There are many ways that nursing theory can be applied to practice. Nursing theories can be used to guide practice, to create documentation, or to set standards of care. This paper will be applying Virginia Henderson’s grand nursing theory “The Principles and Practice of Nursing” to a case study in acute care. I will begin this paper by describing the case study from the acute care setting. I will then describe Virginia Henderson’s theory, her assumptions, key concepts, and the focus of the theory. I will conclude this paper by outlining how this theory can be applied to the case study. Since I have explained the purpose of the paper I will illustrate the case study next.
First, I am going to outline the case study from the acute care setting. The case study I will be using is of an elderly female with Crohn’s disease. The patient had a few supportive care needs. The patient could not perform most self-care needs, the patient could not perform peri care, bathe herself, dress herself, and would not perform her daily exercises; the patient suffered from anxiety and needed emotional support; the patient knew about her medical condition and only needed reinforcement of that knowledge; the patient did not need any supportive care with her spiritual needs; the patient has social support from her son and other members in her community; and the patient does not need any support with her practical or material needs. Now that case study has been discussed, I will describe Virginia Henderson’s theory.
Second, I will explain the assumptions; the concepts; and the focus of “The Principles and Practice of Nursing.” Henderson’s first assumption is nurses care for patients until patients can care for themselves once again (Henderson, 1991). H...
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...arious sources to show how Henderson’s theory is still being applied in practice today. When nursing theory is used to guide practice it can improve practice, patient outcomes, and overall health.
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McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2011). Theoretical basis for nursing. (3rd ed.). Lippincott
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Every person’s needs must be recognized, respected, and filled if he or she must attain wholeness. The environment must attuned to that wholeness for healing to occur. Healing must be total or holistic if health must be restored or maintained. And a nurse-patient relationship is the very foundation of nursing (Conway et al 2011; Johnson, 2011). The Theory recognizes a person’s needs above all. It sets up the conducive environment to healing. It addresses and works on the restoration and maintenance of total health rather than only specific parts or aspect of the patient’s body or personality. And these are possible only through a positive healing relationship between the patient and the nurse (Conway et al, Johnson).
The APRN listens and engages with the patient as care and compassion take place. As the nurse discerns what the patient’s needs are and considers obstacles to achieving optimal care the application of theory is necessary as the process is not always quantifiable. The APRN who does not learn nursing theory may focus primarily on EBP and miss this engagement opportunity with the patient. One may prescribe medication; however, if the patient does not take the medication, then the nurse assumes the patient is noncompliant. The application of Watson’s themes where appropriate helps the APRN discern how to help the patient become compliant. It is necessary to care for the patient outside of the idea of only providing care to understand the obstacle in that patients circumstances and reach improved patient outcomes to any disease
I chose to do a concept analysis on ‘Self-Care.’ The nursing theory that uses this concept is Orem’s theory of nursing. This theory is a grand theory and consists of three minor interrelated theories; self-care, self-care deficit, and nursing systems. (Parker & Smith 2010). Orem defines self-care as when an individual initiates activities and performs to maintain life, health and well-being on their own and self-care deficit as not meeting adequate self-care requisites which include “limitations for knowing, deciding and producing care to self or dependent. (Parker & Smith, 2010)
Nursing theories developed by scientists provide a framework for the process of establishing nursing as a profession with a specific body of knowledge including nursing language, and nurse is able to communicate inside in and outside of the profession. Theory supports and defines nursing practice and is used in practice situation to provide solution to the problem, provides guidelines in patient’s quality care, and helps to resolve nursing challenges. The benefits of middle-range theories found primarily in the research studies to address particular client population, in education, patient
The American Nurses Association (ANA) developed a foundation for which all nurses are expected to perform their basic duties in order to meet the needs of the society we serve. The ANA “has long been instrumental in the development of three foundational documents for professional nursing; its code of ethics, its scope and standards of practice, ands statement of social policy.” (ANA, 2010, p. 87) The ANA defined nursing as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” and used to create the scope and standards of nursing practice. (ANA, 2010, p. 1) These “outline the steps that nurses must take to meet client healthcare needs.” () The nursing process, for example, is one of the things I use daily. Other examples include communicating and collaborating with my patient, their families, and my peers, and being a lifelong learner. I continually research new diagnoses, medications, and treatments for my patients. As a nurse of ...
