The Role Of Nurses In Healthcare: Person-Centred Practices And Decision Making Essay.

Collaborative Practices and Person-Centred Care

Nurses play an integral role in delivering optimal patient care, improving the quality of health outcomes, and developing relevant procedures and policies. They are responsible for identifying, monitoring and responding to the local needs of the concerned targeted population or patients. The provision of interventions, therapies and care plans by registered nurses intends to assist the health outcomes of affected patients. Australia has been facing increased patient acuity for shortages in the mediation of practical procedures in healthcare (Dixit & Sambasivan, 2018). Registered nurses work in the maintenance of professional and therapeutic relationships on an individual, familial, or community level. The code of conduct for nurses sets legal requirements, conduct expectations and professional behaviour from nurses in practical settings (NMBA, 2016). The essay would aim to address nursing practices and role for promoting desirable health benefits amongst patients, in conjunction with the implementation of nursing codes of conduct, which would help them to utilize their knowledge and skills. It would highlight the components of person-centred practices by collaborative decision making, professional behaviour and upholding integrity, and effective communication for proper mediation of valuable clinical information.

Decision making in healthcare incorporates shared responsibilities of individuals like patients, their families and friends, associated health professionals and experts. Under the domain of collaborative practices, nurses provide person-centred and evidence-based care to attain positive care delivery while wholly catering to patient needs. They are not only responsible for protecting people but also should ensure they comply with obligations. Support should be provided to a person based on their preferences and values. Advocacy can be substantiated for patients whenever deemed necessary, through recognition of alternative decision-makers, including legal guardians if necessary. Patient rights should be safeguarded by considering their opinions if they wish to care or treatment. The recognition of the scope of practices is determined by the training, education, competence and experience they receive (Mills et al., 2016). Nurses can refer patients to other health practitioners in matters of best interest and take necessary steps regarding delegations or referrals, as conditioned by the NMBA framework of decision-making standards. Nurses acknowledge how the practices they inculcate impact decision-making, including the location and type of setting and the characteristics of individuals receiving care. Standard 1 for registered nursing practices demonstrates the utilization of various thinking strategies and available evidence for making rightful decisions (NMBA, 2016). Nurses should imbibe critical thinking qualities to contribute to the improvement of quality in healthcare and conducting relevant research. They would have to analyse, assess and utilize the best evidence, including research findings for approving quality in practices. It is essential for nurses to comply by legislation and apply them whenever relevant scenarios take place. The utilization of ethical decisions should also be observed in healthcare environments. Nurses should levy the accurate, timely and comprehensive documentation of various assessments to evaluate inferences (Conlon et al., 2021). Standard 4 for registered nurses highlights the comprehensive conduction of assessments that are culturally appropriate and holistic in nature (NMBA, 2016). In this way, a registered nurse in the Australian health sector should use multiple assessment techniques to collect accurate and relevant information. They should work in partnerships that highlight the concept of shared decision making. They also determine the priorities for inducing correct actions and require assessing available resources for informed planning, all of which integrally require decision-making capabilities.

Critical Thinking and Evidence-Based Decision Making

Professional boundaries make nurses engage safely in professional relationships. Professionalism entails clinical competence and an ethical understanding of various legal predicaments (Fatemi et al., 2018). Nurses should be able to recognize the inherent imbalance of power existing between nurses and individuals in their care, to maintain solidified boundaries. They need to actively manage people's expectations while avoiding potential risks and conflicts, as their counterparts can get impaired judgement regarding intentions. Recognition of overinvolvement can compromise the intended care or management of the situation. In the scenario of Australian health where profound cultural differences are imminent, nurses need to actively address differences, omissions and scenarios of disrespect where issues can be mitigated without dire fatalities (Kuilman et al., 2021). It is imperative that they do not cause distress to patients concerning their personal beliefs or influence their autonomy negatively. As per the principles of NMBA guidelines for regulated health services, nurses must be transparent while describing their educational qualifications, previous occupations, and registration status. They need to comply efficiently with legal requirements relating to advertising as outlined by national law. Standard 2 of the nursing guidelines demonstrate the engagement of nurses in therapeutic professional relationships for sustaining relationships in the workplace within professional limitations. They should provide support and use delegation, coordination, referrals, and consultation to achieve enhanced health outputs. They can foster a safe culture to engage with professionals, share knowledge and practise person-centred care. According to Standard practice 3 for registered nurses, nurses need to truly maintain the capability for conducting practices. It denotes how they are responsible for their actions and should substantially possess skills before generating care for patients. They need to engage in professional development by aligning their abilities to patient interests and complying with necessary regulations (Mclnerney et al., 2021). Their active engagement with their profession can be reflected when they fulfil responsibilities in a socially and legally acceptable way.

