You Are What You Are

Nursing has consistently been voted the most trusted profession.  People are trusted when they are in integrity.  They say what they are going to do and do it.  They can be counted on.  They are their word. When empowered nurses use their GIFTS, they can speak their mind, stand in their powers and, of course, be a change agent to improve patient care.  And when empowered nurses don’t, that’s when problems can occur.

The I in GIFTS is about integrity.  Integrity is such an important topic. Integrity doesn’t just mean telling the truth because nurses are hopefully honest people. It’s also about being in touch with your core values and what’s important to you and acting in line with your values.

If you’re person that values health and wellness, the first thing you do when you get out of bed is to put on those tennis shoes and go for a run or whatever you do and you don’t think about, “Oh, what can I have for breakfast?  Pancakes or French toast?”  Because health is a core value.

Whatever your core values are, are you in line with those core values?  Are you living and practicing your core values?  We all have similar core values, being kind to others, do unto others as you they would want to do to you but each person is unique.

Sometimes it can be hard to live your core values. The other day I was on the phone with our internet provider because we were having trouble with our service. I was very frustrated because our service was not working properly and I was getting the run around.  I have this core value of being nice to people and treating people with respect and dignity and I have to be honest, my buttons were being pushed.

Being in integrity is all the time, 24/7.  Being in integrity: in line with your core values, in line with what’s important to you.

And, of course, the honesty and trustworthiness is important as well because everybody wants a nurse who’s honest and trustworthy. Some things to think about are when you do your charting, are you documenting accurately what you’re seeing?  Are you documenting accurately what the patients are telling you?

I’ve had situations where employers have asked their nurses to go back and fill in holes in the medical records.  And is that being in integrity?  If you know exactly what the holes were and you actually remember doing that task, then make it a late entry and that’s fine.  But to just blatantly put your name in because your supervisor asks you to fill in the hole, that’s where trouble can occur.

On your renewal application, it asks you have you been terminated or disciplined in your capacity as a registered nurse or healthcare provider in the past two years.  Are you honest about that?  What about attendance?  If you’ve been written up for attendance, you have got to mark “yes.”  Being in integrity means letting the State know and answering honestly.  If you do not answer honestly or are not sure about the question, that is when problems can occur.

So, remember your “I” in integrity, know your core values and be in line with them.  And then you can be an empowered nurse.