Nursing is a domain that is peculiar, in the sense that it is endowed with a unique nature. That is to say, being into nursing requires a set of values and qualities that should be part and parcel of the job. You may easily become a nurse after having obtained a qualification and attended a nursing school, yet it is not that easy to become a professional one who takes into consideration certain values related to nursing and practices them regularly. The following is an illustration of the professional values that are central to nursing.
One important quality that a nurse has to possess is patience. An angry person who goes around all day frowning cannot be a good example of a good nurse. In fact, in order to confront the daily stress related to a nursing job, a nurse should learn to be as patient as required. With a negative state of mind, they may risk being considered as unprofessional. We know that we are all humans and we have our own problems. But, a nurse works in a context where there are patients with different health problems and who need to be taken care of; hence, nurses should not bring with them their personal problems to where they work. Patience is a professional quality that never ceases to add to the personal experience of a nurse. It is a fact that a patient nurse who wears a smile gives a sense of relief to the patient. A frowning face may make patients feel worse sometimes.
Another equally crucial value in nursing manifests itself in communication skills. A nurse is expected to be communicative both with colleagues and with patients. Communication is any act of interaction between a nurse and an addressee who could be a patient, family, group, health care community, and so on. The interaction could also be manifested in phone calls, emails, and online forums where nurses are likely to gather and exchange expertise and thoughts. Therefore, a key factor in the success of a nurse’s professional performance is the acquisition of oral and written communication skills that allow them to transmit messages and information in smooth, polite, and ethical ways. Unlike other fields, nursing requires a special attention to word selection, especially when it comes to the assessment of patients. While assessing a patient, a nurse should avoid uttering terms that contain blaming elements directed to the patient, neither should they show them that their health condition is serious.
Responsiveness is an additional professional value that contributes to the personal development in nursing. To be a responsive nurse is not merely limited to the act of responding to doctors’ requests. Indeed, an important quality that a nurse can be endowed with is being responsive to patients. Patients resort to the emergency services when they are in urgent need of help; they are worried about their health. So, it should not be a burden for a nurse to respond to a patient’s varied inquiries and questions however silly and unmeaningful they might be. Some patients are in shock, they start talking unconsciously, thus, a nurse is expected to show signs of responsiveness to that patient in order to provide them with a sense of comfort. Responsiveness is a quality that adds to the cooperation and coordination in nursing, which, in turn, has to do with communication and interaction skills.
Nursing is a way of life, not merely a job. It is a field where learning is never-ending. For the sake of growing more professional, a nurse should never stop learning on a daily basis. Learning could be done through attending seminars, regular participation in workshops, and active cooperation with the nursing community. Learning could also be achieved through everyday experience and collaboration with health care teams. Acquiring new skills and honing the expertise is a must in the nursing world through which new professional goals could be met.
Accordingly, all of the professional values outlined above could not be really effective unless other values are observed, namely punctuality, respect, and ethicality. Nursing is a rewarding mission that is beneficial in itself and for itself. Thus, as a way of preserving its ethical nature, a nurse has better be punctual and respectful. Nurses should respect the health team and the patients regardless of their racial and ethnic identity. A main professional value in nursing is treating all patients on an equal footing.
As a conclusion, nursing is as rich as any other field of study; it lends itself to continuous exploration, development, and probing. Becoming a nurse has become a quest for experience, self-development, and learning. It is a rewarding endeavour that seems to devote itself mainly to teaching and learning. Some of the core professional values in nursing remain patience, communication skills, responsiveness, learning, punctuality, and respect. Without such qualities, it would not be possible to perceive a nurse as professional, as a matter of fact.
