NRS 430 Professional Accountability as it pertains to Nursing
NRS 430 Professional Accountability as it pertains to Nursing
NRS 430 Professional Accountability as it pertains to Nursing
Outline the concept of professional accountability as it pertains to nursing. Provide examples of how a nurse demonstrates professional accountability in clinical expertise, the nursing process, and evidence-based practice.
Re: Topic 4 DQ 2
Accountability involves accepting responsibility for one’s own and others’ actions. To be held accountable, nurses must adhere to an ethical code founded on the moral principles of faithfulness, loyalty, honesty, beneficence, and respect for the dignity, worth, and autonomy of patients (Smith &Karakarshian, 2018). Accountability assists nurses in enhancing patient care, adhering to evidence-based practice, and honing clinical abilities. By promoting a good work environment, it also assisted in overcoming obstacles and giving direction to work. For instance, if a critical fall patient is required to be in CT by the allocated door time, it is the responsibility of the nurse to ensure that the patient is in CT IMMEDIATELY to avoid significant problems resulting from a delay in care. In addition to communicating effectively with their patients and being attentive to their needs and concerns, nurses display their professional responsibility. For instance, to rule out a urinary tract infection (UTI), an incontinent patient must be cathed straight for clean pee; however, some patients refuse to this procedure due to the inconvenience and unknown. To guarantee a positive patient outcome, the nurse is responsible for properly explaining the technique to the patient, adhering to the scope of practice, emphasizing the importance of a clean sample, and giving the patient with support throughout the treatment.
References
Smith, N., &Karakarshian, A. (2018, April 6). Accountability in Nursing Practice. https://www.ebscohost.com/assets-sample-content/NRCP_EBCS_Accountability-in-NursingPractice.
RESPOND
Bonnie, you are right. Accountability is associated with various advantages in nursing practice such as improvement of quality of patient care, fosters evidence-based practice, improves clinical skills, creates good working environment, and provides direction of work. Therefore, it is undeniable that accountability is a vital component of nursing practice and patient safety. Fundamentally, accountability aims at safeguarding the patients, health care providers, and employers from consequences of poor, negligent, and unsafe clinical practices. As such, accountability is a valuable part of health care, which can potentially lead to public trust in nursing practice (Dekker, 2018). Accountable nurses strive to create patient trust for an individual and the entire nursing profession as well. In turn, patients earn the trust of the nursing profession by observing nursing collaborating to ensure quality and positive patients’ outcomes. However, accountability connotes an intricate issue and nurses should strive to assess the professional practice relative to the requirements of patients and the critical nursing roles in health care system.
Re: Topic 4 DQ 2
The concept of professional accountability as it pertains to nursing can be viewed as taking responsibility for a set of activities and for explaining or actions one’s actions (Emanuel & Emanuel, 1996). A nurse not reporting an adverse reaction or withholding care is not providing professional accountability as it pertains to nursing. Nurse’s accountability guides them to do the right thing by providing the highest patient care.
An example that can be seen in the nursing process with pic lines brings in clinical expertise, nursing process, and evidence-based practice. The procedure has to be done properly by infection control, washing hands, and following preventive measures of evidence-based practice (Sawyer et al., 2010). If the proper guidelines are not practiced the nurse needs to know she or he can be held responsible where the professional accountability comes into play. Hand washing, barrier protection, decontamination, and antibiotic stewardship are examples of guidelines for the prevention of infections set by The Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals and the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control. Best practice can be seen when nurse-to-nurse shift change, prevention of infection, and patient care and discharge (“Handoffs: Implications for nurses – Patient safety and quality – NCBI bookshelf,” n.d.). Without proper communication, great mistakes can be made by nurses unaware of the current patient’s condition (“Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses,” n.d.).
RESPOND HERE
Indeed, professional accountability in nursing plays a central role in directing nurses to provide appropriate care and ensure the provision of the highest patient care. Therefore, the organization should ensure the establishment of a culture of accountability to help in optimizing the benefits of accountability in professional nursing practice.
Accountability should be a process within the organization that supports staff to accomplish it. It is imperative for nurses in leadership positions to consider a thorough reflection of accountability to help in setting the tone of the clinical setting and prompt an individual nurse to understand oneself better. The organization should set an environment that support nurses who make mistakes instead of finding faults to foster an environment where accountability can grow (Semper et al., 2016). Bringing punitive actions creates a barrier in creation of trust and sense of collaboration with peers. Accountability tends to thrive well with support, trust, and encouragement.
References
Semper, J., Halvorson, B., Hersh, M., Torres, C., & Lillington, L. (2016). Clinical nurse specialists guide staff nurses to promote practice accountability through peer review. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 30(1), 19-27.
DANIELLE
Re: Topic 4 DQ 2
I believe professional accountability in the nursing field entails taking full responsibility for your patients as it relates to their total care and yourself as it relates to your actions. As a nurse, we are responsible for our nursing actions and decisions. We are responsible for patient care therefore we have a duty to be well versed with the nursing process. We have an obligation to continue education on our critical thinking and judgement skills. Nursing’s critical thinking is the ability to apply the nursing process effectively and purposefully to solve a problem (Green, 2018). These thinking skills permit us to focus on cause and effect of illnesses and diseases, which leads to improved patient care.
Accountability also refers to upholding ethical practices in nursing. Eight healthcare ethics are Autonomy, Beneficence, Fidelity, Justice, Nonmaleficence, Privacy, Confidentiality, Respect, and Veracity (Green, 2018). Autonomy is supporting a patient’s right to self-determination and supporting their own choices and values. Beneficence is doing good and taking care of our patients. Fidelity is being a loyal nurse and maintaining promises. Justice is avoiding favoritism and treating every patient with love and respect. Nonmaleficence is avoiding intentional harm to a patient. Privacy and Confidentiality are respecting a person’s private information and not sharing it with others. Respect is treating every patient equally and worthy. Veracity is being honest and truthful. (Green, 2018). Nurses must uphold these ethical principles with every single patient to gain professional accountability. We are also liable for ourselves. As professionals, we must make it a duty to care for ourselves so we can care for our patients. Nurses should make sure they have an adequate sleep, nutrition, and exercise schedule. Nurses should consistently educate themselves on nursing research and evidence-based practice. Education leads to improved nursing skill and application.
RESPOND HERE
It is indisputable, Danielle, that nurses should get ongoing training in critical thinking and judgment in order to encourage accountability in clinical practice. Critical thinking exemplifies independent and interdependent decision making. It requires questioning, analysis, synthesis, comprehension, inductive and deductive reasoning, application, and originality. In essence, critical thinking in nursing is an essential component of nursing excellence and professional responsibility. Critically thinking nurses typically exhibit self-assurance, originality, an open mind, adaptability, contextual awareness, inquisitiveness, reflectiveness, and tenacity. In addition, nurses who think critically possess the cognitive talents of analysis, implementation of standards, information seeking, foresight, rational reasoning, and transformational knowledge (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). These characteristics are essential for fostering professional nursing accountability.
