Nursing Professionalism & Values

Professional Development

Nurse leaders at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital value professional certification and professional development to achieve optimum outcome for patients. Understanding subspecialty certification is proven to increase the quality of care delivery, improve patient safety and outcomes, validate professional experience and strengthen credibility. The organization has created partnerships with various credentialing bodies to provide financial incentives to participate in professional nursing organizations and achievement of national certification.

The organization covers the cost of review courses, allowing nurses to access these study resources free of charge. Professional development is supported through conference participation provided by the Frida Hill Beck endowment fund. Tuition reimbursement is offered to support nurses in advancement of formal education.

Research and Evidence Based Practice

Nursing research is an integral part of nursing practice at Nicklaus Children's Hospital. This research includes quality basic and clinical research focused on understanding health and illness experiences. The nursing shared leadership Research & EBP Council supports and coordinates nursing research activities, and members serve as mentors to staff who conduct research projects.

ANA Code of Ethics

The ANA Code of Ethics for nurses is the fundamental core of nursing practice. The Code of Ethics provides nurses with ethical and legal direction within their profession to ensure optimal quality of care is provided at all times. All nurses are expected to practice in accordance with the ANA Code of Ethics as their professional standard of practice at Nicklaus Children's Hospital.

Florida Nurse Practice Act

The Florida Nurse Practice Act defines the scope of practice for nurses and ensures by licensure that all nurses practicing in the state of Florida meet minimum requirements for safe practice. The Florida Nurse Practice Act represents the laws that govern and regulate nursing’s scope of practice within the state of Florida.

ANA Scope and Standards of Practice

The ANA Scope and Standards of Practice are the standards of professional performance for nurses. These standards describe a competent level of behavior that all nurses in the profession are expected to perform in professional activities within their role appropriate to their education and position. The ANA Scope and Standards direct the profession of nursing and provide the foundation for nursing practice.

Peer Review

The 1988 ANA defines Peer Review as "an organized effort whereby practicing professionals review the quality and appropriateness of services ordered or performed by their professional peers." Peer Review aids in the evaluation of the quality and quantity of nursing care, helps determine strengths and weaknesses of nursing care, provides evidence for change in practice protocols to improve care, and identifies practice patterns that indicate need for more knowledge.

At Nicklaus Children's Hospital there are two forms of peer review. The first form of peer review is incident-based peer review that is evaluated through the peer review committee and the second form is unit-level peer to peer feedback based on objective clinical practice.