Nursing as a Profession
The following paper seeks to analyze the characteristics that help to define the status of nursing in the society. Currently, the opinions towards nursing can be unified into the two main arguments, the one of which considers nursing to be a profession and the other - an occupation. Nursing with its ethical code of conduct, responsibility, and the necessary knowledge and highly professional approach should be considered a profession.
Methods
The paper is based on the descriptive approach to the scholarly research. The approach makes it possible to define the dominant topics in the academic literature, identify the main arguments and counterarguments that will be used to prove or disclaim the thesis statement.
The paper analyzes two scholarly sources as well as two non-text sources on the topic. The results of the analysis make it possible to rate nursing on the scale from 1 to 10, in which 1 claims for no proof to claim to nurse is a profession. The chosen research method helps to define the characteristics of nursing, which prove it is a profession.
Results
The video from NCSBNInteract (2014) is devoted to the issue of the professional boundaries in nursing. It was rather useful for the current analysis as it outlines the limits and duties of a professional nurse (NCSBNInteract, 2014). It also contributed to the definition of characteristics of nursing as a profession, which is acting for the best interests of a patient, keeping the boundaries between the personal and professional life, and being guided by the ethical code of conduct.
A video from Memorial Hermann (2014) highlights the major aspects of nursing career and nursing duties, which assumes that nursing is a profession of taking care of the patients and of being able to act out of the patient’s interest so that to improve not only physical but also psychological welfare.
Sowjanya and Subashidi (2015) investigate the difference between nursing as a profession and nursing as an occupation. The authors conclude that the occupation attains the status of the profession when it requires the specific set of skills and knowledge, which is necessary for every practicing nurse.
Discussion
In order to answer whether nursing is a profession or occupation, it is vital to provide some working definitions. The profession has three crucial inalienable elements: the specific body of knowledge, ethical principles and guidelines, and the functioning of the professional organization that regulates the professional practices (National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, n.d.). The profession can arise from education, which has also been the case of nursing. In order for the occupation to become a profession, it needs to possess a developed formal education, apprenticeship, and examination as well as the regulatory bodies (Bullock & Stallybrass, 1999). Thus, in order to become a nurse, the one has to obtain the nursing degree, having passed all the examinations necessary at the educational institution. The work of nurses in the United States is regulated by the American Nurses Organisation.
On the other hand, nursing can be considered to …
