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The Importance Of Professionalism In Nursing

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Professionalism is a fundamental concept that is determined by learning the norms, attitudes, behaviors, skills, roles and values of the profession. Professional identity means the internalization of values and norms of the profession into the behavior and self concept of the individual (Creasia & Parker, 2007 ).Traditional recommendations to promote nursing into a complete profession predicated on developing a body of specialized knowledge and using scientific methods to enlarge theoretical basis; education in university settings and acquiring clinical competence; adherence to a code of ethics; self regulation and autonomy; in addition to lifetime commitment and service to the public (Keogh, 1997; Wynd, 2003; Alidina, 2013). From a sociological point of view, acquiring specialized knowledge and having control over the work environment are two essential characteristics of a profession (Freidson, 2001). Lack of autonomy was a major threat for nursing to achieve full professional status (Kelly, 1987; Smith, 2003; Creasia, & Parker, 2007). Determining the professional status of nursing in the modern society is by no means an easy task as different countries have different opinions on the matter (Keogh, 1997). According to Colyer (2004), health professionalism is a function of both culture and time and is influenced by the ideology that determines public policies and the delivery of health care services. In Ontario, the Best Practice Guidelines issued by the RNAO (2007)

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