Nursing Skills in Professional and Practice Contexts

Tina Moore, Sheila Cunningham

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138479487
• eBook ISBN: 9781351065603
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Health Care Delivery

Quick and easy to reference, this short, clinically focused guide is ideal for use on placements or for revision.

The professional role of the nurse is at the very foundation of good care management and provision. Nurses are accountable to patients, the public, employers and their entire profession. It is imperative that you have a sound understanding of the various ethical, legal and professional issues you will face during your career. This competency-based text covers:

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• Professional issues and accountability

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• Communication

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• The patient journey

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• Diagnostic testing

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• Care planning

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• Managing and leading in the clinical environment

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• End-of-life care

Outlining relevant key concepts, lifespan matters, assessment and nursing skills, it also helps you learn by including learning outcomes, concept map summaries, activities, questions and scenarios with sample answers, and critical reflection thinking points. It is suitable for pre-registration nurses, students on the nursing associate programme and newly qualified nurses.

CHAPTER 1

Professional skills and
accountability

Tina Moore

Overview

The ‘duty of candour’ is a professional and statutory requirement (Care Quality Commission [CQC]) that every healthcare professional must be open and honest with patients when something that goes wrong with their treatment or care causes, or has the potential to cause, harm or distress. They must refrain from preventing the escalation of concerns and encourage a learning culture by reporting errors.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2019b) state that healthcare professionals must:

• tell the patient (or, where appropriate, the patient’s advocate, carer or family) when something has gone wrong

• apologise to the patient (or, where appropriate, the patient’s advocate, carer or family)

• offer an appropriate remedy or support to put matters right (if possible)

• explain fully to the patient (or, where appropriate, the patient’s advocate, carer or family) the short- and long-term effects of what has happened. (NMC, 2019b)

Link to Future Nurse Proficiencies (NMC 2018a)

Platform 1 Being an accountable profession: specifically 1.1, 1.5, 1.9, 1.17.

Expected knowledge

• Understanding of The Code: Professional Standards of Practice and Behaviour for Nurses, Midwives and Nursing Associates (NMC 2018b)

• Knowing the role of a student nurse

• An overview of a qualified nurse on the professional register

Introduction

Nursing practice demands that all nurses are competent and strive towards developing mastery in their chosen fields. This principle should also hold a genuine passion and vision for nursing, coupled with an endeavour towards excellence and quality. If a nurse fails to follow ‘The Code’ (NMC 2018b), they may be reported to the NMC for an investigation into their ‘fitness to practise’.

Accountability is an integral part of professional practice, requiring the nurse to explain and justify their actions and omissions in relation to care. Definitions of accountability reflect the expectation that justification should be evidence based.

Content

Professional skills	Accountability	Delegation
Managing the clinical environment	Record keeping	Revalidation

Learning outcomes

• Understand the term ‘duty of candour’ and its implications for nurses

• Identify relevant professional standards

• Discuss the meaning of accountability and how this relates to the nurse

• Consider the principles of delegation

• Give a rationale and outline the processes in managing a ward or environment that delivers patient care

Key background

Today, we are experiencing the changes in role boundaries between nurses and other professional groups, particularly those in the medical field. In response the profession must continually be professionally accountable for expanding their clinical skill set and consistently implementing a high-quality evidence-based approach to clinical practice. Ongoing clinical competency development requires active participation to attain, maintain and develop further the skills necessary to provide outstanding care for the patient/service user population. This is to encourage patients to have confidence in the ability of nurses. Through this it is anticipated that occurrences that test our duty of candour will be reduced.

Over recent years the profession has seen a reduction in qualified staff and an increase in nursing associate roles/healthcare support workers. Nursing associates and healthcare support workers are undertaking many of the tasks usually done by registered nurses. Even between ‘nurses’, the boundaries of their roles have become unclear. This situation has also seen an increase in delegated duties from qualified nurses to those not or less qualified, including student nurses. This has presented further concerns and confusion for nurses around accountability issues relating to delegation.

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Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• Introduction to the Skills in Nursing Practice Series
• Introduction and Overview
• Chapter 1 Professional skills and accountability
• Chapter 2 Communication
• Chapter 3 The nursing process
• Chapter 4 End-of-life care
• bibliography
• Index