Objective:

1. Students are able to reflect and describe the development of their professional
identity as a nurse.
2. Students demonstrate professionalism through autonomy, knowledge, competence,
accountability, advocacy, collaborative practice, commitment, and legal, ethical, and
responsible behavior.
Instructions for Professionalism Rubric: Demonstrating professionalism is essential to pass
the clinical portion of this course. Throughout the course, the student will have
opportunities to practice the entire scope of professionalism. At the instructors direction,
students and instructor will complete the Professionalism Rubric in order for the student to
ascertain their progress in developing their professional identity. By the end of the course,
the student should achieve Meets Expectation for every scope of professionalism
identified in the Professionalism Rubric. If the evaluation of Meets Expectation is not
achieved, the student will fail the clinical portion of NURS 210.
Instructions for Reflective Journal: Reflection is important to the process of developing
ones own professional identity. Instructors will indicate the week(s) the student will write
in their reflective journal. Entry will include one aspect of professionalism that they
demonstrated in class/lab/clinical and one area that requires improvement.
Scope of Professionalism Meets Expectations
10
1. Autonomy

Responsible
nursing care; self
directed with
supervision

2. Knowledge

Adequate
knowledge base to
carry out nursing
care
Consistently
competent in
performing nursing
care
Consistently
accepts
accountability for
own actions
Identifies
opportunities for
advocacy

3. Competence

4. Accountability

5. Advocacy

Needs
Improvement
5
Inconsistent
nursing care;
requires
intermittent
instruction
regarding
responsibilities
Inconsistent
knowledge base

Unsatisfactory
1

Inconsistently
competent in
performing nursing
care
Inconsistent
acceptance of own
actions

Uncertain about
nursing skills and
nursing process

Inconsistent
identification of
opportunities for

Uncertain or misses
opportunities for
advocacy

Uncertain about
responsibilities;
requires continuous
instruction &
supervision
Uncertain,
inadequate
knowledge base

Uncertain, unaware
about own
accountability

6. Collaborative
Practice

Identifies roles &

functions of each
member of health
care team

advocacy
Inconsistent
identification of
members of the
health care team

7. Commitment

Consistent
commitment to
develop
professionalism
Consistently
demonstrates legal,
ethical,
professional,
behaviors
Consistently
organized, clear,
specific; uses
correct grammar,
spelling,
punctuation

Inconsistent
commitment to
develop
professionalism
Inconsistently
demonstrates legal,
ethical,
professional,
behaviors
Inconsistently
organized, clear,
specific; uses
incorrect grammar,
spelling,
punctuation

8. Legal, Ethical,
Responsible
Behavior
9. Writing

Uncertain or
unaware about role
& functions of
health care team
members
Uncertain about
their commitment
to professionalism
Unable to identify
legal, professional,
ethical concepts &
behaviors
Disorganized,
unclear, unspecific;
incorrect grammar,
spelling,
punctuation

Reflect on your professional growth (using the professionalism rubric). What can you do
continue your professional growth outside of the clinical setting? What professional or
unprofessional behaviors did you see in the clinical setting, and how did you feel about it?

(Autonomy)
I feel like I met the expectations of autonomy this week. I was responsible for my own nursing
care, knowing what I needed to get done or what information I needed to gather. I was self
directed and required supervision only when necessary (Blood sugar checks, when I needed help
on clarification).
To continue my professional growth outside of the clinical setting, I will continue to be discreet
when necessary and only say appropriate things; always being mindful of who is around me and
what I may look like to other people.
I noticed a lot of professional behavior this week by the staff and other nursing students.
Everyone was being discreet about their patients and not sharing too much information. I did
notice some unprofessional behaviors this week from the nursing staff when they shared their
own personal opinion of a certain patient. Im not sure how I feel about it because I think that
everyone is entitled to have their own opinions. I just dont feel like those opinions need to
always be shared.

(Advocacy)
I was able to advocate for my patient today. He wanted to return back to bed after being placed in
a chair by PT. I called PT/OT to see when they were coming back up to the floor. Shortly after,
they arrived and placed him back in bed.
To continue my professional growth outside of the clinical setting, I can remain professional and
avoid acting immaturely. In the hospital/clinical setting, I want to make a good impression. So I
always think in my head, someone is watching me. With that thought, Ill always act
professional, avoiding all and any immature actions.
My nurse was very professional towards me today. I liked it. She kept her cool about everything
I bugged her about, and she remained objective. She also didnt miss a chance to teach me
something, if an opportunity came up.

(Knowledge)
I feel like I need improvement on my knowledge. My patient this week is a dialysis patient and I
was very unfamiliar with certain terminology (fistula vs graft, permacath, tunneled catheter).
Being unfamiliar with certain terms makes understanding the patients condition extremely
difficult.
I noticed a lot of professional behavior on the floor this week, especially on Friday. My room
was in between two high profile patients. One patient has been in the media lately due to his
incident, and the other had police officers guarding the room and sitting the patient. I dont know
what that patients situation is, but I did notice he was cuffed to the bed. The professional
behavior I noticed was how discreet the staff was. No one was being nosey about anything and
everyone minded their own business.

(Competence)
I feel like I need to improve in this category because I preform certain nursing skills
inconsistently. I usually do a good job if I had just seen someone do it, or I did it the previous
day, or messed up on it the previous day. Sometimes I take a long time to accomplish things
because I take a while thinking it through. But sometimes, the information is fresh in my brain
and Im able to effectively do the skills.

(Collaborative Practice)
Since I was able to follow the wound nurses this week, I was exposed to other floors and other
staff members of each floor. I was able to see/hear about how MDs, nurses, social workers, etc
are all involved in a patients care. Even though I didnt personally contact or talk to anyone, I
was still able to see how each person is connected with the patient and how professionalism is
very important. Especially when it comes to documentation and communication.
I did see some unprofessional behaviors from one of the wound nurses this week, but I wasnt
bothered by it. I think because its what helps her connect to the patients. For example, shell use
lament terms around them, and even swear sometimes. But I feel like this helps the patients trust
her because they view her as a regular person or a friend and not an employee.