Professionalism: Looking at my professional identity & values
What is my professional identity, and what are my professional values?
As a registered nurse working in public health, it is important for me to be viewed as a professional, but when thinking about what this actually means, I had to stop and reflect. According to Haroun (2016), professionalism is a result of multiple factors that make up who we are as individuals, such as our thoughts, behaviours, and skills. With this definition in mind and thinking about how I want others to view me as a professional, some key words come to mind: accountability, work ethic, attitude, and knowledge; I want my professional identity to reflect these traits and skills as they are what I value and look for in others.
I think one of the key factors in shaping our professional identities is our attitudes. Haroun (2016) discusses professional attitude and states that our attitude determines how we act and it can allow us to develop positive habits such as working well with others. With that said, maintaining a positive attitude, and in turn, a professional identity, can be somewhat challenging as we are not always faced with easy or happy situations at work. Furthermore, maintaining a positive professional identity can be challenging because as Collier (2012) indicates, what is considered to be professional changes over time. With that said, it is important for me to look to my regulatory body to provide guidance as to how I should be practicing as a nurse in a professional manner.
Looking at the professional standards set out by my regulatory college, the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) (2002), many of my own values align with those identified by the CNO. For instance, the CNO professional standards include accountability, continuing competence, ethics, knowledge, leadership, and relationships (CNO, 2002), all of which are things I value.
To touch on a few specific standards, firstly, I very much value knowledge and consider myself a life-long learner. Being that as a nurse I am a self-regulated professional, it is of the upmost importance that I continue to seek out new knowledge and skills to ensure I am maintaining my competencies and skills. As for my professional identity, continuous improvement of competence is cited in the literature as an important aspect of professionalism (Collier, 2012), and so being one who values learning and formal education, this will help add to my professional identity.
Additionally, I value my relationships with both clients and colleagues and I want to be viewed as a good team player. Again, looking at my professional identity, being able to work effectively with other people and professions is in itself a sign of professionalism (Collier, 2012).
Where do I fit within the system?
Looking at where I fit within the health care system, I am a registered nurse in Ontario, and therefore am self-regulated and am governed by the CNO. Currently, I work as a public health nurse working as an Infection Prevention and Control Coordinator (IPAC) at a local public health unit in Port Hope, Ontario. As an IPAC coordinator, I provide coordination of services and activities throughout the health unit as well as to external partners. This requires a high level of accountability and organization, and again, as noted above, my role requires the ability to work effectively and respectfully with a multitude of other professionals such as nurses, doctors, inspectors, dental hygienists, dental assistants, health promoters, and so forth.
References
Collier, R. (2012). Professionalism: What is it?. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 184 (10), 1129- 1130. Retrieved from https://www.cmaj.ca/content/184/10/1129.short
College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO). (2002). Practice standard: Professional standards. Retrieved from https://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/prac/41006_profstds.pdf
Haroun, L. (2016). Career development for health professionals: Success in school and on the job (4th ed.). Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books