 Nursing:
A Profession vs. An Occupation
Nursing:
A Career or a Job
Nursing
and Continuing Education
Image
of Nursing
Learning
Activities for Class 2
References
http://www.ink.org/public/ksbn/
http://www.nursingcenter.com/
http://www.springnet.com
 Return
to Lesson Index
The reading assignment for
this class is Chapter 1 in your text by Nunnery. For this class the
reading focus is on professionalism in nursing, and the characteristics of
a profession. I also want you to think about the image of nursing and the
impact of the media on that image.
Nursing:
A Profession vs. An Occupation
Is nursing a
profession? How does it make you feel when someone asks you this question?
Maybe you have never given it a thought and have always considered it a
"given" that nursing is a profession. When I was first asked if
nursing was a profession I was quick to answer "Yes" and was
wounded that someone would think it otherwise. After reading the
definition of a profession and the characteristics of a profession offered
by Greenwood (page 4 of the text), what do you think?
Nunnery
discusses just one of the authorities that have defined characteristics of
a profession. Other authorities have described a profession and
characteristics of a profession. One is R. Pavalko in Sociology of
occupations and professions who discusses eight dimensions when
describing a profession.
Pavalko's
eight dimensions are:
1) A
profession has relevance to social value. When thinking about this
characteristic, one has to think about the historical aspect of nursing
and its roots in true altruism and providing service to others. Today,
registered nurses are concerned with the total patient, focusing on
wellness and health promotion as well as the actual disease process. Think
about the registered nurse and health promotion and education of the
patient, family, and community and the impact this has on social values.
2) A
profession has a training or educational period. Yes, registered nurses
have an education period. I just hate it when someone ask about nurses
"training" as I strongly believe that as a registered nurses we
were not trained, that we are educated, and I would go so far as say that
registered nurses are highly educated. I believe that we need to consider
the issue of registered nurses receiving basic nursing education at three
different levels, the diploma (and that is me), the associated prepared
nurse, and the baccalaureate prepared nurse. How does this diversity in
basic education for the registered nurse affect others view of nursing as
a profession? Do you think this issue will ever be solved?
3) Elements of
self-motivation address the way in which the profession serves the client
or family and larger social system. Registered nurses have engaged in
political activities in order to reform health care. These actions are a
means of "translating social values into action" (Zerwekh and
Claborn, 1997, p. 59).
4) A
profession has a code of ethics. The American Nurses Association adopted
and first published the Nursing Code of Ethics in the 1950's. It has had
many revisions since its inception and these revisions reflect the changes
in the profession and in society. The "code" and is the
foundation upon which registered nursed provide care, it provides a
framework for decision-making and basically guides the action of the
registered nurse.
5) A
professional has a commitment to life-long work. What do you think about
this statement. According to Pavalko, the professional person looks at the
career as more than a job, more than a "steppingstone" to
another area of work. I always have to think about a former professor of
mine who described some nurses as "appliance nurses" meaning
that the individual took a job for a period of time to pay for the new
refrigerator, buy a new car, or send the children to summer camp. Do most
nurses have a life-long work commitment? Does the fact that nursing is a
predominantly female-dominated profession have an impact with regard to
this specific criteria?
6) Members
control their profession. Are registered nurses entirely autonomous.
I think not. There are numerous controls over the practice of nursing,
including but not limited to the 50 nurse practice acts and state boards
of nursing. The setting in which the registered nurse practices in will
also influence the degree of autonomy.
7) A
profession has a theoretical framework on which professional practice is
based. Nursing has borrowed much of its information from other sciences
and the humanities. There have been many nursing theorists that have
contributed to an evolving theory-based nursing science.
8) Members of
a profession have a common identity and distinctive subculture. Can
one look at an individual in the many health care settings and positively
identify the registered nurse from the respiratory therapist or the
licensed practical nurse. Probably not. In years past the registered nurse
could be distinguished by the nursing cap and the nursing pin. The nursing
cap and pin would even reflect the school form which he/she received their
basic education. However, today the nurse does not wear a cap and
frequently not a nursing pin and the name tag is not visible because the
nurse does not like the photo identification or the credentials of the
registered nurse are not displayed. Do you wear your school pin? Do you
have your credentials displayed on your name badge? Does the manner in
which you are addressed make a difference in you being a professional or
at least being viewed as a professional? This last question has to do with
being called by your first name and will be discussed later.
In 1915 Dr.
Abraham Flexner described criteria of a profession.
Criteria
includes:
| 1) |
Professional
activity is based on intellectual action along with personal
responsibility |
| 2) |
The
practice of a profession is based on knowledge, not routine
activities |
| 3) |
There is
practical application rather than just theorizing |
| 4) |
There are
techniques that can be taught |
| 5) |
A
profession is organized internally |
| 6) |
A
profession is motivated by altruism, with members working in some
sense for the good of society. |
So, is nursing
a profession? Is there professionalism in nursing?
Nursing:
A Career or A Job
Sullivan and
Decker (1997) define career as having life long work which is committed,
promotes personal growth, and has increasing levels of responsibility.
