Healthcare Report: Professional Identity and Stewardship Analysis

This report delves into the concepts of professional identity and stewardship within the context of nursing management. It highlights the responsibilities of a nursing manager, including planning, organizing, and directing nursing services. The report emphasizes the importance of professionalism, integrity, communication, and interpersonal skills in managing diverse healthcare teams. It explores stewardship through resource allocation and the use of systems like nursing triage to optimize resource utilization. Furthermore, the report discusses the role of professional advocacy in improving patient care and influencing budgetary decisions. The influence of power and politics in healthcare, particularly in policy-making, is also addressed. The report draws on various academic sources to support its arguments, providing a comprehensive analysis of professional identity and stewardship in nursing practice.

Professional identity and stewardship 1
Professional Identity and Stewardship
Students Name
Institutional affiliation

Professional identity and stewardship 2
A nursing manager is involved in planning, organizing directing and foreseeing that all
the nursing services run smoothly in a ward (Townsend, Wilkinson & Kellner, 2015). They plan
and budget for the resources that are allocated to their departments. They delegate duties to the
nurses and organize how various activities are run to ensure that the patients receive the care.
This position is more of a managerial position that is committed to organize all the other
components of a health system. The control of the daily operations relies on the services of a
nursing manager. They also practice leadership especially in managing change and promoting
cooperation in care provision among the different professions that are allocated to them.
The nursing manager interviewed hold that professionalism is the ability to provide high
quality services that meet the need of the patient. She says that care is integral in health of a
patient and a commitment to provide it is the ultimate show of professionalism. Integrity was
also mentioned as one of the components of professionalism in discharging the duties of a
nursing manager (Tully & Boswell, 2017). Of note in what she said was that she is incharge of
different professions who provide care to the patients. The doctors and nurses allocated under her
are two different professions and caution is needed in managing them. Communication and
interpersonal skills are very crucial is important in promoting a good relationship between them
and upholding professionalism. She considered discharging her duties as per the expectation of
her position as being professional. This is also one component of professionalism according to
Whiteside (2016).
A nursing manager is a steward in healthcare. Having, resources allocation and budgeting
as one of her responsibilities and duties in her profession, it is impossible not to practice
stewardship. Stewardship focuses on a rational organization of resources in order to meet the
need of the patients and the workforce (Strickler, Bohling, Kneis, O'Connor, & Yee, 2016).

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Resource allocation is always limited. A prudent nursing manager should be a good steward to
avoid wastage of the limited resource. A nursing triage has been developed in order to properly
determine which patient and needs are to be prioritized and which ones should be taken care of
urgently. In her position, using this system will help to ensure maximum utility is gained from
the available limited resources.
Professional advocacy is one of the responsibilities that a nurse has to their patients
(Choi, 2015). They are expected to lobby for support to improve patient care. Professional
advocacy and authenticity makes nursing managers remain dedicated to improving the care that
is accorded to the patients. Advocacy plays a very crucial role in influencing decisions on
budgetary allocation; which falls under their department. Those that make decisions need
convincing in order to allocate the resources. The nursing manager acts as an advocate of the
patent and those that they lead. Power and influence are important in healthcare for the same
reason of influencing decisions that not only improves the quality of care but also the working
conditions (Gilmour & Huntington, 2017). A nursing managers provides reports on facts
important in making policies which become popular depending on how influential they are.

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References
Tully, J., & Boswell, C. (2017). Advance Care Planning (ACP) Training: Your Role as a Nursing
Leader.
Townsend, K., Wilkinson, A., & Kellner, A. (2015). Opening the black box in nursing work and
management practice: the role of ward managers. Journal of nursing management, 23(2),
211-220.
Strickler, J., Bohling, S., Kneis, C., O'Connor, M., & Yee, P. L. (2016). Developing nurse
leaders from within. Nursing2018, 46(5), 49-51.
Choi, P. P. (2015). Patient advocacy: the role of the nurse. Nursing Standard (2014+), 29(41),
52.
Gilmour, J., & Huntington, A. (2017). Power and politics in the practice of nursing. Contexts of
Nursing: An Introduction, 183.
Whiteside, D. (2016). Perioperative nurse leaders and professionalism. AORN journal, 104(2),
133-144.