According to (Davis, 2017), professional accountability means being accountable for our practice in nursing, our work environment, and patient safety. The American Nursing Association’s Code of Ethics defines professional accountability as being answerable to oneself and others for one’s own actions. Not only do we hold high clinical practice and ethical standards for ourselves, but we must also be willing to accept professional responsibility when or if deviations from care standards occur. (Davis, 2017)
An example of how a nurse demonstrates professional accountability in clinical expertise, the nursing process, and evidence-based practice according to (Mick, 2014) is when newly hired nurses in a hospital setting go through an orientation period where they work under the guidance of a preceptor to learn about providing care to a specific patient population, or when graduate nurses are enrolled in a residency program where they’re mentored by seasoned practitioners before they practice independently. The information provided in these learning experiences from other nurses often serves as a source of knowledge for clinical decision making as nurses encounter similar situations when caring for patients. (Mick, 2014) states this as handoff of knowledge. Decision making also comes from self-assessment, when nurses begin to reflect on their practice as they gain proficiency and can draw upon knowledge gained from past experiences of applying interventions that resulted in good outcomes. (Mick, 2014)
In the end we as nurses are accountable not only to our patients and employers but to ourselves. In order to effectivly take care of our patients we must take care of ourselves and make the comitment to a lifelong learning endevor, challenging the status quo, and using quality evidence based practice proceedures to safely and effectivly care for patients.
References
Davis, C. (2017). The importance of professional accountability. Nursing made incredibly easy, 4. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/nursingmadeincrediblyeasy/Fulltext/2017/11000/The_importance_of_professional_accountability.1.aspx
Mick, J. (2014). Call to action: How to implement evidence-based nursing practice. Lippincot Nursing Center, 4. Retrieved from https://www.nursingcenter.com/cearticle?an=00152193-201704000-00011&Journal_ID=54016&Issue_ID=4077921