NUR1202 Professional Identity Essay: Semester 2 Analysis

This essay delves into the significance of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) standards and codes of conduct in nursing practice, emphasizing their role in enhancing patient care within a healthcare setting. The assignment begins with an introduction that highlights the primary aim of nursing to improve patient outcomes and then presents a case study of a registered nurse, Mary, whose conduct towards her patients raises concerns about adherence to NMBA guidelines. The essay examines the components of a therapeutic relationship, the benefits of such relationships, and how the NMBA's codes of conduct and nursing standards influence these relationships. Section A focuses on the application of NMBA standards, such as providing safe and appropriate care, patient-centered care, and evidence-based practice. Section B analyzes Mary’s conduct, highlighting how her peers reported her behavior, and discusses the steps managers and peers should take to address the issues, considering the NMBA standards. The conclusion underscores the importance of adhering to NMBA standards for professional growth and improved patient outcomes. The essay uses a minimum of 7 scholarly references to support its arguments, including the Code of Conduct for Nurses (2018) and the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice (2018) from the NMBA.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
Introduction:
This assignment focusses on the standard and codes of conduct stated by the Nursing and
Midwifery Board of Australia to increase the quality of patient care in the healthcare setting by the
registered nurse. The primary aim of nursing is to deliver better patient care so that they can recover fast
from their injury or illness (Slatyer et al., 2016). The standard and codes of conduct of the registered
nurse aid the nurse in achieving their aim. The assignment includes the case study of a registered nurse,
named Mary who works at an aged care. Mary's behaviour towards her patient is not appropriate and
seems to violate the rules and responsibility of the registered nurse. The essay reflects the patient care
provided by Mary and its relevance to the NMBA standards. Her peers reported her ill behaviour to the
mangers as it increases the risk of the patient. The essay also discusses the way which has been used by
the peers to change the ill behaviour of Mary concerning NMBA standard and codes of conduct.
This essay intends to primarily focus on the application of NMBA standard and codes of
conduct in nursing practice and its benefits.
Section A:
The nursing practice mainly involves providing safe and appropriate care to the patient suffering
from any injury or illness. According to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2019), standard
6, a registered nurse should provide appropriate and safe care to the patient to enhance the health
outcomes. To achieve the primary aim of nursing, different approaches were used by the nurse that
includes patient-centered care and evidence-based practice. According to Feo & Kitson (2016), Patient-
centered care is provided by considering the fundamental needs and concerns of the patient, and
evidence-based care involves providing the best treatment available for that concern based on evidence
(LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). In the case study of Mary, she does not participate in any of the two

2
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
activities. She spends most of her time at the nursing station and hence is not aware of the primary
concern of the patient which hinders the patient-centred care.
Along with that she is also not much aware of the best possible treatment of the patients which
can decrease the risk of patient. Instead, her practice increases the risk of further health deterioration of
the patient as she does not change the wet bedsheets and does not empty the urine bottles regularly
(Burdsall et al., 2017). Hence from this it can be clearly stated that she is not meeting the NMBA standard
in delivering patient-centred and evidence-based care
Person-centred relationship in the healthcare setting is essential and is one of the most effective
and commonly used tools. To build a productive therapeutic person-centred relationship with the patient
effective communication between the patient and the health care staff is essential (McCormack &
McCance, 2016). However in the case of Mary no such productive link has been found. Mary left her
patient most of the time unattended and spends her time at the nursing station, due to which she is not
able to connect effectively with the patient. According to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
(2019), standard 2, registered nurse should engage themselves in the therapeutic and professional
relationship with the patient. Mary does not follow the nursing standards, and hence from this it can be
stated that she has not maintained a productive therapeutic relationship with the patient.
By analyzing the case study, it is clear that Mary is not much involved in the appropriate and safe
nursing practice which might risk the life of the patients as well as decreases the patient outcomes. Hence
to avoid such adverse consequences she should change her nursing practice by the help of standards
stated by NMBA. She should increase her learning about safe and appropriate nursing practice. Along
with that she should try to maintain a productive relationship with the patient by spending more time with
patient and indulge in effective communication (Kilpatrick, Elliott & Fry, 2019). It will help her to gather
more information about the needs and concerns of the patient. Based on the data collected, she should
provide the best possible treatment available to the patient by the help of existing evidence through

