DIGNITY IN NURSING PROFESSION

Dignity in any profession is one of the most important values in order to execute good ethics (Baillie, 2011). The purpose of qualitative research on dignity in the nursing profession is to analyze the dignity of nurses in their daily work plans. Dignity or to be noble can be defined as being in a position of being honored or respected. In the nursing practice, a practitioner is said to be dignified depending on how they relate with their patients. In order to be professionally dignified, there is a need to be educated and skilled which will result in having moral values and standard ethics. In addition, professional dignity in nursing can be achieved by being competent in practice. Professional dignity in nursing is a moral responsibility and can be recognized through respect, privacy, self-control and trust between the patient and the healthcare giver. The aim of the study of professional dignity is to give an outline of professional dignity through the meta-synthesis method. This study will also make it easy to understand the concept and the meaning of profession dignity (Baillie, 2011).

The concept of professional dignity in the nursing practice has thrived due to the attention it continues to gather. This concept can be observed in two dimensions, first, it can be considered as the relationship that exists daily around the practice. Secondly, it can be seen as the values and standards that nurse practice as they work together in teams. This topic has been chosen in order to identify the dignity that nurses have in the clinical and educational setting (Baillie, 2011). Professional dignity has made an impact in nursing by ensuring that communication between the patient and caregiver is efficient and the right information has been thoroughly explained and understood. Another impact made is respect which cuts across self-respect and respect for others. Also, choices are available where one can be able to make a decision and be accountable and competent about the decisions made. In addition, empowering is an important impact on the profession. Being empowered allows the patient and caregivers to feel important and valuable.

The research on professional dignity in nursing practice is faced with some challenges. For instance, it is important to know that culture can influence values depending on the different geographical areas. Having studied a few countries, the results can be prejudiced therefore limiting how the findings were interpreted. Another limitation that this research has is that there is no specific tool that can be used to measure dignity. This research has some advantages as well as disadvantages. Some of the achievements in the nursing profession dignity can be attributed to the increase of patient safety in the nursing practice (Masters, 2008). Another advantage realized is the chance to deliver better and quality care to patients. Also, nurses are able to develop life-long learning which grows the level of dignity for both nurses and patients. The major disadvantage associated with this research by the nurses is the lack of recognition in the practice. This is clearly seen because physicians hold a higher position than nurses and they are the main decision makers.

The method used to study professional dignity is known as meta-synthesis and it contains seven phases. The first phase of the study is to formulate research questions in which the theoretical framework of the study was based on the studies that have been conducted previously on nursing professional dignity. Then the second phase involves research on any existing literature which focuses on original articles which were sorted electronically and manual searches conducted. The third phase of the study involved the careful reading of the chosen articles while focusing on the crucial concepts and details. In this phase, the first draft was made. Phase four required the researchers to make a relation between the various studies available. In the fifth phase, the studies were translated and a decision to use the main concept in professional dignity was made. The main concept is to study the relationship between the concepts of dignity and respect. The sixth phase brought together the main concepts that were agreed on and a final draft made. Finally, the seventh phase was presented, which conceptualized different results of the original studies by deconstructing, translating and reconstructing the meanings of the studied concepts. The sample used in the study includes articles that are stored manually and electronically, interviews and focus groups conducted during the research. Most of the interviews were conducted to nurses and physicians. The instruments used in the study cannot be fully reliable since there are some human characteristics that are immeasurable (Masters, 2008). The data were analyzed by the researchers; two researchers conducted the literature searches, while two assessed the selected sources based on the best quality and three researchers discussed the selected articles. Finally, all the researchers discussed the final outcome of the research. The major findings of the research can be classified into macro and micro dimensions. Macro dimension is based on human characteristics, professional relationships, and communication.

Developing profession dignity in nursing is important in practice. For a nurse to develop dignity professionally, the nurses should have self-respect and self-esteem both as a person and a professional. Also, nurses should maintain values and standards while practicing.

References

Baillie, L., & Baillie, L. (2011). Dignity in healthcare – a practical approach for nurses and midwives.

Masters, K. (2008). Role Development In Professional Nursing Practice. 2nd ed. Jones & Bartlett