NSE 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Public Health Nursing, Telehealth, Health Professional
NSE 112: WEEK 4 : RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A SELF RUGUALTED HEALTH
Characteristics of a profession
- Intellectual with high responsibility
- Learned in nature, based on a body of knowledge
- Practical rather than theoretical
- Technique can be taught through educational discipline
- Well organized internally
- Motivated by altruism
• One definition of a profession: a complex knowledge base, use by person committed to the
direct benefit of human beings, with minimal societal control placed on their practice, and
organized among themselves to ensure that thye continue to provide those benefits.
• Traits of profession.
− Complex knowledge base.
− Research underpins knowledge
− University education
− Lengthy supervised period of preparation
− Altruistic service
− Code of conduct/ ethics (many professions developed these late in emergence of the
profession)
− Minimal societal control: control over educational standard by members, self-regulation.
Nursing Careers
- Front-line nursing
- Nursing educators
- Nursing supervisors and managers
- Administrators
- Community nursing, rural nursing
- Public health nursing, telehealth
- Researcher/ professors
- Consultants
- Advanced practice nurses.
• Professional roles and responsibilities:
− Staying current in terms of knowledge and skills
− Providing care/ treatment/ comfort
− Health promotion
− Facilitating transition between environments for patients.
o Nursing education’s path> professionalism;
− 1874- St. Catherine’s first nursing education program
− 1919-UBC starts first degree program
− In 1953 – term “Registered Nurse” becomes a protected title to differentiate qualified and
unqualified nurses
− 1959-UWO starts first Master’s in nursing program which encouraged the idea of research
development in nursing
− 1991 U of A opens first doctoral program in nursing.
− 2000-entry-to-practice continues although the official “deadline” has passed.
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o Developing a code of Ethics:
− Late in the process of professionalization, legal protection and ethical codes- the focus of the
profession
− 1950 ANA first North American Code of Ethics.
− 1953 ICN approved a code of ethics, used by Canada until 1980.
− 1980 CAN develops fist code of ethics of its own and continues to revise now, with formal
revision occurring about every five years.
o Registration and Licensure:
− Some form of licensing or registration necessary for professions. Why?
− Control of profession is left to the profession.
• Improve standards of practice and education
• Register members and monitor professional conduct
• Judge the practice of professionals when disputes arise
• Authority to remove from practice those who are found to be incompetent or unethical
− Different! - but the terms are often used interchangeably
− Licensure: granted by the provincial or territorial body (CNO), it is the exclusive legal right
(like a ‘license’ to drive) to practice a profession (not just anyone can call themselves “nurse”)
− Registration: list of members in good standing of an organization
− Ensures minimum level of safe practice
− Those registered:
• Must meet practice requirements
• Must show no evidence of unsafe practice
• Must show evidence of expanding knowledge and competence to meet evolving
requirements as the profession changes
− 1991-regulated Health Profession Act (RHPA) in Ontario
− What RHPA is? regulation/ registration for 26 health professional groups including nursing
• Aim: to regulate professional procedures. – scope of practice and controlled acts
• Focus/ goal: consumer choice, equity care and openness/transparency
• How does the RHPA do this? provides “consumers” choice of safe, licensed & competent
professionals. Most recently, had an impact upon nurse practitioners & midwives.
− Goals of the RHPA:
• To ensure that the health professions are regulated & coordinated in the public interest
• That appropriate standards of practice are developed & maintained
• That individuals have access to service provided by the health professions of their choice
• That individuals are treated with sensitivity & respect in their dalting with ehalth professionals
their Colleges & the Board.
o Terms I must know:
- Controlled Act:
• Something that only a qualified professional can do
• May be dangerous or result in harm if a non-qualified professional performs this
o Scope of Practice (nursing act, 1991):
• Describes, in a general way, what a profession does, the methods it may use and how the
professionals practice
find more resources at oneclass.com
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