Assignment: Steps Toward being a Profession
Assignment: Steps Toward being a Profession
Nursing has taken many positive steps toward being considered a profession. Licensure, certification, credentialing, and accountability are now all part of the customary practices of nursing. Professional nursing associations further the professionalism of nursing through support of evidence-based practices and practices based on professional codes of conduct and standards. Nursing associations and unions support their members through various means. Nurses are becoming more involved in the political processes that influence both licensure and delivery of care. The role of the nurse is defined by the Nurse Practice Act and Scope of Practice. Because each state has its own Practice Act, it is even more critical that nurses are engaged in their professional associations and collectively bring their concerns to policy makers with a united voice. This week, you will further examine the characteristics of nursing as a profession. You will explore the role of professional organizations on current nursing practice and examine professional codes of conduct and standards. As you review the resources and information this week, you will see how these codes and standards impact nursing behavior. Objectives Students will: • Describe how professional codes of conduct and professional standards influence professional nurse behaviors
Application: Professional Power Locate and examine the regulations for licensure required by your state including any mandatory continuing education requirements. Then explore the influence of the American Nurses Association standards as well as legislation on nursing and health care practice in your state. Write a 2-3 page paper that has the following: 1. Purpose and introduction-
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Assignment: Steps Toward being a Profession
Assignment: Steps Toward being a Profession
Begin this paper with a brief paragraph that provides an overview of the assignment and its purpose. This will be about 2-3 sentences. This paragraph is worth 2 points. Within the introduction, I expected to see: a. The heading for this paragraph is the same as the title of the paper. b. An introduction to the topic: this is a brief paragraph that provides an overview of the assignment and its purpose c. The last sentence in this paragraph is a sentence that begins “The purpose of this paper is to… ¨.
2. Scope of practice –
Discuss the RN Scope of Practice in your state based on your state’s definition of nursing practice and requirements for initial and continuing licensure. Include any continuing education requirements. I expect to see: a. Heading: Scope of Practice b. Discuss the RN Scope of Practice in your state based on your state’s definition of nursing practice and requirements for initial and continuing licensure. Include any continuing education requirements.
3. ANA standards –
Evaluate EITHER the: • American Nurses Association (ANA) Standards for Professional Nursing Practice
OR • the nine provisions of the new Code of Ethics for Nurses approved in 2001 (https://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/2110Provisions.aspx )
Discuss at least 2 specific ways in which either ANA codes and standards for practice OR the nine provisions of the new Code of Ethics influence nursing practice. I expect to see: a. Heading: ANA Standards OR Code of Ethics b. Discuss at least 2 specific ways in which these codes and standards influence nursing practice
4. Summary –
Summarize your thoughts on the benefits and challenges presented by professional standards and codes of conduct. I expect to see: a. Heading: Summary b. Summary of the main points of the paper
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
Assignment: Steps Toward being a Profession
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.
