PROFESSIONALISM IN

NURSING PRACTICE
KRISTEN EDEN, RN, BSN
BETHEL COLLEGE
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

• 1.) Define professionalism in the workplace.

• 2.) Identify the professional values of nursing practice
• 3.) Evaluate specific situations for characteristics and effects of unprofessional
behavior
• 4.) Demonstrate appropriate responses to uncivil behavior from coworkers.
 PROFESSIONALISM DEFINED

• American Association of Colleges of Nursing:

• “The consistent demonstration of core values evidenced by nurses working with other
professionals to achieve optimal health and wellness outcomes in patients, families,
and communities by wisely applying principles of altruism, excellence, caring, ethics,
respect, communication, and accountability.”
 PROFESSIONAL VALUES

• Altruism
• Autonomy
• Human Dignity
• Integrity
• Social Justice
ALTRUISM

• A concern for the welfare and wellbeing of others

AUTONOMY

• The right to self-determination

HUMAN DIGNITY

• Respect for the inherent worth and uniqueness of individuals and populations
INTEGRITY

• Acting in accordance with an appropriate code of ethics and accepted standards

of practice
SOCIAL JUSTICE

• Fair treatment
QUESTION 1

• The nurse is caring a diabetic patient. After receiving the glucose value from her UAP, she
decides to medicate her patient with his mealtime insulin. After drawing up and
administering the insulin, the nurse realizes that she medicated the patient with the
incorrect dose of sliding scale insulin. What professional value does the nurse exhibit
when she reports her mistake to the physician?
• Altruism
• Human Dignity
• Integrity
• Social Justice
PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR AMONG
COWORKERS
INCIVILITY

• Rude or discourteous actions

• Gossiping and spreading rumors
• Refusing to assist a coworker
• Name calling
• Expressing public criticism
BULLYING

• Repeated, unwanted harmful action intended to humiliate, undermine, and

degrade
• Hostile remarks
• Verbal attacks
• Mobbing or “ganging up”
QUESTION 2

• A new graduate nurse is being ignored by a group of nurses on her unit. She
notices them roll their eyes when she walks by. When talking with her, she tells
you she feels worthless and that she cannot do anything right. What professional
value have the group of nurses violated by their behavior towards the new
graduate nurse?
• A. Autonomy
• B. Dignity
• C. Social justice
• D. Altruism
EFFECTS OF INCIVILITY AND BULLYING

• Effects on the victim:

• Heightened levels of stress
• Anxiety
• Headaches
• Interrupted sleep
• Intestinal problems
• Hypertension
EFFECTS OF INCIVILITY AND BULLYING

• Effects on the institution:

• Increased call offs
• Decreased retention of employees
• Increased costs in monitoring behavior
• Legal fees
EFFECTS OF INCIVILITY AND BULLYING

• Effects on the patient:

• Increased falls
• Medication errors
QUESTION 3

• You are a nurse manager assessing the impact of bullying on your unit. Which of
the following do you recognize as evidence of a need for further improvement in
this area?
• A. Coworkers congregating and discussing a patient situation
• B. An employee that seems overly tired and sits by himself
• C. A decrease in patient falls
• D. Increased staff retention
CREATING A CULTURE OF RESPECT

• Primary prevention
• Education of appropriate workplace behavior
• Orient new employees to policies and procedures
• Establish zero-tolerance policy
• Creating avenues to seek support
CREATING A CULTURE OF RESPECT

• Secondary prevention
• Respond directly to the perpetrator in private
• Code words
• Assess type and level of incivility or bullying
• Participate in stress management and reduction strategies
CREATING A CULTURE OF RESPECT

• Tertiary prevention
• Reporting of the event
• Keeping a detailed written account
• Obtaining support by peers
QUESTION 4

• What is a primary prevention measure to decrease the negative effects of

bullying?
• A. An employee participating in stress management techniques
• B. An employee keeping a detailed record of bullying behaviors
• C. An employee attending an orientation on professional workplace behavior
• D. An employee seeking support from coworkers
QUESTION 5

• Your coworker comes to you crying, stating one of the other nurses spoke to her
very disrespectfully in front of a patient during bedside report. How should you
instruct your coworker to handle the situation?
• A. Tell her to ignore the nurse. She’ll get the point.
• B. Tell her to go directly to the manager and report the behavior.
• C. Tell her to speak with the nurse in private.
• D. Tell her to ask the patient if that nurse seemed rude.
 ROLE PLAY

You (Stacy) and your coworker Amy walk into the breakroom and overhear two
other nurses (Jen and Holly) gossiping about Amy. Amy immediately bursts into
tears and runs out of the breakroom. You follow her back to the nurses station
where your manager (Kim) is currently dealing with a situation with a patient on
your floor.

Role play the situation

 REFERENCES

• American Association of Colleges of America. (2008). The essentials of baccalaureate education for
professional nursing practice. Retrieved from
https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/Publications/BaccEssentials08.pdf

• American Nurses Association. (2015). American nurses association position statement on incivility,
bullying, and workplace violence. Retrieved from
https://www.nursingworld.org/~49d6e3/globalassets/practiceandpolicy/nursing-
excellence/incivility-bullying-and-workplace-violence--ana-position-statement.pdf

• Grissinger, M. (2017). Disrespectful behavior in health care: Its impact, why it arises and persists, and
how to address it—Part 2. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 42(2), 74–77. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5265230/