Mastering Professionalism in Nursing: Part #2
Are you a super nurse?
Last week we left off with “seeking feedback” and “evaluating your progress”, so let’s continue where we left off!
Seek Feedback and Evaluate Progress
Constructive Feedback: Regularly ask for feedback from supervisors and peers.
Self-Evaluation: Periodically assess your progress towards learning goals and adjust as needed. Are you making progress?
10. Maintain a Balanced Lifestyle
Work-Life Balance: Manage your time to balance work, learning, and personal life.
Self-Care: Prioritize self-care and stress management to avoid burnout.
Do you have a balance between work, learning, and personal life? Are you getting enough rest? Are you spending time with family and friends?
A nurse double checking their documentation.
Clear Communication in Nursing and Documentation
Clear Communication in Nursing:
Effective communication ensures patient safety and quality care. It involves clarity, accuracy, active listening, empathy, appropriate body language, and feedback.
Key Elements:
Clarity: Use simple, jargon-free language and concise information.
Accuracy: Share correct and verified information.
Active Listening: Pay attention, clarify points, and confirm understanding.
Empathy: Show understanding and support.
Non-Verbal Communication: Maintain appropriate body language and tone.
Feedback: Seek and provide constructive feedback.
Example:
Situation: Explaining a new medication regimen to a patient.
Verbal: "Take this medication twice daily, morning and evening, with food."
Non-Verbal: Maintain eye contact and use a calm tone.
Empathy: "I know starting a new medication can be overwhelming; I'm here to help."
Feedback: "Can you repeat how you will take the medication?"
Clear Documentation in Nursing:
Precise and timely documentation supports patient care and legal requirements. It should be accurate, precise, objective, complete, confidential, and adhere to legal standards.
Key Elements:
Accuracy: Use correct patient identifiers and up-to-date clinical information.
Clarity: Ensure legibility and conciseness.
Objectivity: Record facts without subjective opinions.
Completeness: Include all relevant details.
Confidentiality: Protect patient privacy.
Legal and Ethical Standards: Comply with all standards and maintain professionalism.
Example:
Patient Note:
Date/Time: 2024-07-15, 10:30 AM
Patient ID: Mr. John Smith, DOB: 01/01/1980
Assessment: "Patient reports a pain level of 7/10 in the lower back, describing it as sharp and constant."
Intervention: "I administered 50 mg of tramadol orally as per the physician's order and applied a warm compress to the lower back."
Response: "Patient reports pain level reduced to 3/10 after 30 minutes. No adverse reactions observed."
Plan: "Continue to monitor pain levels and effectiveness of interventions. Reassess in 2 hours."
A nurse admitting his mistake and asking his team to assist him with the solution.
Admitting Mistakes in Nursing and Learning from Them
Admitting Mistakes in Nursing:
How good are you at admitting you are wrong? Can you be shown what you did and admit you did it wrong, or do you fight it? This is an important quality for nurses, especially when dealing with medications! We could seriously hurt our patients if we do not admit what we mistakenly gave to a patient! What does that do to us in nursing as nurses? Transparency in admitting mistakes prevents harm and improves practices. It involves immediate acknowledgment, reporting, assessing impact, communicating honestly with patients and families, and following institutional policies.
Steps:
Immediate Acknowledgment: Recognize and stay calm.
Report the Mistake: Inform the supervisor and document the error.
Assess the Impact: Evaluate patient condition and collaborate with the team.
Communicate with Patients and Families: Be honest and apologize sincerely.
Follow Institutional Policies: Complete incident reports and comply with protocols.
Learning from Mistakes:
Reflecting on errors, seeking feedback, identifying root causes, developing improvement plans, implementing changes, engaging in continuing education, participating in quality improvement, and fostering a safety culture is essential for professional growth. This is where I do not excel but I am working on improving. Over the years, I have tried to use errors I have made in an improvement plan; some have worked, and others have failed terribly. But I am trying.
Steps:
Reflect on the Error: Self-reflect and journal the incident.
Seek Feedback and Support: Discuss with colleagues and seek constructive feedback.
Identify the Root Cause: Analyze contributing factors.
Develop an Improvement Plan: Set learning goals and actionable steps.
Implement Changes: Practice new skills and monitor progress.
Engage in Continuing Education: Participate in relevant courses.
Participate in Quality Improvement: Involve in projects to address systemic issues.
Foster a Culture of Safety: Promote transparency and support within the team.
After this week, how do you feel about professionalism in nursing? Is it all about the title of charge nurse or nurse manager? Is there more to it? Share in the comments what you have learned over the last two weeks. May be just one thing that sticks out to you.
Share your thoughts and experiences with professionalism in nursing in our blog comments below for new nurses and NCLEX graduates. What tips do you have? What have you learned? Let's learn and grow together!
Remember, we're all here to learn and grow. If you are afraid no one else will say anything or they will make fun of you, I promise I will stick up for you, and they will be removed from the website for a short time to learn that it is inappropriate. I will also talk to you about your answer so that you will be one of many talking in the comments. We're all in this together, learning and improving as a community of nurses.
Comment below!
I invite my readers to join a discussion in the blog comment section to share tips and support each other in developing this essential skill.
Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments:
What is the best advice you’ve gotten about professionalism in nursing?
Does a title in nursing affect how you viw professionalism?
When was the last time you admitted to an error? How did you do this?
Any tips or stories you'd like to share with your fellow new nurses?
Ready to embark on this learning journey? Let's make this learning experience interactive and fun!
Share your answers in the blog comments to learn from each other.
