Introduction: Standards are important aspects of nursing that a nurse must learn and implement every day for the remainder of their nursing career. These standards ensure the nurse's competence in the quality of care provided to the public. The standards offer much-needed guidance to nurses around the world as they seek to ensure that people are treated correctly and ethically. Patients expect nurses to have general knowledge of the medical field and know exactly what they, as nurses, are responsible for. Nurses must have a sense of professionalism that allows the patient to feel safe and protected, knowing that a competent person is taking care of him. Lack of professionalism does the opposite, making it impossible for a patient to trust or respect the nurse caring for them. Nursing standards, when used correctly, give the nurse the sense of professionalism that the patient expects. It ensures patient safety and enables the nurse to provide the quality healthcare expected from a medical professional. Discussion: The six standards of practice are very important. According to the first standard, assessment, the nurse evaluates health information about the patient. This information could be about a health problem such as asthma or a psychological problem such as anxiety which is necessary knowledge before treatment can begin. Once this is achieved, the second standard, diagnosis, begins. Under this standard the nurse takes the information obtained from the assessment and uses it to derive a diagnosis of the individual. The third standard, identifying outcomes, gets the nurse to think about the patient's expected outcomes involving an ace…middle of the paper…as a blur. In such fast-paced and erratic circumstances, when things happen so quickly that it becomes difficult to think (such as in the case of an emergency), these 15 nursing standards serve as stable ground for a nurse to stand on. They provide the necessary elements for critical thinking, a skill that describes the difference between a nurse and a great nurse. STANDARDS AND PERFORMANCE OF CARE 7ReferenceAssociation, AN (2010). Nursing scope and standards of practice. (2nd ed.) Maryland: American Nurses Association. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from http://media.wix.com/ugd/8c99f2_4fde86431966e34f2e03bbb137edfee3.pdfEcker, M., & Potter, P. A. (2009). Critical thinking and professional standards in nursing practice. In P. A. Potter, & A. G. (7th ed.) Perry, Fundamentals of nursing (pp. 215-324). Saint Louis MO: Mosby-Elsevier.