FNP 509 STUDY GUIDE REVISED 2022

The Nursing Profession Nursing as a Profession Profession- is an organization of n occupational group based on the application of special knowledge which establishes its own rules and standards for the protection of the public and the professionals. Altruism- core value of profession which means selfless service Primary Characteristics/ Criteria of a Profession 1. Education- Extended education of its members as well as basic liberal foundation 2. Theory- a profession must have a theoretical body of knowledge leading to defined skills, abilities and norms 3. Service- must be able to provide basic services 4. Autonomy- members of the profession have autonomy in decision making and in practice 5. Code of ethics- a profession has sufficient self-impelling power to retain its members throw-out life. 6. Caring- The most unique characteristics of nursing as a profession Nursing- is a caring profession. It is practiced with an earnest concern for the art of care and the science of health • Different definition of nursing o An act utilizing the environment of the patient to assist him in his recovery (Nightingale) o Unique function of the nurse to assist the individuals sick of well in the performance of those activities contributing to the health or its recovery or to peaceful death….. or to help him gain independence (Henderson) o Nursing is a humanistic Science dedicated to compassionate concern with maintaining and promoting health and preventing illness and caring for and rehabilitating the sick and disabled ( Rogers) o A theoretical system of knowledge that prescribes a process of analysis and action related to the care of the ill person (Roy) o An act of helping or assisting (Orem) o Helping profession, maintaining the dignity of the client until death (King) • Four Major concepts in nursing theory o Person o Environment o Health o Nursing • Caring- essence and central unifying and dominant domain that distinguishes nursing from the other health disciplines. It refers to the direct and indirect nurturant and skillful activities, processes, and decisions that assist people in many ways that are emphatic, compassionate, and supportive. (Leininger) • Five Process of Caring (Swanson) o Knowing- striving to understand an event as it has meaning in the life of the other o Being with- being emotionally present to the other o Doing for- doing for the other as he/she would do for the self if it were at all possible o Enabling- facilitating the other’s passage through life transitions and unfamiliar events