Reflective Essay On Critical Care

The critical care setting is a complex environment with many moving parts. Caring for a critically ill patient necessitates a multifaceted and dynamic approach. It is important to recognize that the care these patients require is much more than just checking vital signs and titrating medications. It involves attention to physical and psychosocial aspects. Throughout many years of working as a nurse and nurse practitioner in neurocritical care, my personal philosophy of nursing has evolved and become more holistic in nature. After reading about various nursing philosophical worldviews, I found myself drawn to the unitary-transformative worldview (Newman, Sime, & Corcoran-Perry, 1991). Within this worldview, human beings are self-organizing and develop within a larger self-organizing structure (Newman, 1995). Using this perspective, critically ill patients and caregivers could be considered self-regulated wonders embedded into a larger self-regulated arena known as the critical care unit. The

complexities of the critical care setting complement the unitary-transformative idea of change being uncertain and moving through various stages of organization and disorganization (Fawcett, 1993). Regardless of the organizational stage, the unitary-transformative worldview emphasizes a holistic approach. Within this perspective, various parts of an individual are assessed and intertwined to paint the big picture (Newman, Smith, Pharris, & Jones, 2008)

Describe your potential DNP project topic:
The Queens Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii is a fast paced high acuity hospital.

The neurocritical care service I work with, cares for a multitude of patients with complex critical illnesses and traumatic injuries. Physical illness and injury, anxiety, fear, sadness, and stress are all common themes among patients admitted the neurocritical care unit. For my potential DNP project, I would like to explore the use of animal assisted therapy (AAT) in the neurocritical care unit. AAT is a type of therapy that brings animals and people together with the hope of improving the physical and emotional state of a patient (Barba, 1995). There is positive evidence to support the use of AAT in a variety of healthcare settings (Halm, 2008). AAT has been associated with physical and psychological benefits (Barba, 1995). The aim of this project would be to measure if AAT has a positive physiologic and psychologic impact on patients and caregivers in the neurocritical care

environment.

Relate your ideas expressed in parts 1 and 2:
AAT exemplifies the unitary transformative nursing worldview by allowing nurses to identify something useful to a patient and utilize an integrative therapy with the goal of positive results (Newman et al., 2008). AAT in the critical care setting can enhance the caring process while promoting health within illness; two important aspects of the unitary transformative viewpoint (Reed, 2017).
People affected by critical illness whether it be patient, nurse, or family member, deserve compassionate care and attention. Within the critical care environment, health still needs to be a predominant focus despite the constant trials and tribulations illness and injury throw our way. Delivering care with a focus on physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, social, and cultural needs will foster a rich environment where nursing practice can be at its best.