What Makes a Nurse?

There are many external and internal influences on the profession of nursing. Our profession is both an art and science of delivering high-quality, compassionate, ethical, equitable, safe care to individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations.

Evidence

• Robust, scholarly evidence is critical to the science of nursing.

Practice

• The collective autonomous independent professional actions of the nurse in any role or setting.

Influences

• Code of Ethics for Nurses
• Nursing Professional Scope and Standards
• Specialty Certification
• Practice Setting including Organizational Policy and Procedures
• Nurse Practice Acts (law), Rules and Regulations
• Population Focus
• Consensus Model

Safety

• The state of being "safe," protection from harm or other undesirable outcomes.

Quality

• The degree to which nursing services for healthcare consumers, families, groups, communities, and populations increase the likelihood of desirable outcomes and are consistent with evolving nursing knowledge.

*Adopted from Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th Edition, American Nurses Association 2021