Background for Practice From Sciences and Humanities, Essay Example

Rationale and Support

All nurses must demonstrate an understanding and a mastery of the practice environment through effective decision-making and other tools to improve patient outcomes. One area of consideration is self-care, whereby Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory is likely to have a positive and lasting impact on outcomes and in reflecting on the needs of the profession and its people in the context of relevant standards of care. Orem’s theory represents a means of advancing education for nurses at the baccalaureate level and their understanding of their responsibility to facilitate self-care for patients (Berbiglia, 2011).

Nurses have established their own set of scientific principles and other tools that promote the delivery of care and treatment to patients with a variety of needs and expectations. Therefore, they must be able to apply new directives and domains of theory and learning to a variety of situations to improve the potential for long-term success and advanced quality of care. Nurses must be able to identify areas where practice knowledge is weak or where there are significant advantages associated with the use of evidence to improve outcomes and to improve decision-making potential in the real practice environment. Their role in shaping the science of nursing and the overall direction of care and treatment in the practice environment must be established in order to promote effective outcomes (Banfield, 2011).

Reflection

My personal nursing philosophy offers an examination of my beliefs and core values regarding the actions required to facilitate change and progress within the profession. Every experience must serve as a learning tool in order to accomplish the intended objectives of nursing practice and must be able to support an environment in which continuous learning and knowledge development are essential in supporting evidence-based insights to address gaps in practice and other needs. The focus must be on the development of new strategies to align theoretical perspectives and evidence with the realities of the practice environment and to be supportive of change as warranted to address the challenges of nurses as they face new experiences and challenges that impact their activities involving direct care with patients. It is important to identify the resources that are required to facilitate change and to recognize the value of personal and professional beliefs and core values to the profession. I believe that in order to achieve the desired balance and effort at all times. There must be a significant emphasis on change and progress throughout nursing practice and to be effective in meeting the needs of the patients who require care and treatment. It is essential to develop a framework that captures the spirit of the nursing profession but also recognizes prior evidence to support best practices to support improvements in quality of care that will enhance the profession as a whole. I will continue to work proactively with my colleagues and others within the healthcare industry to optimize our options by using all available resources wisely and effectively to ensure compliance and support for the needs of patients in a timely and effective manner that will guide patients towards a successful recovery and improved quality of life.

Abstract

A philosophy of nursing practice is of critical importance in developing new ideas and strategies to improve the practice environment in which patients are served.  This process requires nurses to be proactive in addressing patients’ needs and in advancing critical objectives to incorporate evidence-based solutions to improve practice settings where changes are required and are welcomed by nurses and patients alike.  Nurses must demonstrate a high level of quality and an understanding of different elements which promote improved treatments for patients and the ability to support successful treatments to improve patients’ quality of life.

Philosophy of Nursing

Nursing practice has provided me with many tools and resources with which to make a significant difference in my patients’ lives.  In this capacity, it is necessary to evaluate each patient’s case individually and to treat each patient with the same level of respect and attention.  This ensures that the quality of care that each patient receives is at the highest possible level.  Most importantly, an emphasis must be placed on the following areas: 1) promoting nursing education and an evaluation of Orem’s Self-Care deficit theory as a means of educating nurses and improve nursing growth and development; 2) incorporating Orem’s theory into existing standards of care that are based upon prior scientific discoveries with nursing practice; and 3) identifying and assessing evidence-based practice to improve patient care outcomes relative to self-care ability and related activities.

In all areas of practice, nursing education is a continuous process, thereby supporting the adoption of Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory to improve outcomes.

The use of nursing models cultivated a tacit recognition of the aesthetic, ethical, and

  personal components of nursing knowledge.  As nurses began to integrate these ideas

 into practice settings, the actual and potential relationships between nursing models and

 nursing practice became clearer. (Berbiglia, 2011, p. 137)

In addition, this theory enables nurses to capture prior evidence from Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory to ensure that patients receive the care and treatment that will best suit their needs. “To further the development of nursing as a practice discipline, there must be a merging of nursing theory with nursing research in distinct areas within nursing’s domain” (Berbiglia, 2011, p. 138).

Nursing must be considered as its own science, a set of scientific principles that support nursing practice objectives.  This process supports the continued growth and development of the practice setting to improve patient outcomes.  It also engages nurses in a specific set of standards of care that are impacted by scientific discoveries that have been made (Banfield, 2011).

There are also other bodies of knowledge necessary for the development of nursing

 agency for example, knowledge related to the initiation and maintenance of

 interpersonal relations, knowledge related to culture, and knowledge related to health,

 disease and medical diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. (Banfield, 2011, p. 46)

Nurses must be able to adopt evidence-based research using Orem’s theory to facilitate effective outcomes for their patients.  “Applying Orem’s self-care model increased the skills of adolescents with asthma” (Altay & Cavusoglu, 2013, p. 233). This requires an understanding of the model and its impact on self-care activities for populations such as adolescents.

I interviewed a nurse at work about her personal philosophy of nursing, she stated, “My philosophy as a nurse is to consider patient care and satisfaction as my number one priority” (A. Smith, personal communication, February 16, 2015).

Finally, promoting nursing education as a means of educating nurses and improving nursing growth and development; incorporating Orem’s theory into existing standards of care that are based upon prior scientific discoveries with nursing practice; and identifying and assessing evidence-based practice to improve patient care outcomes relative to self-care ability and related activities, are models of healthcare delivery that must continue to be explored. These models provide a basis for examining other areas where nurses might contribute to the overall direction of patient care delivery. This should be done in a positive manner to improve outcomes and to be effective in treating patients with the best possible tools and resources in place.

References

Altay, N., & Cavusoglu, H. (2013). Using Orem’s self-care model for asthmatic adolescents. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 18(3), 233-242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111
/jspn.12032

Banfield, B. E. (2011). Nursing agency: The link between practical nursing science and nursing practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 24(1), 42-47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177
/0894318410389060

Berbiglia, V. A. (2011). The Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory as a curriculum conceptual framework in baccalaureate education. Nursing Science Quarterly, 24(2), 137-145. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0894318411399452