Professional Duty
My duty as a health care professional is to provide a level of care to my patients that promotes their health and wellbeing. Nurses are the first line of defense for their patients by being their advocate or voice when they cannot speak for themselves. This ensures all patients receive the level of care they deserve. This may mean actively promoting my patient’s wishes to providers and other team members. Or making a decision based on my medical knowledge and opinion if I feel the need to do so. I am a leader on my patient’s healthcare team with the patient as my guide.
I want to be a nurse because I want to serve others and lead them towards a healthier better way of life. In our Nursing Leadership and Management (NURS 428) we discuss the different leadership styles. The most popular ones are based on Lewins Leadership styles. These include Autocratic, Democratic, and Laissez Faire. However, I feel that I use Servant Leadership as a nurse to achieve my professional duty. Servant Leadership focuses on what others need and meeting those needs by utilizing emotional intelligence (View my WTC notes below). The founder of Servant Leadership, Robert Greenleaf, once said “Servant leadership always empathizes, always accepts the person, but sometimes refuses to accept some of the persons effort or performance as good enough.” Meaning that while Servant Leadership ultimately puts the needs of the patient first, it also permits me to refuse their current status quo. This is a thin line between being an advocate and critic nurses have to walk. Justifying to our patients why they need to change can sometimes come across as disrespectful and unsympathetic. As long as we maintain a professional relationship and have clear communication, this misunderstanding can be avoided.
I want to be a nurse because I want to serve others and lead them towards a healthier better way of life. In our Nursing Leadership and Management (NURS 428) we discuss the different leadership styles. The most popular ones are based on Lewins Leadership styles. These include Autocratic, Democratic, and Laissez Faire. However, I feel that I use Servant Leadership as a nurse to achieve my professional duty. Servant Leadership focuses on what others need and meeting those needs by utilizing emotional intelligence (View my WTC notes below). The founder of Servant Leadership, Robert Greenleaf, once said “Servant leadership always empathizes, always accepts the person, but sometimes refuses to accept some of the persons effort or performance as good enough.” Meaning that while Servant Leadership ultimately puts the needs of the patient first, it also permits me to refuse their current status quo. This is a thin line between being an advocate and critic nurses have to walk. Justifying to our patients why they need to change can sometimes come across as disrespectful and unsympathetic. As long as we maintain a professional relationship and have clear communication, this misunderstanding can be avoided.
Nurses utilize an acronym called “AIDET” every time they go into a room. This establishes our role from the very start of our shift during bedside report. AIDET stands for Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, and Thank you. We learn about this standard of practice during one of our first upper division nursing classes, Foundations of Nursing (NURS312). During bedside report is the prime opportunity to utilize AIDET. This is when I am first introduced to the patient and our first interaction with each other. People typically place a lot of emphasis on first impressions making this an extremely important part of my day. I need to show them from the start that I can be trusted with their life and demonstrate that I genuinely care about their wellbeing. Starting each interaction acknowledging the patient, then explaining my purpose, and finally thanking them for allowing me to serve them establishes a strong rapport from the start. In addition, it allows me to individualize my care and meet the personal needs of each patient. Because at the end of the shift, serving my patient and meeting their needs is my top priority. Generally, my first interaction and chance to use AIDET goes something like this.
“Hi! Good morning! My name is Kailey and I’ll be the nurse in charge of your care for today. Please let me know if you need anything okay? Thank you and I’ll be seeing you in a little bit.”
By the end of this interaction I have also seized my first opportunity to serve my patient in a standardized manner by utilizing AIDET. I have also met all the expectations laid out by AIDET (View my WTC experience notes below). Nurses are supposed to use this method every time we enter the room to perform a procedure. It is an established professional way to ensure we serve and lead our patients by delivering the respect they deserve. They should be able to see and feel my dedication to them every time I step foot in their room. I represent the nursing profession during each interaction I have with my patient. It is of the up-most importance that I uphold the values and expectations of my profession. AIDET helps me and all nurses accomplish this to meet our professional duty.
Being an advocate for a patient and a leader of the healthcare team can occasionally mean justifying my point of view to a provider utilizing my nursing judgement. I experienced this during one of my beyond the classroom experiences as part of my senior nurse practicum (NURS435). While on shift working as the Labor and Delivery nurse at MUSC Health Lancaster, my preceptor and I had to do what we thought was best for our patient. The patient was a new admission who came in with a cervical dilation of 1 centimeter (cm) and effaced to 40%. The physician and the nurses both agreed that she didn’t need to be admitted at this time. Within the next hour she was writhing in pain, vomiting, effaced to 60% and dilated to 2 cm. At this point, the nurses and I felt the patient needed to be admitted. But the physician was adamant that we wait until she was 4 cm for admission. It was 4 o’clock and the Anesthesiologist was set to leave by 5. This presented a problem because with the amount of the pain the patient was in an epidural was imminent. We communicated this to the provider who still chose not to admit the patient. My preceptor and I made the decision that we could best serve our patient by beginning to prep her for admission. We went ahead and had the patient sign the consent forms, got the epidural cart ready, and put in our standing nursing orders. As anticipated, by the time the patient reached 4 cm, the anesthesiologist had left, and it took him 30 minutes to come back. I detailed my involvement during this beyond the classroom experience in my weekly reflective logs (View my BTC experience Log below). We demonstrated to the patient that we were on her side. From then on, she trusted us to ensure the safety of herself and her baby. This gave her the peace of mind to solely focus on welcoming her newborn into the world. Without us using our nursing judgement and being servant leaders, this patients birthing experience may have been more strenuous and traumatic.
Over the course of this shift and others, I fulfilled my professional duty as a member of the healthcare team. Nursing revolves around showing respect for your patient, advocating for your patient, and leading them to a better lifestyle. It also encompasses the ability to lead providers in the direction your patient wishes to go. I want people to know that I take my job seriously. Meeting my professional duty is a part of this and reminds me to constantly keep my standards high and work to become the best healthcare professional I can be.