Being a Professional Nurse

Running head: NURSING PROFESSIONAL 1
Being a Professional Nurse
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NURSING PROFESSIONAL 2
Introduction
There are several problematic transitions that a new graduate faces after he or she is
introduced to his or her area of professional. During the transition from new graduate to an
experienced the nurses encounter many challenges as they spend most of their time exploring
their clinical skills in few areas of nursing specialty. Transition in nursing professional is the
time when the new graduate, in the workplace, meet the realities of the professional practices
whereby, a new graduate tries to manage both clinical and non-clinical skills and gain experience
for competency health services (Masters, 2015). Professional accountability is the
responsibilities that a new nursing graduate learn while in the area of placement that helps a
graduate to gain skills for the transition competency of becoming an experienced registered
nurse. Clinical currency this refer to the beneficial knowledge associated with the provision of
direct the care to the patients while a new healthcare professional maintains clinical skills within
the working environment (Krautscheid, 2014). The ability of a new graduate to capture the issues
related to nursing graduate and acquiring the appropriate substances in practice can make it easy
for one during the transition to be a qualified professional nurse. This essay will critically
analyze and discuss how a new graduate nurse should utilize both the clinical and non- clinical
skills through the use of relevant theories; Benner’s, Webinar’s and Dreyfus model of skills.
Critical analysis
The new graduate's nurses who have just completed their studies from their college or a
university are anticipated to show maximum proficiency in the use of both clinical and
nonclinical skills. According to the webinar theory, the first thing a new graduate feels after he or
she has been introduced to the reality of the working environment is that they know little about

NURSING PROFESSIONAL 3
the field’s practical activities. Some of the clinical skills that a new graduate has to learn include
the management of the ECG, cardiac monitoring and sharps disposal.
ECG management. Although conducting an ECG routine evaluation to the patient is
essential, in contrary, Masters (2015) argues that it is a scary practice to those who have never
experienced it before; it’s advisable to show the patient a clear explanation and demonstration of
how the ECG routine works so that to prepare them psychologically to avoid surprises and
shocks. In order to gain confidence while interpreting the ECG observations on the patient the
nurse has to assess the patient and through a systematic approach be aware of the his/her own
heart rate. The nurse is required to identify the lethal rhythms, assess his/her resources and look
at the patient for ECG proficiency. The patient should not be having any electronic device
around him/her, similarly, the nurse should ensure the client lies flat on the side, relax the
shoulders and keep his/her legs uncrossed. To read the ECG the nurse counts the number of R
waves within 6 seconds strip and multiply by 10 (Tubaishat & Tawalbeh, 2015). Similarly, the
fact that the ECG is used to assess rhythm and heart rate, then it can be used to detect heart
blockage which may contribute to heart failure of the patient. Therefore, it is considered an
important routine to the patient and also account for quality health services provided by a
particular health organization (Gale, Ooms, Sharples & Marks-Maran, 2016).
Cardiac monitoring. It is essential for the new graduate nurse to learn the skill of how to
monitor the cardiac functioning, despite that it is a vital and an urgent area for new nursing
graduate to handle, Curran, (2014) indicates that when entitled to such a responsibility to a
patient in a critical condition as it requires an experienced registered nurse.

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Sharps disposal. Proper disposal of sharp equipment is an essential skill that a new
graduate has to acquire, similarly, according to Willetts & Clarke, (2014), it prevents the risk of
spreading infections due to fluid body contact in case of an accident.
Some of the non-clinical skills a new graduates nurse has to acquire while in the area of
practice or a job includes; empathy, confidence and compassion to the clients.
Empathy. A nursing student has to show empathy while delivering care to the patient
for empathy in nursing professional is the mother of well refined communication skills, patient-
centered care approach and helps one to strengthen his/her confidence to provide competence
care to the patients (Sweeney, O'Sullivan, & McCarthy, 2015). A new graduates nurse has to
show empathy in some areas like when wound dressing and while bathing the clients with
physical pain. Although empathy is a very crucial tool in every healthcare professional, Wright et
al, (2018) shown that there are some scenarios where the nurse or any other health practitioner
has to apply much of clinical reasoning while regarding the patients’ condition to ensure privacy,
autonomy and confidentiality to the client. Many new nursing student have dificulties in
managing their moods and attitude while giving care to the clients. It is now when empathetic
communication skills for the new nursing graduates is required so that to moderate the language,
and creates a good interactions for example sharing some cultural values and beliefs with the
patints which give rise to a free environment between the client and the nurse and thus triggering
the provision of qulity care (Expósito et al, 2018). Nevertheless, empathetic care to the patient
promotes the and accouts for the quality and safe servuces provided by a health organisation thus
exposing its competency in service delivery to the clients.
Confidence. Despite confidentiality being a crucial tool for a new graduate nurse, as per the
Güner, (2015), it is more recommendable for the new nurse in the field to be much inquisitive