The Registered Professional Nurse at Northside Hospital independently plans and provides professional nursing care to patients in accordance with physician orders and established guidelines, and in accordance with the scope of practice as defined by the Georgia Nurse Practice Act.

The American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Nursing: Scope and Standards of Nursing Practice, 3^rd Edition (2015), provides a definition of nursing as:

“Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations.”

Furthermore, the scope of practice of the registered nurse and the corresponding standards and competencies are dependent on the nurse’s education, experience, role and population served (ANA, Scope and Standards of Practice, 2015, p 2.). The practice of Professional Nursing at Northside Hospital utilizes ANA’s Scope and Standards of Professional Practice and Professional Performance, incorporates two additional components of clinical practice, and classifies all elements into five domains:

1. Clinical Knowledge and Practice
   • Assessment, Diagnosis, Outcomes Identification, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation; Clinical Information Systems (Documentation); Patient Care Technology.
2. Professional Practice
   • Communication, Culturally Congruent Practice, Ethics, Professional Practice Evaluation and Resource Utilization
3. Leadership
   • Collaboration, Community Involvement, Environmental Health and Leadership
4. Professional Development
   • Education of Self and Others, Expansion of Knowledge, Advancement of Practice, Contribution to the Professional/Clinical Specialty
5. Evidence-Based Practice, Quality and Research
   • Evidence-based Practice, Nursing Research, Quality of Practice, Patient Satisfaction Scores, External Reporting/Benchmarks

The Staff Registered Professional Nurse III (Staff RN III) is licensed to practice professional nursing in the state of Georgia, in good standing and without limitations; has a minimum of two years (2) years full-time experience as a registered professional nurse, and has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree, an Associate Degree (AD) or a Diploma in Nursing.

The Northside Hospital Staff RN III manages care of an assigned group of patients in accordance with the philosophy and policies of the nursing division, to include the Northside Nursing Collaborative Care Model. The practice of all professional nurses at Northside Hospital reflects the values of collaboration, communication, coordination, integration, and empowerment.

Northside Hospital Staff Registered Nurse positions are based on a sequential progression from a novice nurse to an expert. The job descriptions for Staff RN I to Staff RN VI therefore imply that a nurse who is employed at a specific level possesses the knowledge, skills, competencies and critical thinking abilities of all prior (lower) levels. As an example, the job description for Staff RN III includes all provisions of Staff RN I and II in addition to the specific requirements of the Staff RN III position.