challenging. Especially in emotionally situations.

25. 4) Cultural adeptness:- Providing culturally sensitive care to diverse
patient populations can be difficult, requiring nurses to continually
educate themselves.
5) Work-life balance:- Balancing personal and professional life can be
tough as nursing often involves irregular hours and demanding
schedules.
6) Workforce issues:- Nurses may face challenges related to the work
environment, such as staffing, high patient loads and time
limitation. These factors can contribute to stress, burden and
potentially compromise the professionalism.

26. 7) Patient advocacy:- Advocating for patient’s rights and best
interests while navigating complex healthcare systems can be a
delicate balance.
8) Legal and regulatory attention:- Nurses must stay up-to-date with
ever-changing laws and regulations, which can be a helpful in any
challenge.
9) Team dynamics:- Collaborating with interdisciplinary healthcare
teams and managing conflicts can be professionally challenging.
10) Balancing personal and professional life:- Professional may
struggle to find a healthy work-life balance due to demanding
work schedules and high expectations this can lead to stress,
burden and minimize relationship outside of work.

27. 11) Technological advancements:- Keeping up with rapidly improve
healthcare technologies and electronic health records is important
for providing quality care.
12) Emotional flexibility:- Dealing with patient suffering and
sometimes painful outcomes requires emotional flexibility to
maintain professionalism.
13) Moral distress:- Nurses may experience moral distress when they
are unable to act in accordance with their ethical beliefs due to
institutional organizational policies. This can create a tension
between personal values and professional responsibilities.

28. 14) Dealing with limited resources:- professionals often have to work
with limited resources such as time, budget or manpower. Finding
creative solutions and maximizing the available resources can be
challenging, especially when there are expectations to deliver
high-quality outcomes.
 To address these challenges, nurses can engage in ongoing
education and professional development to enhance their
knowledge and skills.

29. PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
 Following are the professional conduct for nurses in India:
1) Professional responsibility & accountability:
Appreciates sense of self worth & care for patients.
Maintain standards of personal conducts reflecting credit upon the
profession.
Carries out responsibilities within the framework of the professional
boundaries.
She is accountable for maintaining INC standards, own decisions &
actions.
Practices healthful behavior.
She is caring.
Responsible for improvement of current practices.
She provides adequate information to individuals.

30. 2) Nursing practice:
 Treats all individuals with human dignity in providing holistic
aspects of care.
 Provides care with set standard of practice.
 Respects all individuals , promotes healthy practices & discourages
harmful practices.
 Presents realistic pictures truthfully in all situations.
 Promotes participation of individuals & significant others in the
care.
 Ensures safe practice.

31. 3) Communication & interpersonal relationship:
 Establishes & maintains effective interpersonal relationship with
individual, families & communities.
 Uphold dignity of team members & maintain interpersonal
relationship with them.
 Appreciate & perform professional role with team members.
 Cooperates with other health professionals to meet the need of
the individuals, families & communities.

32. 4) Valuing human being:
 Prevent individuals from harmful unethical practices.
 She must take decision in the interest of the individuals.
 Encourage & supports individuals in their rights.
 Respects & supports choices made by individuals.

33. 5) Management:
 Ensures appropriate allocation & utilization of available resources.
 Participation & supervision & education of the students.
 Communicate effectively following appropriate channels of
communication.
 Participation in performance appraisal.
 Participation in evaluation of nursing services.
 Work with individuals to identify their needs.

34. 6) Professional advancement:
 Ensures the protection of human rights.
 Contributes to the development of nursing practice.
 Participates in determining & implementing quality care.
 Takes responsibility for updating own knowledge &skills.
 Conducting & participating in research.