Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice

Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice

Introduction.

At the start of this course, my nursing philosophy was constricted in the bounds of nursing as an aspect of care and convergence of the four meta paradigms. Conversely, however, my nursing philosophy has been greatly transformed through this course. I now see nursing as the backbone of all therapeutic care involving not just clinical and critical condition care but also everyday care within homes and work settings. Theories such as Levine’s conservation model have broken out of the normal internal environment to address pertinent issues within the external environment that impact on care delivery and intervention.

Nursing art relates to the ability of nurses to create and maintain mutually beneficial interactions with patients that usually translates to an overall enhanced nursing experience that eventually speeds up the healing and recovery process. The art of nursing calls for superior interpersonal skills and, as Madeleine Leininger posits, an ability of nurses to recognize and understand cultural diversities hence the variation of norms, habits, and values among patients. By appreciating and navigating through these diversities, nurses can forge mutually beneficial relationships for enhanced care.

On the other hand, nursing science entails the discovery of new information, techniques, knowledge, and skills meant to grow the professional perspectives of caregivers. Nursing science is based on actual research and factfinding based on discrete data, making it possible to identify possible improvement areas in practice. By understanding and synthesis of new information, nurses are better equipped to address the changing needs and preferences of consumers in the modern world. One future nursing perspective is Martha Rogers’ concept of space-age nursing.

Challenges to My Nursing Philosophy

The first major idea that challenges my assumption on nursing is Florence Nightingale’s view that “that health means more than the mere absence of disease.” (McEwen & Wills, 2017, p. 135). This position is a unique one, especially considering that most of us nurses and even health practitioners want to treat and discharge patients immediately after symptoms subside. Nightingale (1954) rightly defined health as the capacity “to be well but to be able to use well every power we have” (p. 357). Here, I learned that as nurses, we should not just be concerned with symptoms but rather with the individual patient as a system.

The synergy model for optimizing patients’ outcomes also posed a great challenge to my nursing values. While I previously believed in the power of nurses to alter the external environment, I did not at once think of the ability and consequent responsibility of nurses to optimize both their own and their patients’ outcomes for an enhanced therapeutic experience. The synergy model posits that by focusing on enhancing patient outcomes such as functional and behavioral change, trust, satisfaction, and comfort, the patient is likely to respond better to treatment and enhance the quality of care.

Conflict issue

The one concept that I deem to be conflicting is Martha Rogers’ concept on the ability to provide emergency medical nursing intervention in space. While the concept is still undergoing further inquiry, I tend to believe the possibility of this venture could be more costly than beneficial. I would recommend a critical deconstruction of this concept to analyze its feasibility and long-term usefulness to nursing practice.

Action steps

As a community nursing enthusiast, I have taken steps to link mainstream clinical therapeutic care to community preventive oncology and grassroots critical condition care. These steps include advocating for nurses to escape the clinical comfort zone and engage in activities that promote healthy living for the prevention of chronic illnesses. I am also advocating for the documented use of Myra Levine’s conservation model as an integral part of clinical operations where I work.

The meta paradigm of nursing

The meta paradigm of nursing remains to be an integral component of nursing science and practice. The people are the most important participants, and they include both care deliverers and care receivers, other medical practitioners, and, also, the environment, which consists of close family members and friends of patients, who are a critical part of the patient’s external environment. Health is the state of well-being that is demonstrated by a person’s ability to execute daily tasks and activities. The nursing component includes both the science and practice of therapeutic care for the benefit of the community.

Conclusion

My first written philosophy of nursing has changed significantly. While I argued that nursing is a product of the four components of the meta paradigm, this course provided a holistic view of nursing as a broad subject of care that can not be confined to a certain particular model. Care delivery is multifaceted, multimodal, and global, hence the need to approach each care delivery as a setting on its own.

References

McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2017). Theoretical basis for nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Nightingale, F., & Nightingale, F. (1954). Selected Writings of Florence Nightingale.