My View on Nursing Practise
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My View on Nursing Practise
Numerous factors influence a nurse’s personal view on patient care. These factors include religious and cultural values and beliefs. Nurses play a pivotal role in providing quality healthcare to the patient during difficult times (Harkess and Kaddoura, 2015). While the nurses are in a position of power over the patient, they should ensure that they adopt holistic approaches in providing quality care to avoid situations where the patient undertakes the prescribed treatment methods out of fear of ridicule (Hart and Davis, 2011). Nurses must thus be culturally and religiously competent to offer holistic healthcare services to the patients.
Influence of Culture on my Philosophy
Cultural competence plays an essential role in influencing my philosophy for quality patient care. According to Harkess and Kaddoura (2015), culture refers to a group of ideas, beliefs, and practices that are shared by a given community. It is through these patterns that we are able to distinguish communities. Culture significantly influences health. People have different perceptions about illnesses, death, the causes and approaches that can be adopted to ensure health promotion (Peate, 2010). Besides, culture influences how patients express their illnesses and where patients seek to help (Hart and Davis, 2011). Health professionals are influenced by both their ethnicity and that shaped by the historical beliefs of previously dominant cultures.
I have always strived to ensure that I institute cultural competence in my future practice. According to Takase and Teraoka (2011), cultural competence is defined as the ability of the health care providers to services that address the social, cultural, and spiritual needs of the patients. It will be vital for me to be culturally competent to be able to comfort, understand, and provide care to patients with different beliefs (Peate, 2010). Also, I will strive to ensure that I am both understanding and respectful of the various patients’ cultures and how they may influence the care plan. Patients perceive illnesses differently (Hart and Davis, 2011). Without this competence, it will be difficult for the nurse to comfort them during this crucial time.
Influence on Religion on my Practise
Spiritual awareness has assisted in shaping my view in nursing practice. Patients and their families always adhere to a particular set of spiritual beliefs and values that make up the religion they follow (Takase and Teraoka, 2011). The religious implications may be significant especially in providing quality care since the effect may range from medication, dieting, dressing, along with their view on death and illness (Hart and Davis, 2011). Nurses are thus required to be aware of the common religions to provide holistic care to patients.
I have always strived to be aware of the different religions so that I make no assumptions on the holistic care I will provide to my patients. This approach will be cultivated through a nurse-client relationship where I will be not only inquisitive but also an excellent listener to come up with an appropriate care plan for the patient (Takase and Teraoka, 2011). For instance, one of the religions that I have familiarized myself with is Islam. Some of the few things that I have learned is that they are prohibited from eating certain foods, such as pork and its by-products, blood, and flesh of animals that have not been slaughtered the ritual way. Also, I have learned that they fast during daylight hours during the month of Ramadan, which is obligatory except for the ill, pregnant, elderly, pregnant, and those with chronic medical conditions. These are just a few of the things I have learned, even though I wish to expand the same exercise to other religions.
The Theory that is In-line with my Philosophy
The nursing theory that is in line with my philosophy is Interpersonal theory. This theory advocates for the development of a client-nurse relationship so that a formidable nursing care plan can be developed based on the goals and situation of the patient (Harkess and Kaddoura, 2015). This nursing model highlights four phases of interpersonal relationship, which include orientation, identification, exploitation, and resolution. This theory reinforces my philosophy because it views a human being as a developing organism who is under the influence of both external and internal forces, such as environment, culture, spirituality, among other elements (Peate, 2010). The factoring of the above components during nursing care has the consequence of producing a constructive, productive, and creative individual. Cultural and religious competency can also be realized through undertaking the requisite steps as specified in the theory. Unlike other theories, this approach reinforces the independence of the patient since he or she takes maximum responsibility towards addressing and meeting the treatment goals (Hart and Davis, 2011). Also, for my case, I am entitled to play a variety of roles when applying this approach, which may include a teacher, leader, environmentalist, mediator, counselor, among other positions, as long as what I institute will result in better health outcome for the patient.
An Example of a Situation
During practice, I came across a lady of Mexican American descent who was suffering from stomach upsets. In the process of interacting with the patient, she seemed to be more persistent on the use of alternative medicine to address her illness (Peate, 2010). The drugs that he proposed to be effective for treating gastrointestinal discomfort were the folk medicines Greta and Azarcon (Hart and Davis, 2011). It is significant to note that there are some patients in the United States who use alternative medicine prior or in combination with eking treatment at healthcare facilities. Numerous studies have highlighted the presence of lead in the Hispanic medications mentioned above. Statistics highlight that the lead content could be as high as 90 percent (Harkess and Kaddoura, 2015). Being aware of the effects of folk medicine she intended to use, I decided to employ interpersonal theory along with my cultural competency to highlight an alternative approach. The lady was hesitant as the beginning, but as we proceeded along with the phases of interpersonal theory, she was willing to quit the use of folk medicine for an alternative treatment.
Impact of my Philosophy on Future Practise
My philosophy, as highlighted above, will play a significant role in enabling me to provide holistic care to patients. By being culturally and religious competent, I will be able to serve patients from diverse social and spiritual backgrounds with the sole goal of ensuring better health outcomes. There is a famous quote by Maya Angelou that states, “They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” (Peate, 2010) The only way to leave a mark to these patients is to develop a relationship that will go a long way in factoring their cultural and spiritual needs for a holistic healthcare plan.
References
Harkess, L., & Kaddoura, M. (2015). Culture and Cultural Competence in Nursing Education and Practice: The State of the Art. Nursing Forum, 51(3), 211-222. doi: 10.1111/nuf.12140
Hart, P., & Davis, N. (2011). Effects of Nursing Care and Staff Skill Mix on Patient Outcomes within Acute Care Nursing Units. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 26(2), 161-168. doi: 10.1097/ncq.0b013e3181efc9cb
Peate, I. (2010). Pioneering Theories in Nursing. Nursing Standard, 24(43), 30-30. doi: 10.7748/ns2010.06.24.43.30.b1075
Takase, M., & Teraoka, S. (2011). Development of the Holistic Nursing Competence Scale. Nursing & Health Sciences, 13(4), 396-403. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-2018.2011.00631.x