This paper is a first attempt at forming and articulating my own philosophy of nursing.
Throughout this philosophy paper, I have explored what nursing is based on my personal values and beliefs as it relates to the body of work in nursing. I value the importance of holistic nursing and the care of patients being individualized for them and their family. Also, effectively collaborating among health care professionals to ensure quality care for patients. Additionally, the importance of health promotion as one of the main roles of nurses is being a teacher, since promoting health prevents illness and increases the level of health in clients. These principles will serve as a guide for my personal standards of nursing practice.
In 2005 Fawcett stated “the metaparadigm of professional nursing incorporates four concepts: human beings, environment, health, and nursing” (as sited in Kearney, 2012, p. 4). This paper discusses my philosophy of nursing by stating my own personal definitions, values, and assumptions regarding each of the above mentioned concepts. My paper concludes with an exemplar from my own nursing practice and how I integrated my nursing philosophy into that particular clinical situation.
70). I believe that the patient’s needs always take priority. A good nurse-patient relationship is important when taking care of patients. If a patient can trust the nurse taking care of him or her and they have a good rapport, the patient’s experience will be positive. Peplau’s theory is considered to be an interaction theory, an interaction theory, “revolve[s] around the relationships nurses form with patients” (Colley, 2003, p. 34). I believe that if a nurse does not have a good rapport with the patient, he or she will not be able to heal adequality. The patient might focus more on him or her not getting along with the nurse and thinking that the nurse does not care, then taking the time to make sure that he or she is healing properly. The patient may not ask for pain medication when they are in pain because he or she does not want to deal with the nurse. The environment also has a lot to do with the patient feeling better and healing
Thorne, S. (2010). Theoretical Foundation of Nursing Practice. In P.A, Potter, A.G. Perry, J.C, Ross-Kerr, & M.J. Wood (Eds.). Canadian fundamentals of nursing (Revised 4th ed.). (pp.63-73). Toronto, ON: Elsevier.
In the todays century, the responsibilities, roles, and opportunities for nursing and nurse education has grown abundantly to that of modern day nurses. Many nurses in the eighteen century were not educated nurses and never attended nursing school; however, they still provided care for the sick, poor, and needy and played a vital role in health maintenance. With the hard work from many notable nurses in history such as Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and Isabel Robb and the persistence and dedication for change from influential nurses such as Mary Mahoney and Mabel Staupers; nursing today has transformed in many aspects of practice. Although nursing as a profession is continuously evolving throughout the years, the core foundation of nursing hasn’t changed in that nursing is a profession of caring for others and servicing those in need.
One of the goals of nursing is to respect the human rights, values and costumes of a patient and his or her family and with the community as a whole. The International Council of Nurses states that nursing practice can be defined generally as a dynamic, caring, helping relationship in which the nurse assists the client to achieve and maintain optimal health. As health care providers, we have some fundamental responsibilities such as to promote health, to prevent illnes...
Nursing theory can be applied to resolve nursing problems or issues, irrespective of the field of practice. A nursing theory benefits nurses and the patients that are in his or her charge. . Depending on the issue or problem that is needed to be solved determines what theory needs to be used. Nursing theory started with Florence Nightingale. She believed that a clean environment would promote better health. Virginia Henderson’s need theory emphasizes the need to ensure that the patient’s independence is being increased while in a health care facility. Ensuring that a patient can increase his or her independence allows for them to experience better outcomes upon discharge home. This is just two examples of nursing theories that were used
In the practice of nursing, needs are an everyday phenomenon and are a common theme among many nursing theories accessible today. These nursing theories help implement care planning of the patient needs for the best possible outcome. Some examples of need theories include Virginia Henderson’s Nursing Needs Theory and Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (McEwen & Wills, 2011).
Because Henderson’s definition is so broad, it can be applied to almost every setting in which a nurse is providing care to a patient. Since the theory being so broad, one can question how two different patients would be treated in the emergency room. If one patient came in with stomach aches, while another came in with a large laceration on their arm, would they be treated the same? As Henderson’s definition provides the basic goal of helping a patient gain health and independence, one can assume that both patients would be treated the same on the basis that the nurses would treat them in a way to assist them in gaining health and independence.