Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council

Discuss about the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council.

The nursing profession tends to attract those nurses who have nurturing capabilities and a desire to help the patients in their needs and their love for science. Along with this, there is also a very important skill which should be possessed by all successful nurses and that is Critical thinking based upon nurse’s reflection. In this essay, the importance of critical thinking would be analyzed based on the professional nursing conducts and codes of ethics highlighted in the guidelines provided by “Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia” (NMBA). As the modern nursing is based on the evidence-based practice, critical reflection has become the core element of nursing practice (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 2016). Therefore, Critical reflection is essential part of effective nursing practice. This essay will highlight the benefits of critical reflection, sources of evidences used for critical reflection and the role of critical reflection in evidence-based nursing.

Critical reflection is beneficial in several ways. It is beneficial in several ways. Nursing researches has revealed that evidence-based practice has a significant role in improving health care outcomes in nursing. NMBA board provided the Nursing competency standards, where it was depicted in domain 2 that “a RN should practice within an evidence-based framework for indentifying the relevance of research to improve individual/group health outcomes” (Nursing & Council, 2005). Critical reflection in nursing practice assists nurses to apply the best knowledge available regarding a particular intervention, thereby enhancing the standard of practice. It also helps to warn nurse about the possibility of failure related to an intervention. Critical refection based on evidences help to avoid past mistakes and enhance the learning opportunity of nurses, which can be used further for improved quality of intervention. Additionally, critical reflection can promote nurse’s consciousness regarding potential bias and discrimination, thereby reducing the presence of these elements in nursing practice further. In this way, critical reflection of nurses based on evidences can reduce the occurrence of negative patient outcomes. According to code statement 1 in Nursing professional conduct provided by NMBA, “Nurses practice in a safe and competent manner” (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 2016). A safe practice can be provided in health care system, if the care provider is aware of the pros and cons of the practice, which can only possible through the critical reflection of the care provider based on her evidence-based knowledge.

It is very important for nurses to be aware of evidence’s relevance to be implemented in a particular situation. It is nurse’s responsibility to critically identify the correct source of evidence, which is the core of their critical reflection in practice. Nurses can participate in the nursing research from where they can gather evidence-based knowledge, useful for clinical practice. On the other hand, nurses can improve their performance by critical reflection of their own previous practice. In the “Professional Guidelines for Nurses in Australia” of NMBA, guideline 6 highlights that “nurses examine the boundary crossing and are aware of the potential implications, avoiding repeated crossings” (American Nurses Association, 2010). Their own practice can help them to think objectively by considering the boundaries. If a nurse has experienced negative outcomes by implementing a strategy, which exceeds the boundary, the nurse will be more conscious about avoiding that particular implementation. Ultimately, it would help to reduce negative outcomes. It can be supported by standard 12 of “National practice standards for nurses in general practice” by NMBA, which depicts that, nurses should “evaluate the quality and effectiveness of nursing care” (Nursing & Federation, 2014). On the other hand, in standard 6 and 8, it has been highlighted that “Nurses should demonstrate the knowledge and skills to provide safe, effective and evidence-based nursing care” and “effectively implement evidence-based health promotion and preventive care relevant to the practice community” respectively (Nursing, Council & Council, 2010). For these purposes, nurses can gather information from clinical study websites, participation in “National Registry of Evidence-based programs and practices” and from all the guideline books and articles published by NMBA.

In modern art of nursing, critical thinking and reflection is one of the most important skills. According to the value statement 4 in “Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia”, “Nurses value access to quality nursing and health care for all people”; for assuring quality services, nurses have to implement their critical reflection based on evidences. According to statement 5, “Nurses value informed decision-making”; to develop an ethically correct intervention strategy for patients, nurses have to reflect critically on the evidences gathered from different resources as well as their previous practices (Nursing & Council, 2008). A decision, based on the critically reflected evidences is much more likely to have successful outcomes compared to a casual approach. According to conduct statement 10 in “The Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia”, “Nurses should practice nursing reflectively and ethically”, therefore, reflective practice is important in every stage of nursing practice (The Commonwealth Fund, 2016). It has a role in enhancing the professional relationship with the patients and other professionals. The 5^th guideline in the “Guiding principles for safe, professional practice guidelines’, it has been highlighted that “nurses are responsible for understanding the complexities if personal relationships develop once professional relationships end as the person may need additional care and services”. A previous experience in similar context plays a significant role in reducing the repetitive mistakes and understanding the boundary within professional and personal relationship.

In conclusion, it can be said that, the above discussion has justified the thesis statement that Critical reflection is an essential part of nursing practice. The essay highlighted several benefits of critical reflection in nursing, the resources of evidences and the role of critical reflection in nursing. Based on the evidences found aligning with the Australian codes and standards of nursing, it importance of critical reflection in nursing has been demonstrated here.

Reflective practice

Description- During my 2^nd year placement, I worked in a surgical ward under the supervision of my mentor. I was assigned to take care of 72-year-old Mr. X, who had undergone abdominal surgery. While removing his wound dressing according to the doctor’s permission, she went for visiting other patient’s wound. I observed that she came straight to Mr. X, without washing her hands or alcohol treatment. I revealed that she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, which could be contaminated by other’s wound. Due to lack of courage, I could not say something.

Feelings- I was alarmed by the incident. I felt that the doctor should be informed about her misconduct. Thus, I spoke to my mentor and she suggested that we should talk with her. My mentor asked her about her hygiene issue, she was shocked and replied that due t busy schedule, she forgot to wash her hands.

Evaluation- It was a highly unethical incident. I regret that I did not play my desired role. However, it was good that the doctor responded positively. S a result, she changed her perception and behavior.

Analysis- Hygiene is the crucial part of surgical management, which was absent in Mr. X’s case, so, it could have a severe negative impact upon his health. Thus, the doctor should be more careful about minimizing risks.

Conclusion- I realized the importance of personal and professional hygiene in health care system, through this incident. If the doctor took her initiative regarding hygiene practice, these kinds of misconduct could be avoided. However, the doctor was assertive, which is a very positive attribute in this field.

Action plan- In future, I will develop assertive skills for ensuring high quality health outcomes of my clients. In addition, I would also monitor my hygiene practice in regular basis.

Reference List

American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice. Nursesbooks. org.

Nursing, A., & Council, M. (2005). National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse [electronic Resource]. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Nursing, A., & Council, M. (2008). Code of professional conduct for nurses in Australia. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Nursing, A., & Council, M. (2008). Codes of Professional Conduct & Ethics for Nurses & Midwives in Australia 2008. Nurses Board of South Australia.

Nursing, A., & Federation, M. (2014). National Practice Standards for Nurses in General Practice: Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Standards Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation.

Nursing, A., Council, M., & Council, N. Z. N. (2010). A nurse’s guide to professional boundaries. ANMC, viewed.

Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. (2016). Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Home.  Retrieved 7 August 2016, from http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/

The Commonwealth Fund. (2016). Commonwealthfund.org. Retrieved 7 August 2016, from http://www.commonwealthfund.org