The Empowerment of Nurses

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the values of promoting the empowerment of nurses. It argues that, given greater autonomy in decision-making, nurses will feel more professional satisfaction and commitment, leading to higher morale and efficiency in the work place. It also claims that, when nurses are given a higher degree of informal power, the results are observed in greater accountability, productivity, and work effectiveness. Furthermore, this has an impact on collegiality since stronger alliances with peers are established.

From the Paper:

"The primary moral principle invariably is respect for persons; from that main principle emerge other principles such as autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, confidentiality, fidelity, veracity, and justice (ANA, 2001). Respect for the inherent dignity and worth of every patient is the core principle for nursing practice (ANA, 2001). The ANA's (1995) belief that the person is holistic and possesses an inherent unity, which must be contextually and culturally defined, is correlated with that principle. Autonomy for nurses must be intrinsic and a personal choice; if it is the result of extrinsic influences, autonomy is extremely restricted. Intrinsic autonomy is only possible in nursing environments where staff can exert control. Accountability depends on the degree of autonomy that can be exercised as well as the extent to which nurses are empowered (Laschinger & Wong, 1999)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Nurse's Association (ANA) (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretative statements. http://www.sc.edu/nursing/CodeEthics.pdf
• American Nurse's Association (ANA) (1995). Nursing's social policy statement. http://www.nursingworld.org/books/tocs/socialpolicy.pdf
• American Nurse's Association (ANA) (1991) Standards of clinical nursing practice. http://www.lvcm.com/whavins/nnlh3.htm
• Laschinger, H. & Wong, C. (1999). Staff nurse empowerment and collective accountability. Nursing Economics, 17 (6), 308-318.
• Root, S. (2000). Implementing a shared governance model in the perioperative setting. AORN Journal, 72 (1), 95-104.

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• Persuasive Essay # 110741 : "Self-Empowerment in Nursing"

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