How my personal and professional values influence nursing practice

How Personal and Professional Values Influence Nursing Practice
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How Personal and Professional Values Influence Nursing Practice
Personal and professional values are of great significant to nursing practice. The values influence the performance a worker, either positively or negatively. Personal values are the things that one considers important in his or her life. Therefore, they dictate the things individuals do, which they think should be done. Examples of personal values include self-esteem, awareness, safety, self-discipline, attitude, sensitivity, self-actualisation, serenity, sensitivity, shrewdness, simplicity among others. On the other hand, professional values are the things that an employee or a worker is supposed to do as per the standards of a particular occupation. Thus, professional values are set according to a certain discipline, and a person is expected to behave in a knowledgeable way as per the requirements of that discipline. For instance, a teacher should obey values set for the teaching profession. Personal values reinforce professional values in nursing practice. This paper discusses how personal and professional values influence nursing practice.
In nursing practice, both personal and professional values help individuals perform their duties well (Masters, 2014). A nurse is regarded as an important person who should be self-dedicated to serving the public. Therefore, this profession requires individuals to control their personal values well so that they support those of their line of work.

Accordingly, personal values such as attitude, self-esteem, self-discipline, selflessness, sensitivity, and self-actualisation are some of the best principles a nurse should embrace (Drayton & Weston, 2015). Take an instance of a nurse, whose attitude toward patients and other fellow workmates is negative, his or her interpersonal relationship with them will be poor, which will result in undesirable performance.
Patients expect to meet humbled healthcare officers, who are ready to listen to their problems. Moreover, some patients are faced with problems that require advice from the nurses. If the nurse is not social, then the patients will feel their dignity lowered. A good attitude goes hand in hand with the value of selflessness. Selfless people can commit themselves to help others at any cost. A nurse should have the welfare of the community at heart. For example, nurses should share the feelings of the patients. They should take time to listen, treat, and continue to evaluate the progress of the patients until they heal. Selflessness as a personal value will reinforce commitment, which is more of professional value.
Professional values, on the other hand, include decent mode of dressing, provision of good healthcare services, ensuring of an ideal relationship with patient and other workmates, and the thirst for knowledge, especially on contemporary issues that affect the society (Masters, 2014). A decent personal appearance is a requirement in the health sector. Nurses who dress well earn respect from the mass. For instance, patients will feel embarrassed to face nurses dressed in exaggerated mini-skirts that expose most of their bodies. Therefore, nurses ought to dress as their profession demands. Concerning the contemporary issues, nurses should conduct researches by reading extensively about the health problems that are emerging, and how they should be handled. An informed nurse does his or her work confidently.
In conclusion, personal and professional values influence the nursing practice positively if a nurse controls and connects them well. Negative personal values hinder good performance in the field of healthcare provision. Nurses should feel part of the public and serve them with great determination. They should adhere to the already set professional values that relate to their work by connecting their positive personal principles with those of their career while turning away from away from the negative ones.

References
Drayton, N., & Weston, K. M. (2015). Exploring values in nursing: generating new perspectives on clinical practice. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 33 (1), 14-22.
Masters, K. (2014). Role development in professional nursing practice. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

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