The Exemplary Practice Life of the Nurse.

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.

Best organizational practices that foster scholarly nursing practice in Magnet® hospitals.

BACKGROUND: For nurses to become leaders in the transformation of the future health care delivery system, they need organizational support to develop a scholarly nursing practice across a full career trajectory. PURPOSE: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe best organizational practices that support the development and growth of a scholarly nursing practice throughout a nurse's full career progression. METHOD: Thirty-two senior nurse leaders from American Nurses Credentialing Corporation Magnet® hospitals were interviewed. Questions focused on strategies used in the workplace to support nurses' growth and development of a scholarly nursing practice. Content analysis was used to analyze data. RESULTS: The following themes emerged: The Organization Creates and Sustains a Core Culture Supportive of Scholarly Nursing Practice; Expectations for Professional Development; Resources that Support Scholarly Nursing Practice; and Power of the Senior Nurse Leader. Nursing culture in the institutions led by our participants had a significant and influential impact on the overall organizational culture. CONCLUSIONS: A nursing culture that embraces a scholarly nursing practice environment is one that is tightly integrated with an overall institutional culture that supports nursing. Senior nurse leaders were the driving force behind the development of a culture that supports scholarly nursing practice.

The Development of a Clinical Nurse Scholar in Baccalaureate Education.

The purpose of this national study was to explore the vision of chief academic officers for baccalaureate nursing education. We invited chief academic nursing officers, randomly selected from a representative sample of accredited baccalaureate nursing programs to participate in the study. Audiotaped interviews were conducted in focus groups at professional meetings or by telephone and were transcribed verbatim. Data collection continued until thematic saturation was reached (N = 29). Analysis of the findings revealed themes that described future vision for baccalaureate education that provides guidance to faculty as they develop curriculum. An overarching theme "We are all Stewards of the Profession" and three supporting themes emerged: "Learning Pathways are Varied," "Faculty Need to Grow," and "New Pedagogies Need to Focus on the Development of 'Who I Am' as a Clinical Scholar." Findings point to a future where diverse learning pathways are integrated throughout the curriculum. The curriculum of tomorrow will place greater emphasis on the development of professional identity as a nurse and calls for expanded stewardship for nursing education. Deans recommended that investing time and resources into well-designed faculty development programs will help all faculty, regardless of appointment, to adapt to changing student needs and rapidly evolving practice environments.

Scholarly nursing practice from the perspectives of early-career nurses.

Although clinical scholarship is an espoused professional ideal, how nurses develop and maintain a scholarly approach to nursing practice throughout different stages of their careers is not well understood. This qualitative study describes early-career nurses' accounts of pursuing professional practice as a scholarly endeavor. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 early-career nurses purposively sampled from an ANCC Magnet-designated tertiary-care facility. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Findings center on four major themes. I Need Skills First and My Practice Evolves explain how early-career nurses conceptualized their practice in its initial stage. I Think I Know What It Looks Like and I Am Not There Yet reflect their assessment of how their current practice level in comparison with their understanding of scholarly nursing practice. Nursing needs requires a new scholarly practice development paradigm for a multistage career beginning with a concerted focus on the critical first stage of practice.

Public service: Experienced nurses' views on social and civic responsibility.

Socially engaged nurses participate in public service because of their strong sense of civic and social responsibility. Public service within the profession of nursing has a historical mandate but is not well described in the literature. The purpose of this study was to describe how experienced nurses contribute nursing knowledge in public service, rationale for their service, and types of service activities. This article reports on a subset of data from a larger qualitative study exploring the meaning of scholarly nursing practice within the practice setting. Thirty-six nurses were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The major finding of this study is that all participants fully embraced the concept of public service as an integral component of their professional identity. Data were organized around the themes of what participants did in their public service and why they did it. Participants viewed public service as their responsibility as a professional nurse.

Essential elements of an optimal clinical practice environment.

OBJECTIVE: This study describes essential elements for an optimal clinical practice environment wherein scholarly nursing practice flourishes. BACKGROUND: Existing literature confirms that a healthy work environment that supports professional scholarly nursing practice is essential to retention and satisfaction of clinical nurses, enhanced patient safety, and improved patient/family outcomes. METHODS: A subset of data from a larger qualitative study was analyzed using content analysis. Semistructured interviews were conducted at the workplaces of 36 experienced clinical nurses. Data on workplace facilitators and barriers to scholarly nursing practice are reported. RESULTS: : The major study finding is that the optimal practice environment embraces scholarly nursing practice and balances care giving with professional development. The 4 themes integral to this balance included the following: (1) the practice environment needs to openly value scholarly nursing practice, (2) seamless support is needed at every level of the organization, (3) even clinical scholars have professional development needs, and (4) it is a 2-way street. CONCLUSION: This study provides new insights into unique key elements essential for the development of scholarly nursing practice in hospital environments.

Revisioning nursing scholarship.

PURPOSE: To propose a universal model of nursing scholarship that (a) indicates the importance of professional practice disciplines, (b) incorporates the synthesis of intellectual pursuit with social change, and (c) is holistic in its design. ORGANIZING CONSTRUCT: Scholarship, traditionally viewed as part of or generated in the university enterprise, must be an expectation in all settings in which a community of scholars from both discipline and practice can and do coexist. METHODS: Review and synthesis of the literature on scholarship, nursing scholarship, nursing as a practice discipline. FINDINGS: The history, culture, and intellectual property of nursing comprise an appropriate basis for adopting a universal holistic model of scholarship built upon a set of universal assumptions about nursing scholarship. As a discipline and a profession, nursing should include four connected domains in a universal holistic model of scholarship: knowing, teaching, practice, and service. CONCLUSIONS: Confirmation of this universal holistic model of scholarship can contribute significantly to a larger nursing identity. Use of universal holistic model of nursing scholarship indicates responsibility of the nursing profession collectively and all nurses individually. Additional work is needed to understand how a universal holistic model of nursing scholarship evolves across cultures, domains, and work settings.