Nursing is the autonomous and coordinated caring of people of all ages, households, and groups, sick or well, in all contexts, intending to improve health, prevent diseases, and care for the sick, disabled, and dying. Nurses are an important component of any society, delivering competent care from birth through death. Nursing is focused on maintaining people healthy and providing patients with comfort, care, and reassurance (Semachew, 2018). Nurses’ responsibilities span from directly interacting with patients and case management to implementing quality control procedures and overseeing complicated nursing healthcare systems. Nursing aims to improve health outcomes through caring roles, transpersonal sympathetic interaction merged with strong professional groups and affiliations throughout an event of treatment. This paper focuses on caring, professional identity, and professional organizations in nursing, which are key components of the Nursing profession.
The self-motivated idea that renders nursing an important industry stems from the profession’s caring nature. Caring in Nursing includes attending to, engaging with, and understanding the patients to build trust, satisfy their needs, promote physical and mental well-being, and foster a sense of growth to promote the healing processes. Nurses display care by listening attentively, consoling the patient, being honest, patient, and responsible, and giving adequate information to allow the patient to make an educated decision. By doing so, nurses can improve both their and the patient’s sense of individual significance in the caregiving role. Self-reflection can help nurses become more conscious of the profession, caring, and ethical core principles in caring (Karlsson & Pennbrant, 2020). To protect the patient’s integrity in today’s increasingly advanced and complicated treatment, their wants as humans must be highlighted. Nurses must be conscious of their identities as human beings and their values in order to properly recognize the patient as a singular entity and welcome them to a caring partnership.
A professional identity comprises a dedication to lifelong study, community involvement, and the attainment of additional degrees and licenses. Professional identity in nursing is the perception of togetherness and one’s relationships with others that are impacted by the nursing profession’s principles, standards, and beliefs, leading to a person’s mindset, behavior, and feeling like a nurse. A professional identity is achieved when a nurse comprehends and analyzes the profession’s basic principles, participates in personal and professional advancements, and obtains practical knowledge while progressing in the field (Pullen, 2021). This begins with the nurse appreciating nursing’s basic principles and engaging with school peers, nursing professors, and clients. Students combine critical thinking and medical judgment with these essential professional beliefs here. Nurses embody their professional identity by adhering to the established Code of Ethics and taking prompt leadership positions in evidence-based practices and research, improved efficiency, patient-centered treatment, patient safety, intercultural skills, collaboration, and coordination that fosters good communication, resource consumption, and environmental safety.
Professional nursing organizations and associations are vital for producing the enthusiasm, flow of innovations, and aggressive labor required to sustain a thriving profession that fights for the interests of its patients and nursing staff, as well as society’s confidence (Matthews, 2012). Membership in a nursing group brings nurses together with peers, giving them a far greater representation in the political field at the local, regional, and national levels. It also offers nurses continuous learning, certification opportunities, role-related skills, and workshops and seminars. The American Nurses Association (ANA) is one important organization to be part of. It is one of over 100 national nursing associations committed to helping nurses build and maintain expertise, improve the nursing profession, and advance their careers. They have a broad scope that includes all aspects of the nursing field. Another important association to join is National League for Nursing (NLN) which provides its members with career growth, partnerships, testing facilities, nursing research funds, and public policy proposals. It represents nursing learning in healthcare companies and institutions of higher education.
In conclusion, nurses play a critical role in reforming the healthcare system to improve accessibility and provide high-quality, value-driven care. Openness, attention, and regard for the patient as a human may establish personal significance in the caring connection in nursing practice, allowing nurses to obtain a greater awareness of the spectrum of nursing practice ((Karlsson & Pennbrant, 2020). A professional identity is a continuous process that incorporates learning, abilities, attitudes, and beliefs (Pullen, 2021). Professional growth is a continuous journey that necessitates continuous engagement; thus, caring, professional identity, and nursing organizations are the backbone of the work toward becoming a professional nurse and enhancing one’s education.
References
Pullen, R. (2021). Professional identity in nursing practice. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy., https://journals.lww.com/nursingmadeincrediblyeasy/Fulltext/2021/03000/Professional_identity_in_nursing_practice.11.aspx
Karlsson, M., & Pennbrant, S. (2020). Ideas of caring in nursing practice. Nursing philosophy : an international journal for healthcare professionals, 21(4), e12325. https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12325
Matthews, J. H. (2012). Role of Professional Organizations in Advocating for the Nursing Profession. OJIN. https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol17No01Man03
Semachew A. (2018). Implementation of nursing process in clinical settings: the case of three governmental hospitals in Ethiopia, 2017. BMC research notes, 11(1), 173. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-018-3275-z