Essence Of Professional Practice Nursing Essay

In this essay I am going to discuss about the scenario I have chosen, this scenario is scenario 1 which is Karens story. I will talk about why professionalism, emotional intelligence and communication is important throughout the nursing profession and how it is important to interact with the patient, to make them feel Happy on their hospital experience and also to make sure they receive the best care they can.

The points that stuck out to me of Karens story where that some of the nurses referred to Karen as the ‘bariatric women in bed 9 when Karen knows what the medical term means, this will make Karen have a low self-esteem. This is not professional behaviour, and people should be treated like individuals and to be respected by nurses. Another is when Karen knows and listens to the nurses say ‘phew when they have finished doing her care/ and the final point I have spotted in her story which stood out to me that Karen knows that she is overweight and she knows this is because of her mental issues and complication physical issues.

The feelings I thought when I read through scenario 1, I was shocked at how unprofessional the nurses were being, also there lack of respect and compassion. There was a lack of compassion shown, this was shown as the comments they made about Karen and when they were stood with her after doing Karens care. They didnt show a concern for the sufferings of other people.

I was sad at the fact Karen knew what was said about her and she understood the medical terms, she knows that she is overweight due to the fact of medical conditions, the nurses should of seen Karen as a person and not just the ‘bariatric women in bed 9.

Communication

I have chosen three aspects to discuss about in communication. The first one I have chosen to discuss is when the nurse went to change Karens position in her bed, when Karen heard a couple of sighs and even a nurse say ‘Phew. I believe that the nurse didnt show any empathy, I believe this to be the main communication issue. “Nurses demonstrate empathy when there is a ‘desire to understand the client (patient) as fully as possible and to communicate this understanding” (EGAN 2002, p97). This is because she/he didnt take into consideration of Karens feelings at that time because of been physically overweight Karen could of felt like a burden, and this would of made her feel bad in the first place. The nurse didnt also offer Karen a supportive role which Karen could of needed to make herself feel more happy with the nurses care because she would of felt more compassion from the nurses because they took the time to see what she needed and how she would need it.

The second issue I thought was a problem for communication when Karen heard the nurses talking about the ‘Bariatric women in bed 9. The main problem with calling Karen the ‘Bariatric women was that she wasnt getting treated as an individual by the nurses she was just getting treated like any other patient that is in the hospital. She isnt treated with dignity; they should have asked her what she wanted to be called for example if she wanted to be called Karen, or by her surname. It will be causing a problem with not treating her like an individual because it is showing that there is not enough time and this could lead to bad practice. “All staff should behave towards patients in a way that promotes dignity during each and every interaction”.

The Third issue I thought was an issue, was that Karen knows she is overweight because of her physical and mental problems, but she doesnt remind the nurses of this is why she is overweight she just lets them treat her with no dignity. “You must treat people as individuals and respect their dignity” (NMC Code of conduct). The nurses could also check her notes and let her have the compassion she needs. I also think the theory of interpersonal competence could have been used with the nurses and Karen. The first step is translating then getting to know you, then establishing trust, and going the extra mile. This could have helped with communication issues, and made the nurses more understandable.

Professionalism

“Professional identity has traditionally focused on the traits or characteristics that professionals were expected to demonstrate”.

I have chosen the same three that I chose to discuss about in communication, but to discuss them about professionalism. The first one I am going to talk about is when the nurses sighed and said ‘phew. The nurses who made the comment were not being professional because they treated Karen as a thing and not a person. It may have been a big job for the nurses to do, and they may have been struggling but they shouldnt under any circumstances make Karen feel like she is a problem, its a big lack of respect for Karen, the nurses havent thought about her. They also are not meant to discriminate anyone and treat everyone the same, which is not what theyre doing with Karen.

The second issue was calling Karen the ‘bariatric women this was not professional because she was stereotyped, and it could have been discussed why she was like how she was. It does not show professionalism because nurses have to be accountable for what they say and what they do, and this is an issue that would need to be reported because nurses should be showing patients/families with respect and dignity which the nurse did not do. The nurses should be taking the time to get to know Karen, which would be going the extra mile.

The third issue which I thought was bad professionalism is that Karen understood that she was overweight because of her physical and mental problems, which have led her to be the women she is now. I believe if there was better professionalism shown to Karen at the time, then they would have understood and then there wouldnt have had to be any other issues, such as calling her the bariatric women and saying phew.

Emotional intelligence

I have chosen the same three things to discuss as I have done for professionalism and communication. I am going to discuss the three topics as a whole for emotional intelligence; this is because everything I am going to discuss will be relevant. The three topics are when the nurses said ‘phew when moving Karen in her bed, ‘the bariatric women in bed 9 and also the fact Karen understands her physical and mental problems and that is a cause of her overweightness. The nurses havent also taken into consideration of how she feels when they have said these things about her, how it will affect her health and her self-esteem.

I believe the nurses didnt take the time to find out what the patient does, who she is, what her family is like, the nurses didnt take the time to just sit and talk to Karen, it could help in future for her care, and it could of also made her hospital experience better, which then in future she wouldnt feel self-conscious and a burden on other people, she would feel like that they are there to care and not be judgemental.

I think the most important things to remember which have been discussed are to treat your patients and patients in future as individuals and not just people who are there. The second thing to remember is to find the time to sit and get to know the individuals and not just the patient, this will help the nurse and also help the patient feel more comfortable and it will also lead to better care.

These will be the most important things that I will also make sure I do out on practice, to resolve the issues that patients have. I will make sure I have time to sit with my patients to get to know them and I will treat them as individuals and not just objects by getting to know about their situation.

I have achieved what I have set out to do in the introduction because I discussed about emotional intelligence, professionalism and communication, to do with patient and nurse approach. I need to improve some communication skills, I need to improve my nonverbal communication for example, eye contact, this is an important skill for good communication, and I find this quite hard to do. I believe I will be able to improve this quickly with just communicating with patients out on practice, and it will help me to turn eye contact into a positive aspect.