Australia is a linguistically and culturally diverse nation. The indigenous communities specifically share a burden of gross social, cultural and health inequalities. While respectful practices uphold the cultural values and beliefs of patients, the interactions of nurses with families need to follow specific etiquette. This would lead to meaningful acknowledgement of patient troubles, avoiding bias and discrimination, and promoting an inclusive environment where patients are comfortable seeking treatment or therapy (Abdolrahimi et al., 2017). Professional relationships are also built on honest and compassionate communication practices in clinical settings. In order to communicate efficiently, nurses must be adequately aware of the issues of health literacy and make arrangements for meeting language and cultural needs of patients and their families (Milnes et al., 2020). They should also seek for confirmation whether they have been distinctly clear enough regarding the information they desire to convey. Nurses must have proficiency in vocabulary for interacting professionally with clients and assure they are in safe hands. They also need to transfer information gained from professional medical experts to colleagues and subordinates, and vice versa. Nurses should refrain from behaviour that can be misinterpreted through non-verbal forms of communication such as gestures, consequently causing errors in medical outcomes and chaos in the healthcare workplace. Open mediation of dialogues also helps in building team unity, as important information is continually conveyed and everyone stays updated regarding patient outcomes (Javanmard et al., 2017). This highlights the 6^th standard of nursing practices that aim to provide responsive and appropriate nursing practices by demonstrating comprehensive and safe practices based on patient needs. The evaluation of outcomes for informed nursing practices according to standard 7^th also requires proper communication standards to perceive information and monitor progress (NMBA, 2016). Plans are formulated or documented based on evaluation, and then the priorities, outcomes and goals are communicated to relevant individuals. Proficiency in language and vocabulary would also make nurses plan and develop suitable practices that would be efficiently documented for future records and analysis (Lord et al., 2021). Written plans need to be conveyed to experts and require enhanced communication skills.

Professionalism and Ethical Understanding

Conclusion

The issues in promoting modern healthcare practices in the Australian system would require resolutions based on nursing skills and knowledge while adhering to necessary codes and regulations. Improvement of the health practices envisions the utilization of nursing qualities and practices in the Australian healthcare sector and the necessity of abiding by NMBA guidelines and codes of conduct. The characteristics of displaying efficacy in decision making, professionalism and communication are vital for nurses as they implement care standards and strive for improving patient outcomes. These principles would invariably result in reduced medical errors in the workplace, promote cohesiveness, induce collaborative efforts and mitigate fatalities. As registered nurses have a significant role to play in inducing healthcare reforms, they should continually refer to specified codes for ensuring the delivery of safe nursing assessments and care. Joint efforts can also generate improved patient-centred care through the induction of inherent satisfaction when their needs are well taken care of. Nurses not only support patients emotionally by eradicating fear and respecting their values but need to provide evidence of their practices for gaining their faithful attachment. When nurses acknowledge their potential and role in undertaking prominent responsibilities, care delivery would be enhanced for patients. 

References

Abdolrahimi, M., Ghiyasvandian, S., Zakerimoghadam, M., & Ebadi, A. (2017). Therapeutic communication in nursing students: A Walker & Avant concept analysis. Electronic physician, 9(8), 4968. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5614280/

Conlon, D., Raeburn, T., & Wand, T. (2021). Decision-making processes of a nurse working in mental health, regarding disclosure of confidential personal health information of a patient assessed as posing a risk. Collegian, 28(3), 261-267.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2020.08.010

Dixit, S. K., & Sambasivan, M. (2018). A review of the Australian healthcare system: A policy perspective. SAGE open medicine, 6, 2050312118769211.

Fatemi, N. L., Moonaghi, H. K., & Heydari, A. (2018). Exploration of nurses’ perception about professionalism in home care nursing in Iran: a qualitative study. Electronic physician, 10(5), 6803.

Javanmard, M., MCGI, P., Dip ClinHypn, R. M., & BMid, B. (2017). Experiences of internationally qualified midwives and nurses in Australia and other developed nations: a structured literature review. Evidence Based Midwifery, 15(3), 95-100.

Kuilman, L., Jansen, G., Mulder, L. B., & Roodbol, P. (2021). Facilitating and motivating factors for reporting reprehensible conduct in care: A study among nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the Netherlands. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 27(4), 776-784. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13462

Lord, H., Loveday, C., Moxham, L., & Fernandez, R. (2021). Effective communication is key to intensive care nurses’ willingness to provide nursing care amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 62, 102946.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2020.102946

McInerney, J., Schneider, M., Lombardo, P., & Cowling, C. (2021). Regulation of healthcare and medical imaging in Australia: A narrative review of the evolution, function and impact on professional behaviours. Radiography, 27(3), 935-942.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2020.12.004

Mills, J., Chamberlain-Salaun, J., Harrison, H., Yates, K., & O’Shea, A. (2016). Retaining early career registered nurses: a case study. BMC nursing, 15(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-016-0177-z

Milnes, S., McKie, C., & Martin, P. (2020). Challenges for nurses when communicating with people who have life-limiting illness and their families: A focus... J Clin Nurs, 29, 416-428.

NMBA. (2016). Code of conduct[Ebook] Retrieved 20 April 2022, from

https://www.coursehero.com/file/71732229/CodeofConductpdf/

NMBA. (2016). Registered nurse standards for practice [Ebook]. Retrieved from

https://file:///C:/Users/KOLHP00037/Downloads/5833573_834466527_stnadardpractice.pdf