Registered Nurse in Practice in Ireland

Running Head: REGISTERED NURSE IN PRACTICE
Registered Nurse in Practice in Ireland
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REGISTERED NURSE IN PRACTICE 2
Registered Nurse in Practice
Introduction
High-quality care is defined as the protection of the safety of patients, treating them with
respect, dignity, and compassion, offering a safe and healthy environment, giving them choices
as well as eliminating medically acquired diseases and infections (New credential for advanced
level nurses, 2017). According to the United Kingdom Department of Health, nurses are required
in practice to perform their professional duties firmly rooted on the best available healthcare
evidence that ensures mutual, healthy and safe practice for the nurses, and another healthcare
provider, and the patient. Health interventions should not be harmful and counterproductive to
the patient. Instead, they should be therapeutic. Nurses should also offer their professional duties
and in the process recognize the need to fully respect religious beliefs, dignity, disability, sexual
orientation and race of the patient in a multiracial and multiethnic context such as the United
Kingdom. It is also interesting to note that registered nurses are supposed to show a high degree
of compassion and empathy to the patients. This critically analyze the role of registered nurses in
ensuring the delivery of safe, effective quality care which reflects and mirrors the recognized
principles and benchmarks.
Roles of Registered Nurses
According to the Royal College of Nursing (2003), trained nurses, as well as the
registered nurses, have different responsibilities and roles that can be described as professional
boundaries within the medical care context. The roles entail promoting health, caring for
individuals especially in times when their health status is negotiated, facilitate and promote
independence, offer assistance, meet the needs of the patients as well as to maintain or enhance

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the quality of life or wellbeing. Registered nurses are required and mandated to exercise a high
degree of professional accountability and proficiency in practice and at all times within the
professional realms as stated by the code of ethics of Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. It
should be noted that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland is the professional body that
controls and regulates the midwives and nurses professional principles and standards. Therefore,
registered nurses, staff nurses and even nursing students are bound by the nursing and midwifery
council codes of conduct to ensure standard practice especially in the delivery of quality
healthcare to the clients. It is vital and prudent that registered nurses become aware of the
professional liabilities in their boundaries as failure to abide by their laid down codes may result
in poor delivery of healthcare and loss of individual registration.
Principles for Registered Nurse Practice in Ireland
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland has stipulated nursing principles which
must be adhered to by all the registered nurses in Ireland. Nursing practice principles are the
guidelines that define the roles of registered nurses in the delivery of effective and safe
healthcare to the patients. One of the principles states that registered nurses and other staff
members are must treat their patients with humanity and dignity (Jackson & Irwin, 2011). They
must fully understand the individual needs of all their patients, show sensitivity as well as
compassion and offer healthcare in a manner which respects all the patients equally. According
to the World Health Organization (Card, 2017), health is an individual’s state of complete
physical social and mental wellbeing and not necessarily the absence of an illness or infirmity.
Some researchers have argued that the definition of world health organization of health is too
broad as well as difficult to achieve. The definition does not take into consideration the various
description of a disease or illness.