Professional Characteristics of Nursing and the ANA Scope &amp Essay Example

and advocacy for patients who are unable to care for themselves. Accountability, autonomy, and service are all components necessary to the profession of nursing.

How do the ANA Scope and Standards inform the profession of nursing and your clinical practice? Unlike the layperson, the professional nurse is guided by and held accountable to standards of practice. According to the ANA’s Scope and Standards of Practice (2010), “Registered nurses are accountable for their professional actions to themselves, their healthcare consumers, their peers, and ultimately to society” (p. 10). In the overview of content, the ANA defines how it’s Scope and Standards of Practice informs the profession of nursing, “…outlines the expectations of the professional role of the registered nurse. It states the scope of practice and presents the standards of professional nursing practice and their accompanying competencies.” (ANA, 2010, p. xvii).

Combined with regulatory bodies that govern nursing, the ANA’s Scope and Standards provides the framework for which we work within as registered nurses. This work is useful for reference to all nurses, regardless of area of practice, to ensure that we are within the bounds of our profession when making clinical judgments.