Nursing has always been closely correlated with the idea of defining the pillars of professional practice to follow the instructions and secure a positive outcome. Thus, the sphere of professional nursing is characterized by various standards of development, encompassing both education and empirical performance (Harper & Bindon, 2020). The notion of professional development standards was created with the intention to assist nurses in terms of education and competency enhancement. In Florida, nursing practice is determined by the Florida Nurse Practice Act, according to which nurses should meet the minimum aspects of safe practice and avoid activities that harm the public. Although the naming of the standards tends to be modified over time, some of the major entities involved in the process remain unchanged:
- The process of assessment – the first stage is aimed at the identification of potential gaps in terms of professional competence;
- The process of learning needs outlining – after the assessment, it is important to dwell on the basic learning objectives that need to be covered in terms of standards development;
- The process of outcomes estimation – since every standard in nursing is aimed at securing successful practice, it is vital to estimate the tangible outcomes of the professional learning;
- Planning – the following stage concerns a detailed outline of the actions that need to be performed in the context of the competence development;
- Implementation – in terms of this entity, nurses are to ensure professional collaboration and application of knowledge to reach a set standard;
- Evaluation – the last aspect deals with the assessment of the standard application to either ensure its relevance or identify its inappropriateness (Harper & Bindon, 2020).
Hence, considering the aforementioned process of practice standard evaluation, it may be concluded that standards play a significant role in professional nursing practice, as they contribute to the overall development and enhance the practice efficiency. Moreover, when following a set standard, the nurse is able to conduct a full-scale evaluation of their performance. When speaking of the specific areas of nursing, the development of standards assists the practitioners during the process of becoming familiarized with the necessary equipment and information technology. Addressing such a specialty as a family nurse practitioner, these standards are obligatory for diagnosing patients with chronic diseases, following all treatment stages, and doing physical and diagnostic exams regarding the needs of patients.
Reference
Harper, M. G., & Bindon, S. L. (2020). Envisioning the future of nursing professional development. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 36(1), 39-40. Web.