Professional Nursing Practice Study Guide Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from nursing lecture study guide notes covering professionalism, communication, boundary management, SBAR handoffs, the nursing process, and Tanner's clinical judgment model.

Profession

Specialized work that requires formal education, a specific body of knowledge, ethical standards, autonomy, and individual accountability.

Kelly's Criteria (1981)

The seven key features identified by Kelly that distinguish a profession from a regular occupation, modernly used to define a profession.

Occupation vs. Profession

Occupations involve variable on-the-job training and experience-guided decisions, whereas professions require prolonged higher education, mental creativity, and evidence-based practice.

Nursing's Social Policy Statement

A foundational publication in nursing literature that establishes the essence of the profession and its obligation to patients.

Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice

Standardized literature that outlines the professional expectations and responsibilities of the nursing role.

Code of Ethics for Nurses

A foundational document with interpretive statements designed to strengthen and guide decision-making and ethical conduct for nurses.

Collegiality

The professional standard that nurses work better together than alone and have a collective responsibility to support each other to improve patient safety and reduce burnout.

Values and Ethics for Interprofessional Practice

The first domain of interprofessional collaborative practice, centered on mutual respect across all job titles on the healthcare team.

Orientation Phase

The initial phase of the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship where trust is established, individuals see each other as unique, and major patient problems are identified.

Working Phase

The main phase of the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship where clinical progress occurs despite normal, expected fluctuations in patient engagement and resistance.

Termination Phase

The planned, intentional ending of the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship where specific closing activities are completed together in a healthy manner.

Self-Awareness

A nurse's active understanding of their own emotions, biases, and reactions, and how those factors translate directly to patient interaction.

Self-Disclosure

Sharing personal information with a patient, which becomes problematic if it focuses on the nurse's needs, becomes frequent, or confuses the patient.

Professional Boundaries

The spaces between the nurse's power (derived from clinical position and private knowledge) and the client's vulnerability, as defined by the NCSBN (2014).

Role Confusion

Boundary violations that occur when a nurse consciously or unconsciously attempts to meet their own personal needs through the patient interaction.

Zone of Helpfulness

The central, professional area on the continuum of behavior where a nurse remains engaged with a patient while maintaining appropriate boundaries.

Under-Involvement

Unprofessional boundary behavior on the continuum of professional care characterized by distant or neglectful patient care.

Over-Involvement

Unprofessional boundary behavior on the continuum of care ranging from personal entanglement, secrecy, and special treatment to sexual misconduct.

Patient-Centered Care

A care delivery model aimed at addressing poor care quality, limited access, and dehumanization by treating patients as whole individuals rather than tasks.

Swanson's 5 Caring Processes

A framework for patient-centered care consisting of Knowing, Being With, Doing For, Enabling, and Maintaining Belief.

Communication Theory

The study of all modes of behavior—conscious or unconscious—that one person uses to affect another, extending beyond spoken words.

Denotative Meaning

The literal, objective, dictionary definition of a word shared across a language community.

Connotative Meaning

The emotional or implied interpretation of a word influenced by context, culture, or individual experience.

Congruent Communication

Communication in which verbal and nonverbal messages align with one another.

Incongruent Communication

Communication in which verbal and nonverbal messages contradict one another.

Intrapersonal Communication

Self-talk or internal communication that occurs within an individual.

Transpersonal Communication

Communication that takes place within an individual's spiritual domain.

Active Listening

A communication technique that involves giving undivided focus to a speaker and acknowledging their feelings without judgment.

Therapeutic Communication

Communication strategies, such as open-ended questions, restating, and silence, that build trust and support patient healing.

Non-Therapeutic Communication

Communication practices, such as false reassurance, defensive responses, or asking 'why' questions, that block open communication and patient trust.

SBAR / I-SBAR-R

A standardized clinical handoff framework representing Introduction, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation, and Readback.

Nursing Process

A systematic, five-step clinical framework comprising Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADPIE).

Subjective Data

Health details and symptoms reported directly by the patient, such as verbal expressions of distress or pain descriptions.

Objective Data

Observable and measurable clinical information collected through observation, physical examination, and diagnostic tests.

SUE Framework

A nursing prioritization tool used during care planning that ranks issues by Safety, Urgency, and Essential needs.

SMART Goals

Objective patient outcomes designed to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-sensitive.

Psychomotor Domain

A domain of learning involving physical movement and motor-skill acquisition, evaluated by speed, distance, or time.

Cognitive Domain

A domain of learning that involves intellectual skills and knowledge acquisition, ranging from basic memory recall to synthesis.

Affective Domain

A domain of learning that encompasses emotional growth, feelings, values, and changing attitudes.

Independent Interventions

Nurse-initiated actions that require no direction or oversight from other healthcare providers and fall under the state Nurse Practice Act (NPA).

Dependent Interventions

Nursing actions that require orders, written prescriptions, or direct supervision from another authorized healthcare provider.

Interdependent Interventions

Collaborative nursing care measures carried out in consultation or cooperation with members of a multidisciplinary team.

Clinical Judgment

An iterative clinical thinking process composed of recognizing cues, analyzing cues, prioritizing hypotheses, generating solutions, taking action, and evaluating outcomes.

Tanner's Clinical Judgment Model

A clinical reasoning framework for nursing practice comprised of four core processes: Noticing, Interpreting, Responding, and Reflecting.

Reflection-in-Action

The real-time evaluation and adjustment of clinical reasoning and interventions as care is being delivered to the patient.

Reflection-on-Action

The post-event evaluation of clinical actions and outcomes that converts practical experience into long-term professional knowledge.