Professional Experience Placement

This article entitled The core business of caring: A nursing oxymoron by Linda shields (2014),  discusses the idea of caring and the use of the term in nursing. She argues that caring has been lost and nurses, in Australia should fight to retain caring as a core business. Shields discusses the literature on caring, its connotations and historical beginnings. She traces the breadth of caring in different contexts that have impacted on the role. Shields then shifts the dialogue of the essay to current times.  She discusses the ‘crisis in caring’ using the current evidence from the United Kingdom. Shields (2014) points out the increase in employment of unregulated workers in Australia and that registered nurses retain legal responsibility for the work undertaken by health care assistants. She indicates that the belief that Australia too, runs the risk of diminishing standards of caring. The author raises queries about the current family-based model of care; shorter length of hospital stay; less critical thinking due to charts and algorithms and the incorrect use of competencies. Shields challenges readers to critically think about the nurses who have upheld the notion of caring and how to ensure that caring is retained as a core business of nursing in this country.

The implications of the ideas in this paper for clinical supervisors are potentially profound.  Clinical supervisors nurture and guide the next generation of nurses. Students model the behaviour of their mentors, preceptors, facilitators and supervisors. Caring behaviour, advocacy and education at the bedside or point of care is imperative to show these novices that caring is a core business. Clinical supervisors can also demonstrate caring in other ways outlined by Shields who listed membership, engagement with professionals bodies and industrial organisations. She mentioned lobbying politicians and judicious use of social media were other methods of uphold and improve the perception of nursing as a profession in this country. Clinical supervisors have an opportunity to assist with shaping the future of nursing by demonstrating caring is a core business and showing students how caring can be incorporated into each patient interaction.

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