In Pursuit of Professional Perfectionism

Abstract

As an undergraduate student, I continuously strove to improve my nursing knowledge, skills, and clinical practice. In clinical settings, I observed numerous practitioners and registered nurses (RNs) who appeared to perform their jobs in efficient ways, and I often wondered whether one day I might be part of that group of skilled healthcare providers (HCPs). As a student, I had not observed practitioners who were involved in errors and did not have the opportunity to discuss errors with colleagues in the clinical setting. In the academic setting, the topic of errors seemed quite abstract and I believed an error would be something that nursing students would be involved in, but certainly not the skilled practitioners I observed in the clinical setting.Following personal reflection on the topic of professional perfectionism, I proceeded to examine Brian Goldman's TED speech regarding the impediment that perfectionism may provide to open discussion of errors in the healthcare system (TED Conferences 2011). As stated by Brian Goldman, HCPs may believe that if only we would memorize everything and possess enough knowledge, we would be immune to making errors (TED Conferences 2011). When an error occurs, we might feel isolated and find ourselves examining not only that particular situation but also our competence as practitioners. I am interested in examining whether the lack of discussion of errors by HCPs with nursing students contributes to the perfectionist ideal that learners may develop and continue to strive for in their clinical practice as RNs.