Honesty is important in all careers, but it is especially crucial for people with nursing jobs, as they are frequently required to handle sensitive materials, deal with patients in difficult situations and rely closely on their co-workers. Unsurprisingly, many people consider nurses to have an inordinate amount of integrity. In fact, according to a recent Gallup poll, nurses once again earned the top spot in terms of professional honesty and ethical standards. This is nothing new, as nurses have placed first on the list nearly every year since 1999.
However, this does not mean that people in nursing careers should rest on their laurels. Indeed, in a profession that relies so heavily on honesty and trust, it is always important for nurses to regularly evaluate their integrity and continually look for ways to improve.
Here are some easy ways to make sure you are living up to the lofty standards of your profession and displaying integrity at every turn.
Follow through
According to NurseTogether, there is nothing more important to ensuring integrity in a nursing job than staying true to your word. Throughout a typical shift, a nurse has interactions with many different people, and it can be easy for him or her to unintentionally forget to follow up on something. However small this may seem, failing to keep your word can have serious repercussions, so it is important to take every measure possible to avoid this.
Therefore, keep track of your interactions. If you promise to revisit a patient at a certain time or complete a task for a co-worker, write it down in a notebook. This small step can help you organize your day and ensure that you can keep your word even during a hectic shift.
Camaraderie
Nursing jobs rely heavily on cooperation among colleagues. In the long run, this ensures that you will get the help you need in a pinch and that you can rely on your co-workers to do their best. However, this arrangement is not a given – it relies on trust and teamwork. If you want to cultivate a community among yourself and your workers, make sure you are always there to help your colleagues and that they know they can trust you in difficult situations.
Nurses are known for their high level of honesty, so do your part in preserving this reputation by maintaining a strict code of integrity and trustworthiness on every shift.