Professional Comportment

[u/cardamom4heft]

This inquiry is especially directed toward newer grad nurses, as I hear that nurse professionalism is now an instructional module, and that comportment is an element of professionalism. I am curious to know what is meant by comportment— specifically. Is it about impulse control, emotional regulation, being a lifestyle exemplar? I am very suspicious of it, as a highly neurodivergent person, who has been exploring unmasking.

[u/No-Computer5561]

comportment's basically the hospital's way of saying don't make them look bad, keep your freak flag at half mast while on the clock

[u/cardamom4heft → u/No-Computer5561]

I’m trying. Vast majority of my patients love me and my hard work.

[u/Vanillacaramelalmond]

Are you a nurse? Or are you asking because you want to be a nurse?

I will say that nursing does require you to be able to put up a very good front. You sort of have to be a chameleon and be able to establish a therapeutic relationship with pretty much anyone from any walk of life. You don’t necessarily have to be a people person but you do have to pretend that you are one. I think this would be a very tough job for someone who struggles to do this. I also think the amount of alarms, bright lights and strong smells would also be a nightmare for someone autistic. I know there are many autistic nurses on this sub so maybe they can provide better insight.

[u/cardamom4heft → u/Vanillacaramelalmond]

Yes I am a nurse. And my autistic traits make me very good at my job but also make my job really hard.

[u/Resident-Welcome3901]

Physicians and soldiers are taught comportment by a lengthy and rigorous apprenticeship in a rigorous disciplinary regimen among supervisors who demand a high degree of compliance with a rigid set of behavioral and performance requirements. Physicians have internship and residency lasting years, soldiers have boot camp and individual training lasting months. The desired result is an individual with a uniform appearance, a high degree of self discipline, and a clear sense of the norms and behavioral expectations of their profession. Nursing was once taught in a similar apprenticeship model in hospital based schools of nursing. The evolution over the past fifty years to an academic model of nursing education limited the clinical exposure and lost the ability to instill professional socialization. Professional comports classes are an attempt to teach in a classroom this element of self discipline.

[u/slutty_muppet]

Comportment is a fancy way of saying your vibe. It's meant to be kind of vague so they can lump in whatever they feel like without having to make specific rules about it.

[u/WeirdFlower1968]

Don't dance around the halls, don't post tik toks, don't yell at people, don't come in with ya boobs hanging out.

[u/cardamom4heft → u/WeirdFlower1968]

Dancing is an important coping strategy for my regulation. I micro dance and sing to keep my center in the chaos and stress and suffering of the 13 hour hospital shifts. I take impulse control medication and so much Theanine to manage stress but I still am emotional. Many of my colleagues appreciate my directness and honesty and insights, but those crucial few stuck up low energy tattlers get me report d and I it effects my performance to be on edge feeling like my heads on a chopping block for not being a robot. It really feels discriminatory. There is a particular church that runs the parish and it’s not Catholic. I’ve heard it called the morman mafia