Professional Standards in Healthcare

Professional Standards in Healthcare

Introduction

Healthcare has emerged as the most focused area all over the world. Importance of delivering quality and consistent healthcare to all citizens is in phase of realization and implementation. Affordable Care Act that has been signed into law in March 2010 has established standards of quality healthcare to American citizens (www.whitehouse.gov).

Besides the general healthcare standards, every domain of this profession is strictly regulated prohibiting unlicensed professionals from practicing. Nursing in United States of America is governed by Nursing Practice Act and board of nursing, which is specific for every state (www.medscape.com).

As healthcare directly affects lives of human beings, it is imperative for practitioners to follow certain legal and ethical standards. Every healthcare professional set customized practice guidelines at the start of career and make modifications timely to meet standard practices.

Discussion

To become a promising healthcare professional, it is highly recommended that a health-caregiver design code of conduct in accordance with the standard practices. Various regions around the world observe different policies, but primary regulations remain similar. International Council of Nurses (ICN) and American Nurses Association (ANA) have devised the code of ethics for nurses that can be followed anywhere in the world. I have derived my personal code of ethic from these two standard guidelines.Fundamental point of this code is prioritizing patient care. A nurse must employ her energies towards promotion of a healthy society. A nurse will actively take part in educating healthy individuals to maintain their health, enlightening patients about their illness, and helping them to take informed decisions regarding their treatment plans. A nurse will ensure that a patient receives quality care irrespective of their stage of disease (Peterson & Potter 2004).

Another essential virtue of a nurse is respect for every human being. I believe it to be a built-in characteristic of a nurse. If a medical practitioner lacks it, he or she may be nuisance to the profession. Such partial behaviors hinder delivery of quality healthcare and must be avoided. Nurse-patient relation should be of the kind, where patient does not hesitate to confide in to the nurse regarding any query about their health. When I feel that a patient is being reluctant in discussing their issues, it becomes my duty to improve the situation by being more helpful and ensuring them of my trustworthiness.

A nurse is not only responsible for tending to nation's healthcare needs, but to her own ...