3
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
critical research analysis. She should also be more aware of the safety of the patient and should prevent
any risk which can cause further damage such as, un-emptied urine bottles and wet bed sheets in this case.
From this she will get to learn more about the effective and appropriate nursing practice and
hence, as a result, will be able to deliver patient-centered care and evidence-based care to the patient by
maintaining an effective rapport with the patient. She will be able to increase the patient outcomes which
will gain her recognition in the healthcare setting (Renedo et al., 2015). It will help her to flourish both
personally as well as professionally and will also benefit her to avoid any further legal issue.
Section B:
Mary’s conduct towards patient care is not active and appropriate, which can lead to harm of the
patient and can also reduce the health outcomes of the patient. Her peers observed that most of the time,
the patient admitted under Mary left unattended which increases the safety concern of the patient. They
noted that instead of spending time with the patient to maintain effective rapport, she spends most of her
time at the nursing station. Along with that she also does not involve to deliver safe care to the patient.
According to Wiechula et al. (2016), it can have negative impact on the health of the patient as well as on
the reputation of the aged care. It can also lead to further adverse legal consequences for Mary. Hence to
avoid such illegal nursing outcomes, the peers have decided to report her conduct to the managers.
According to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2019), codes of conduct, if any health care
staff observes any issue which can violate the safety concern of the patient, they can report it to the higher
authorities. Hence, from this it can be stated that it is reasonable for the peers and colleagues of Mary to
say her ill behaviour to the mangers so that they can look into the matter and can take appropriate action
accordingly to avoid the risk factor of patient.
After receiving report against mary's ill conduct, it is the responsibility of the managers and the
peers to take adequate steps to change her behaviour. To do that, they should consider the rules and
regulations formulated by the NMBA standard and codes of conduct. They should conduct a meeting with

4
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
Mary and should acknowledge her about the legal consequences of illegal nursing practice (Cloete, 2015)
They should also encourage her to gather sufficient information about the seven nursing standard
developed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia for the standard registered nursing practice
which she can implement in her nursing practice for better patient outcomes. Mary should also be
informed about the conduct of the registered nurse in the healthcare setting by the managers that is she
should provide evidence-based and patient-centred care to the patient. According to the Nursing and
Midwifery Board of Australia (2019), the nurse should deliver safe and appropriate care to the patient by
comprehensively conducting the proper assessment of the patient health condition, and if not followed it
can also lead to adverse legal issues. The peers should inform her about the legal consequences such as,
and if she does not support the rules, her license also might get cancelled (Peyrovi, Nikbakht Nasrabadi &
Valiee, 2016). The mangers and the peers of the healthcare setting should also make her aware about the
adverse effect of unsafe nursing practice on the health of the patient, that is she should change the bed
sheets regularly and empty the urine bottles at regular intervals to maintain the safety of the patient. They
should conduct regular interactive session with the patient to ensure that she is following the rules and
regulations as provided by the NMBA standard and codes of conducts.
Conclusion:
The above discussion provides us with the idea of the importance of NMBA standard and codes
of conduct in the nursing practice. Mary does seem to be much involved in patient care, which leads to
avoiding the patient-centred care and evidence-based care of the patient. She does not seem to give much
time for the communication with the patient due to which she is not able to build an effective rapport with
the patient. The assignment also provides evidence about the careless nature of Mary, which hinders
effective communication with the patient and the patient-centred care. If Mary would follow the standard
formulated by NMBA, it will help her to grow professionally in various ways. Due to her ill-conduct and
behaviour her peers reported this to their managers. Mangers or higher health authority tried to change the
ill conduct of Mary by considering the NMBA rules and standards.

5
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY

6
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
References:
Burdsall, D. P., Gardner, S. E., Cox, T., Schweizer, M., Culp, K. R., Steelman, V. M., & Herwaldt, L. A.
(2017). Exploring inappropriate certified nursing assistant glove use in long-term care. American
journal of infection control, 45(9), 940-945.
Cloete, L. (2015). Reducing medication errors in nursing practice. Cancer Nursing Practice, 14(1).
Feo, R., & Kitson, A. (2016). Promoting patient-centred fundamental care in acute healthcare systems.
International Journal of Nursing Studies, 57, 1-11.
Kilpatrick, J., Elliott, R., & Fry, M. (2019). Health professionals’ understanding of person-centred
communication for risk prevention conversations: an exploratory study. Contemporary Nurse,
(just-accepted), 1-22.
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2017). Nursing research-E-book: methods and critical appraisal for
evidence-based practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
McCormack, B., & McCance, T. (Eds.). (2016). Person-centred practice in nursing and health care:
theory and practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2019). Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia -
Professional standards. Retrieved 9 September 2019, from
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-
standards.aspx
Nursing and Midwifery Board. (2019). Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Registered nurse
standards for practice. Retrieved 9 September 2019, from
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-
standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx

7
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
Peyrovi, H., Nikbakht Nasrabadi, A., & Valiee, S. (2016). Exploration of the barriers of reporting nursing
errors in intensive care units: A qualitative study. Journal of the Intensive Care Society, 17(3),
215-221.
Renedo, A., Marston, C. A., Spyridonidis, D., & Barlow, J. (2015). Patient and Public Involvement in
Healthcare Quality Improvement: How organizations can help patients and professionals to
collaborate. Public Management Review, 17(1), 17-34.
Slatyer, S., Coventry, L. L., Twigg, D., & Davis, S. (2016). Professional practice models for nursing: A
review of the literature and synthesis of key components. Journal of Nursing Management, 24(2),
139-150.
Wiechula, R., Conroy, T., Kitson, A. L., Marshall, R. J., Whitaker, N., & Rasmussen, P. (2016). Umbrella
review of the evidence: what factors influence the caring relationship between a nurse and
patient?. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(4), 723-734.