A career may also involve one or more jobs, engaging in educational
development and professional activities, and gratification comes from the
individual's accomplishments rather than entirely from payment for hours
worked. Job is defined as being short-termed with gratification coming
from payment for hours worked
Do you have a
job or a career?
Nursing
and Continuing Education
What do you
think about mandatory continuing nursing education (C.N.E.) for
relicensure? How does C.N.E. relate to promotion of personal growth, or
does it? Does this type of education influence competency in
nursing? Do you think nurses would engage in continuing education if it
was not required for relicensure?
Kansas is one
state that does require C.N.E. Many states do not require C.N.E. for
relicensure. What do you believe the purpose of C.N.E. is in Kansas? Check
out what Kansas State Board of Nursing has to say about C.N.E. at http://www.ink.org/public/ksbn/.
Check this web site out and look at the continuing nurse education section
to obtain the definition of continuing education in the state of Kansas
and obtain answers to questions you might have regarding continuing
education and relicensure. There are other sources of on-line continuing
nursing education, check out http://www.nursingcenter.com/
and http://www.springnet.com
Please feel
free to provide us with other sites that you use for on-line continuing
nursing education.
What sources
have you used for C.N.E. (distance education as in self study or internet
courses, college courses, or seminars and workshops)? Why do you choose
this/these methods?
Image
of Nursing
Nursing is an
"Emerging Profession". The image of nursing has been evolving
over the last 150 years. There are many things that have had an impact on
the image of nursing in its evolution. One such thing being the
media. Lynn Lucardi (1991), who writes for Soap Opera Weekly,
believes that the soaps do not accurately depict any profession and states
that it is ridiculous the way nurses are portrayed on the little screen of
television. Lucardi believes that the public "doesn't have a frame of
reference to filter through the reality", and that if the viewer sees
the nurse engaged in uncharacteristic activities, then that is what nurses
must do. How does that make you feel when television programs portraying
nursing activities have such an impact on the image of nursing with the
general public? We have come a long way from the image of Florence
Nightingale as the lady carrying the lamp. However, there is a
definite link between the image of nursing and the mass media. The
media has portrayed registered nurses in a variety of lights, from angels
of mercy to sex objects, as in the role Loretta Swift played as Major
Margaret Houlihan in the television show MASH. During the 1980's
the television broadcast the show China Beach which portrayed the
registered nurse in a more positive image. Registered nursed need to be
concerned with the image the mass media is portraying of the nurse and the
profession.
I would also
like for you to think about what Zerwekh and Claborn (1997) call
"first-name-only" manner in which nurses are addressed by others
in the professional setting. Ask yourself if being called by your
first name by doctors, co-workers, patients, etc has the potential of
undermining the image of nursing and the claim that, as professionals, a
nurse should be equal to physicians, patients, and other health care team
members in how you are addressed. Zerwekh and Claborn further state that
nurses in the professional setting address patients using their sir name
such as Mr. or Mrs. Henderson, and we address doctors using their title of
Dr., and address members of the clergy with their titles of Father,
Reverend, Pastor, Brother. However, the nurses in the professional setting
are addressed using their first name. Do you like or mind being called by
your first name? Do you think that it makes a difference in the nurse
being viewed as a professional using his/her first name? How are you
addressed by doctors, by patients, by your co-workers? How would you like
to be addressed? Has the way we dress and the way our names are on
our name tags contributed in any way with how we are treated or addressed
as professionals by other health care team members and by patients and
families?
Learning
Activities for Class 2 (due prior to
next class posting)
|
Activity
Key |
Assignment |
|
|
1.
Read Chapter 1 of Nunnery. |
|
|
2.
Log on to the discussion board and: |
|
|
2.a
Write
a brief essay (two to three paragraphs) discussing the question
of whether or not nursing is a profession. Utilize a definition
of a profession, discuss the characteristics of a profession as
defined by the source. Apply this definition to the nursing
profession. You may use Pavalko's characteristics, Flexner's
criteria for a profession, or another sociological model that
characterizes "professionalism". Specify which source
(model) you are using. You may build on each others comments,
either agreeing or disagreeing with their comments. |
|
|
2.b
Discuss
the question: Is there professionalism in nursing? You may
include this in the above essay. |
|
|
2.c
Utilizing
the definition of career and job that are offered by Sullivan
and Decker, discuss whether you have a job or a career. |
|
|
2.d
Identify
a specific media (newspaper, movie, television, magazine, book,
etc.) that have affected the public's image of nursing. |
|
|
2.e
Discuss
the kind of credentials the nurses you are working with are
wearing as part of their uniform and name tag, i.e., RN, MSN,
ARNP, CCRN, etc. What is the benefit of these published
credentials on the name tag, or is there a benefit? |
References:
Licardo, L
(1991). New hope for an old soap--General Hospital. Mesa
Watch: A Publication of Nurses in America,2, 6.
Pavalko, R. (1971). Sociology
of occupations and professions. Itasca, IL. Peakock Publishers,
Sullivan, E. J. and Decker,
P. J. (1997). Effective leadership and management in
nursing. Menlo Park, CA. Addison Wesley Longman.
Zerwekh, J. and Claborn, J.
C. (1997). Nursing today: Transition and trends, 2nd
ed. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.
|
