Unit 1 Study Guide
Class Notes
- What is Nursing?
o Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of
illness, advocacy in care, allocation of suffering
- Professional Behaviors
o Components of professionalism in nursing
Practice ethically, competently, and within the laws of the state
Maintain confidentiality
Follow legal and ethical guidelines
Document promptly and accurately
Adhere to policies
Comply with legal requirements for handling and disposing of controlled substances
o Unprofessional Behaviors
Stealing a patient’s property
Personally, gaining at a patient’s expense
Intervening in a patient’s personal relationships
Making seductive or sexually disparaging statements
Engaging in sexual conduct with a patient or a patient’s family
- Leadership Principles
o The ability to
Influence
Guide
Direct Others
Developed through observation, knowledge, experience, leaders influence, guide and
direct others, goal mindset- work with a goal in mind, encourage others to be their best
self and work toward a common goal as a team
o Leadership Qualities
Good communicator
Commitment to excellence
Knowledgeable
Flexible
Good Self Image
Critical thinkers
Responsible decision makers
Commitment to and passion for your work
Trustworthiness and integrity
Respectfulness
Accessibility
Empathy and caring
Desire to be of service
Responsibility to enhance the personal growth of all staff
Concepts Related to Nursing
- Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness,
advocacy in care, alleviation of suffering
- Professional Behaviors
o Components of Professionalism in nursing
Practice ethically, competently, and within the laws of the state
Maintain confidentiality
, Follow legal and ethical guidelines
Document promptly and accurately
Adhere to policies
Comply with legal requirements for handling and disposing of controlled substances
o Unprofessional Behaviors
Stealing a patient’s property
Personally gaining at a patient’s expense
Intervening in a patient’s personal relationships
Making seductive or sexually disparaging statements
Engaging in sexual conduct with a patient or patient’s family
o Leadership principles
The ability to
Influence
Guide
Direct others
Developed through observation, knowledge, experience
o Leadership qualities
Good communicator
Commitment to excellence
Knowledgeable
Flexible
Good self-image
Critical thinkers
Responsible decision makers
Trustworthiness and integrity
Respectfulness
Accessibility
Empathy and caring
Desire to be of service
- Leadership styles
o Autocratic leadership- authoritarian, leader controls decisions, motivate by coercion, staff do not
voice opinions, increase burnout and turnover, effective in emergency situations
o Democratic leadership- participative, shared decisions, leader promotes communication
o Laissez- Faire- gives power to group, free flow communication, low work output, effective with
knowledgeable staff, slow decision making
- Managing care
o Managing client care requires the nurse to develop knowledge and skills in
Leadership and management
Critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgement
Prioritization and time management
Assigning
Delegating
Supervising
Staff education
Quality improvement
Conflict resolution
Care coordination- right care, right time, cost effective, more older adults, more chronic
conditions, more costly meds, created the need for care coordination
o Care delivery systems
Determines how you provide care, determined by institution
o Care coordination
Deliberate organization of patient care activities between 2+ people
, o Cost effective care
Use supplies wisely, charge for required items, only use what you need
- Delegation
o Should not
Assessment
Planning
Evaluation
o Should
Assistance with basic care activities
Vital signs
Measuring intake and output
Weights
Dressing changes
Transfers
Post- mortem care
o Delegation is the transfer of responsibility for completing a task to another person, accountability
is still maintained by the person delegating the task, can delegate to UAP, LPNs, UAP can collect
data but cannot interpret/ analyze data, nurse is responsible for discharge planning, care planning
o Before delegating, consider qualification of person the task is delegated to in addition to patient
stability, task complexity, how predictable the outcomes are, RN is responsible for the outcome
and supervising the UAP
- 5 rights of delegation
o Right task- delegating to the right person based on qualification level
o Right circumstance- appropriate setting and resources
o Right person- right person delegating to a qualified person on the right patient
o Right communication- clear task description, include expectation/ objective
o Right supervision/ evaluation- appropriate monitoring and feedback
- Clinical Decision Making
o Critical thinking- reflective, goal directive, purposeful thinking
Decision making- choosing a solution or answer from among different options
Problem- solving- systematic, analytic approach to finding a solution to a problem
- Collaboration
o Two or more people working together toward a common goal
o Benefits
High quality patient care
Trust and mutual respect
Effective communication
Shared decision making
o Interprofessional Collaboration- multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds
working together to deliver care
- Competencies basic to collaboration
o Values and ethics
o Roles and responsibilities for collaborative practice
o Interprofessional communication
o Teamwork and team-based care
- Collaboration
o Case Management- ensures quality and cost effective services, work to prevent readmission,
ensures positive patient outcomes
o Chain of command- involves everyone in decisions, there is an order of communication in place
o Conflict resolution- managed by team and not only leadership, everyone works together
- Management Theories
o Fayol’s Functions of Management
, Planning- set goals, assess situation, look at future trends, create action statement, set
plan in motion
Organizing- coordinate work, delegates tasks
Directing- ensure work is done, clear direction
Controlling- compare actual results with expected results
o Mintzberg Behavioral Model
Interpersonal roles- leader, go to person
Informational roles- monitor information, disseminate information, spokesperson
Decisional roles- resource allocator, negotiator, handles conflicts/ disturbances
o Mintzberg Contemporary Model
Informational Level- uses information to manage work of others
People Level- focus on leading by motivation and encouragement
Action Level- focus on doing and gaining required resources to complete a task
o Advocacy
Role of the advocate- help others become aware by providing information to help with
decision making
Advocacy interventions- protecting personal rights, providing information so that an
informed decision can be made
- Code of Ethics for Nurses
1. The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and
unique attributes of every person
2. The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group,
community, or population
3. The nurse promotes and advocates for, and strives to protect the rights, health, and
safety of the patient
4. The nurse has authority, accountability, and responsibility for nursing practice; makes
decisions; and takes action consistent with the obligation to promote health and to
provide optimal care
5. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to
preserve health and safety, preserve wholeness of character and integrity, maintain
competence, and continue personal and professional growth
6. The nurse through individual and collective effort, establishes, maintains, and improves
the ethical environment of the work setting and conditions of employment that are
conducive to safe, quality health care
7. The nurse in all roles and settings, advances the profession through research and
scholarly inquiry, professional standards development, and the generation of both
nursing and health policy
8. The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public to promote human
rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities
9. The profession of nursing, collectively through its professional organizations, must
articulate nursing values, maintain the integrity of the profession, and integrate
principles of social justice into nursing and health policy
- Advocacy Interventions
o Advocate for those who cannot make decisions for themselves, defend, protect, and support
patients.
o Loyalty to workplace policy and procedure should not interfere with patient rights
o Common issues nurses face related to illegal, immoral, unethical activities are confidentiality,
restraint use, telling the truth, refusal to provide care, and palliative care
o Unacceptable behaviors- not caring about how your behavior impacts the patient, bullying,
harassment, intimidation, manipulation, threats of violence
