Introduction The Nursing Scope of Practice for Hamad Medical Corporation is a competency framework built on five domains intrinsic to the role of the nurse:
- Professional and Ethical Practice
- Clinical Practice
- Leadership and Management
- Education, Learning and Development
- Research and Improvement
Each domain is described through competency standards and performance criteria that define the requirements for practice demanded of the registered nurse. This information is to be used as a foundation for all registered nursing roles, professional development and performance appraisal.
Definition
The International Council of Nurses definition of nursing states that:
“Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles. “
(ICN 2010).
The registered nurse is an individual who holds a current, valid license issued under a national authority or board that authorizes them to practice nursing and use the title registered nurse. The "practice of nursing as a registered nurse" means providing care to individuals and/or groups requiring specialized knowledge, judgment, and skill derived from the biological, physical, behavioural, social, and/or nursing sciences. Such nursing care could include but is not exhaustive:
- Identifying patterns of human responses to actual or potential health problems amenable to nursing intervention.
- Executing a plan of nursing care based on comprehensive assessment, selection of appropriate evidence-based interventions and evaluation of response or outcomes.
- Assessing health status for the purpose of planning, delivering and evaluating nursing care. This involves the collection of data through assessment, which may include interviews, observation and physical evaluations for the purpose of planning, providing and evaluating the outcomes of care.
- Providing health education and patient/family teaching.
- Undertaking delegated activities such as administration of medications, treatments, and executing interventions delegated by an individual authorized by their own professional registration and acting within their scope of professional practice.
- Teaching, administering, supervising, delegating, and evaluating nursing practice.
- Nursing interventions" could include preventative, restorative, palliative and/or health-promoting activities.