American Nurses Association Standards of Practice

American Nurses Association Standards Of Practice

• Identify the American Nurses Association Standards of Practice for the licensure you are obtaining (LPN or RN)
• Conclusion (reflect on the criteria of the assignment)
• Use at least two credible resources to support your findings. For example, one of the resources could be the ANA Standards of Practice, and another resource could be the ANA Code of Ethics. These resources must be integrated into the body of your paper using at least two in-text citations. Be sure to use proper APA format and style.

Format:

• Two to three page written assignment
• Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.)
• Logical, original and insightful
• Professional organization, style, and mechanics in APA format
• The document linked below contains the project rubric as well as helpful resources.
• Title of Assignment

Professional Identity of the Nurse: Scope of Nursing Practice

Purpose of Assignment:

According to Larson, Brady, Engelmann, Perkins, and Shultz (2013), “the development of professional identity is a continuous process that begins with admission to the nursing program and evolves throughout one’s professional career in a dynamic and fluid process where interacting relationship of education and practice lead to self-reflection, growth, and human flourishing” (p. 138).

Larson, J., Brady, N., Engelmann, L., Perkins, B., & Shultz, C. (2013). The formation of professional identity in nursing. Nursing Education Perspectives.34 (2). p 138.

Course Competency(s):

• Describe the foundations of nursing practice.
• Explain the roles and scope of practice for members of the interprofessional team.
• Describe principles of effective communication in the healthcare setting.

Instructions:

This course includes a project with three parts. Each part builds off prior knowledge to help you create your nurse professional identity. In the first part, you examine the role of the nurse and scope of practice, which will help you identify the nurses’ role. In the second part, you describe the importance of the code of ethics in nursing, and examine the standards of nursing practice for the role you are obtaining during the nursing program. 

The final submission requires you to use the first two parts of your assignment to explain your belief of caring in nursing, describe your professional identity, and identify a potential professional organization that you may join to help support your development.

Content:

Prepare a two to three page written assignment that includes the following:

• Introduction to the assignment (sections of the assignment)
• Describe the importance of the code of ethics in nursing
• Identify the American Nurses Association Standards of Practice for the licensure you are obtaining (LPN or RN)
• Conclusion (reflect on the criteria of the assignment)
• Use at least two credible resources to support your findings. For example, one of the resources could be the ANA Standards of Practice, and another resource could be the ANA Code of Ethics. These resources must be integrated into the body of your paper using at least two in-text citations. Be sure to use proper APA format and style.

Standards for Nursing Practice Sample Paper

The nursing profession entails protecting, promoting, and optimizing health and abilities while preventing illnesses or injuries (Masters, 2018). Also, nurses play a significant role in facilitating healing and advocating for proper healthcare of individuals, families, communities, and populations. Masters (2018) echoes the American Nursing Association’s definition of standards of nursing practice that it entails “authoritative statements of all duties that registered nurses, regardless of role, population, or specialty, are expected to perform competently” (p. 799).

Generally, registered nurses should have professional skills to complete vital tasks, including assessment, outcome identification, planning, implementation, diagnosis, and evaluation. Competencies accompanying each standard of practice are evidence of compliance because they enable nurses to avert harm, promote patient safety, and improve the quality of care.

The importance of Standards for Nursing Practice

Notably, professional nurses play a pivotal role in healthcare provision, care coordination, preventing adverse events, and optimizing healthcare outcomes (Oldland et al., 2020). Nurses are responsible for developing meaningful relationships with colleagues, patients, and other healthcare stakeholders to improve healthcare quality. 

However, their close interactions with patients and the need to provide technical, medical, social, and emotional care increase their susceptibility to medication errors and unethical practices. Therefore, standards for nursing practice provide frameworks and requirements for complying with professional and ethical obligations.

Although standards for nursing practice dictate how registered nurses should deliver care in different clinical settings, guidelines for thematic areas like evidence-based practice and research, patient safety, collaboration, communication, privacy, and confidentiality are priorities in the Modern healthcare systems. According to Thomas et al. (2019), patient-centered care (PCC) is a fundamental goal for healthcare because it stresses the essence of consumer-driven services. In this sense, individualized care entails respecting patients’ preferences, needs, and values while promoting autonomy. 

Consequently, it is vital to note the efforts to provide patient-centered care rely massively upon ethical and professional practices, including effective communication, reliable reporting systems, safeguard patient privacy, nurse-patient collaboration, and issuing consent during nursing research. Undoubtedly, these factors form the basis for the standards of nursing practice that serve as the universal guidelines for professional nurses.

Apart from guiding professional expectations, standards for nursing practice enable nurses to avoid lawsuits emanating from malpractices, including fraud, privacy violation, and unethical behavior or activities. According to Masters (2018), law professions and nursing have a harmonious interaction because they help patients and communities advocate for healthcare improvements and justice. In this sense, failure to comply with standards of nursing practice attracts sanctions, license revocation, and other punishments by employers and national regulations. 

Therefore, familiarizing with these regulations and professional standards enables nurses to avoid negligence and a series of malpractices that cause harm, damages, or increase susceptibility to healthcare concerns.

Conclusion

From a personal perspective, standards of nursing practice equip registered nurses with knowledge regarding ethical and professional expectations when delivering care. In this sense, these standards elaborate on thresholds for essential activities such as patient safety, evidence-based practice, patient privacy and confidentiality, collaboration, communication, and diagnosis. 

Arguably, understanding nursing guidelines enables caregivers to uphold ethics when dealing with patients, transforming their experiences, care outcomes, and quality of services. Finally, familiarizing themselves with professional and ethical standards helps nurses avoid lawsuits emanating from violating patients’ entitlements. As a result, nurses avoid disciplinary actions by employers, patients, and governments by averting malpractices and unethical practices.

References

• Masters, K. (2018). Role development in professional nursing practice (5th ed., pp. 787-842). Jones and Bartlett Learning.
• Oldland, E., Botti, M., Hutchinson, A., & Redley, B. (2020). A framework of nurses’ responsibilities for quality healthcare — Exploration of content validity. Collegian, 27(2), 150-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2019.07.007b
• Thomas, D., Newcomb, P., & Fusco, P. (2018). Perception of caring among patients and nurses. Journal Of Patient Experience, 6(3), 194-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373518795713