Professional Identity in Nursing Essay: Introduction
The American Nurses Association (2015) states that advocacy is one of the responsibilities of nurses from an ethical standpoint. As people equipped with the necessary knowledge to analyze their work context, nurses can provide expert opinions on healthcare issues and promote policy change when required (Patton, Zalon, & Ludwick, 2015). In this professional identity in nursing essay, the author will review nursing advocacy examples and explain the role of professional identity formation in this process.
Professional Advocacy in Nursing
By making their voice heard, for example, through the initiation of policy proposals, a nurse in any position can be engaged in meaningful changes in public policy. Also, nursing associations, as well as other healthcare organizations, can assist in the process, and membership in them can come with increased access to information on policies that might be of interest (Mental Health America, 2018). Finally, nurses can get appointed to significant positions of power both within their organizations and their states (Patton et al., 2015), acquiring notable resources for agenda promotion.
Professional Identity Formation
As for professional identity formation, all of the mentioned roles require the development of specific values and ethical principles that prioritize advocacy (American Nurses Association, 2015). Also, professionalism is a significant value, especially for the nursing leaders in a position of power (Arabi, Rafii, Cheraghi, & Ghiyasvandian, 2014). In particular, they need to consider developing policy-making skills. Naturally, leadership skills, including interpersonal ones, are also crucial for any nurse who is interested in advocacy. Overall, the desire to and experience of participating in advocacy is likely to affect the professional development of a nurse.
Conclusion
To sum up, this essay has mentioned a few nursing advocacy examples, including making policy proposals, serving in nursing associations, and promoting the nursing agenda from positions of authority. Professional identity formation plays a vital role in nursing advocacy since it determines whether a nurse will possess the necessary ethical values to participate in advocacy. As for the key characteristics of personal identity in nursing, examples include integrity, caring, patient-centeredness, ethics, excellence, and strong leadership skills.
References
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Web.
Arabi, A., Rafii, F., Cheraghi, M. A., & Ghiyasvandian, S. (2014). Nurses’ policy influence: A concept analysis. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 19(3), 315-322. Web.
Mental Health America. (2018). Advocacy network. Web.
Patton, R., Zalon, M., & Ludwick, R. (2015). Nurses making policy. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.