The nurse participates in the advancement of the
profession through contributions to practice, education,
administration, and knowledge development.
7.1 Advancing the profession through active
involvement in nursing and in healthcare policy
7.2 Advancing the profession by developing, maintaining, and
implementing professional standards in clinical, administrative,
and educational practice
7.3 Advancing the profession through knowledge development,
dissemination, and application to practice
7.1 Advancing the profession through active
involvement in nursing and in healthcare policy
Nurses should advance their profession by contributing in some way to the leadership,
activities, and the viability of their professional organizations. Nurses can
also advance the profession by serving in leadership or mentorship roles or on
committees within their places of employment. Nurses who are self-employed
can advance the profession by serving as role models for professional integrity.
Nurses can also advance the profession through participation in civic activities
related to health care or through local, state, national, or international initiatives.
Nurse educators have a specific responsibility to enhance students’ commitment to
professional and civic values. Nurse administrators have a responsibility to foster
an employment environment that facilitates nurses’ ethical integrity and professionalism,
and nurse researchers are responsible for active contribution to the body
of knowledge supporting and advancing nursing practice.
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7.2 Advancing the profession by developing, maintaining, and
implementing professional standards in clinical, administrative,
and educational practice
Standards and guidelines reflect the practice of nursing grounded in ethical commitments
and a body of knowledge. Professional standards and guidelines for
nurses must be developed by nurses and reflect nursing’s responsibility to society. It is the responsibility of nurses to identify their own scope of practice as permitted
by professional practice standards and guidelines, by state and federal laws,
by relevant societal values, and by the Code of Ethics.
The nurse as administrator or manager must establish, maintain, and promote
conditions of employment that enable nurses within that organization or community
setting to practice in accord with accepted standards of nursing practice and
provide a nursing and healthcare work environment that meets the standards and
guidelines of nursing practice. Professional autonomy and self-regulation in the
control of conditions of practice are necessary for implementing nursing standards
and guidelines and assuring quality care for those whom nursing serves.
The nurse educator is responsible for promoting and maintaining optimum
standards of both nursing education and of nursing practice in any settings where
planned learning activities occur. Nurse educators must also ensure that only those
students who possess the knowledge, skills, and competencies that are essential to
nursing graduate from their nursing programs.
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7.3 Advancing the profession through knowledge development,
dissemination, and application to practice
The nursing profession should engage in scholarly inquiry to identify, evaluate,
refine, and expand the body of knowledge that forms the foundation of its discipline
and practice. In addition, nursing knowledge is derived from the sciences and from
the humanities. Ongoing scholarly activities are essential to fulfilling a profession’s
obligations to society. All nurses working alone or in collaboration with others
can participate in the advancement of the profession through the development,
evaluation, dissemination, and application of knowledge in practice. However, an
organizational climate and infrastructure conducive to scholarly inquiry must be
valued and implemented for this to occur.
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