Definition and Criteria of a Profession

Source: Professional Nursing in the Philippines; 10th Edition; Lydia M. Venzon, RN, MAN, FPCHA & Ronald M. Venzon, RN, MAN

1. NURSING as a PROFESSION

2. Is Nursing a Profession?

3. A profession is “an occupation or calling requiring advanced training and experience in some specific or specialized body of knowledge which provides service to society in that special field.”

4. Criteria of a Profession

5. 1. A profession must satisfy an indispensable social need and must be based upon well established and socially accepted scientific principles.

6. 2. It must demand adequate pre-professional and cultural training.

7. 3. It must demand the profession of a body of specialized and systematized training.

8. 4. It must give evidence of needed skills which the public does not possess; that is, skills which are partly inherent and partly acquired.

9. 5. It must have developed a scientific technique which is the result of tested experience.

10. 6. It must require the exercise of discretion and judgment as to time and manner of the performance of duty.

11. 7. It must have a group of consciousness designed to extend scientific knowledge in technical language.

12. 8. It must have sufficient self-impelling power to retain its members throughout life. It must not be used as a mere stepping stone to other occupations.

13. 9. It must recognize its obligations to society by insisting that its members live up to an established code of ethics.

14. The Qualities of a Profession

15. 1. A profession applies its body of knowledge in practical services that are vital to human welfare, and especially suited to the tradition of seasoned practitioners shaping the skills of newcomers to the role.

16. 2. It constantly enlarges the body of knowledge it uses and subsequently imposes on its members a lifelong obligation to remain current in order to “do no harm”.

17. 3. A profession functions autonomously in the formulation of professional policy and in monitoring its practice and practitioners.

18. 4. It utilizes in its practice a well-defined and well-organized body of knowledge that is intellectual in nature and describes its phenomena of concern.

19. 5. A profession has a clear standard of educational preparation for entry into practice.

20. 6. A profession is distinguished by the presence of specific culture, norms, and other values that are common among its members.