The Exemplary Practice Life of the Nurse

Abstract

Nurses consistently stand out in extraordinary ways especially during a global crisis, recently confirmed in the current Covid-19 pandemic. What is opportune this time is the call for clarity around what nurses do and what society can expect from them. Nurses, as members of a global profession, need a platform to build a contemporary practice life. This paper proposes the model: The Exemplary Practice Life of the Nurse . It provides a framework to explicate the essence of the role of the nurse. The model posits four inter-related essential components or pillars that ground a nurse's behavior and commitment: professionalism, leadership, scholarly practice, and stewardship. This uncomplicated, straightforward model is universally applicable for nurses to apply in whatever roles they hold and at any point in their careers. The use of a holistic model, as a guide across a full career trajectory, supports the nurse's ability to prioritize individual pillars while understanding the inter-relationship and influence among the four pillars. The authors pose assumptions that form the basis of the registered nurse role and provide the foundation for the exemplary practice life of the nurse. They make recommendations to nurses, the profession, the workplace, the academy, and the community.

Job strain and burnout in Spanish nurses during the COVID-19: resilience as a protective factor in a cross-sectional study

“…Nurses are essential workers highly valued and recognized by society, and all the more so during the COVID-19 pandemic due to their importance in healthcare [ 1 ]. It cannot be ignored that during the work day nurses are exposed to chronic stress [ 2 , 3 ], which generates harmful effects such as job strain, and even burnout [ 4 – 7 ].…”

Facilitating family‐focused Care of Older adults living in Long‐Term Care in Canada during Restricted Visiting due to COVID‐19

“…Sandelowski and Barroso (2003) discussed the use of "imported concepts" (p. 166) which are concepts researchers did not generate themselves during the analysis, but concepts the researchers believe will be helpful in framing the experience under investigation. The themes that the research team generated during analysis parallel the four pillars of exemplary nursing practice in the framework developed by Riley et al (2021). Theses pillars are professionalism, scholarly practice, leadership and stewardship, and they act as imported concepts to frame discussion of the findings.…”

“…Professionalism is the first tenet of exemplary nursing care (Riley et al, 2021). Professionalism includes a combination of character, values, conduct and actions (Riley et al, 2021) that are integral to exemplary care as they help ensure the health and well-being of residents and families.…”

“…The third pillar of exemplary nursing care is leadership (Riley et al, 2021). Riley et al (2021) assert that nurses who exhibit leadership advance themselves, others, and the profession with humility, inclusivity and generosity of spirit. There are multiple examples from the data of nurses exhibiting these traits.…”

“…To reduce subjective interpretations of the term exemplary, we refer to a conceptual model proposed by Riley et al (2021). This model, known as ‘The Exemplary Practice Life of the Nurse’ (EPLN), depicts pillars of exemplary nursing practice: professionalism, scholarly practice, leadership and stewardship (Riley et al, 2021).…”