NRS 430 Topic 3 DQ 2 Select a nursing theory and provide a concise summary of it

NRS 430 Topic 3 DQ 2 Select a nursing theory and provide a concise summary of it

Topic 3 DQ 2

Apr 18-22, 2022

Discuss the difference between a nursing conceptual model and a nursing theory. Select a nursing theory and provide a concise summary of it. Provide an example in nursing practice where the nursing theory you selected would be effective in managing patient care.

REPLY TO DISCUSSION

A component to being a profession is that the discipline have it’s own body of knowledge, and in some cases theoretical support. Our Florence Nightingale started us off with her Environmental Theory. We often do not think about why we do what we do on a daily basis as a nurse. Have you thought about what theory drives your nursing practice? While I may use several, Orem’s Theory was my go to theory when caring for patients. What theory drive’s your practice?

Virginia Henderson’s Nursing need theory has been a source of inspiration to my practice. Her definition of nursing says it all. Without a need to care, there won’t be a practice. Most times, i remind myself that if this patient does not have a defect in health, there won’t be a reason to be in a health care facility.

Hence, the nurse helps them when they are dependent while preparing them for independence when discharged home.

Care is one element that makes nursing, well….nursing. We add care into everything we do.

I would say that I have never really thought about what nursing theory guides my professional nursing practice, but after reading this week and learning more about the nursing theories I got to thinking about what nursing theories guide my practice. I would say that I practice with multiple nursing theories regularly but one that stands out to me the most that I would say I use is Kurt Lewins Field Theory, where human behavior is related to both the individual and the environment (Whitney 2018). I tend to think that people are often a product of their environments. For example if you are sitting in a cold dark room all day you may end up being depressed, whereas if you go outside and get some sunshine on your face and smile you may actually feel happier. In nursing I think if we promote a healing environment, that is warm, quite, relaxing and positive we may have a better patient outcome on healing than if we were to promote a uncomfortable environment. I also feel that if we promote a safe environment then we will inherently have less falls and injuries to patients that if we were to not. Overall the environment in which someone is, in my opinion, has a lot to do with patient outcomes.

Whitney, Stacey. (2018). Dynamics in Nursing: Art and Science of Profession Practice. History of Profession Nursing. Grand Canyon University. https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs430v/dynamics-in-nursing-art-and-science-of-professional-practice/v1.1/#/chapter/2

Thank you for sharing. I agree that often we do not think about what drives our care….we just do it. I will also add along with your post, Florence Nightingale’s Environmental theory addressed light, etc. which also goes along with your post.

Billie, I know in my previous post I talked about Rogers’s science of unitary human beings but working in an outpatient surgery setting, that really seems to be the theory that drives my practice. Our patients come in to a situation where it is totally foreign to them! We, as nurses, deal daily with what to expect in the different phases of surgery and recovery but it is totally new to our patients and we have to be cognizant of that daily.

Thank you for determining that Roger’s theory is most relevant to your work setting. As we explore who we are as nurses and question why we do what we do, the reflection allows us to become more aware.

Theory is wildly deep in passion for purpose. As I have been trying to understand these theories more, I have come to identify them in my past care experiences and now use them to advance my new ones. After reading the other posts, one of Cassidy’s comments sparked my attention, and I realized that I use Lewin’s Field Theory a lot in pediatrics. Cassidy said, “I tend to think that people are often a product of their environments.”

This takes me to Lewin’s change management model and why I use it in pediatrics. Working in the ICU brings an already intense and scary environment that greatly challenges one’s behavior. In the cardiac ICU, we have a higher rate of newborn admissions than others. We care for the parents and the patient as if they are one. Parents make the decisions, they are the advocates, and they feel the pain or happiness of their babies. Babies also feel the energy of their surroundings. The stressors are crazy high. They just gave birth; the mom doesn’t always come with the baby. It’s usually just dad. They are separated and highly emotional because multiple environments are changing without their control. So what am I getting at? Their environment is in a state of unfreezing. When they walk through my doors and enter a new crazy, stressful, and life-altering environment, I have this window of opportunity to create a positive force in a negative situation. If the desired change can be, they can move to the next phase. They can refreeze and solidify this environment to not be as scary and harsh. Instead, the environment displays support and caring. They have reassurance our people will be there to help them during this uncontrollable and new environment. If they are a product of their environment, as Cassidy said, creating a welcoming, safe, and caring one will make parents more receptive to coping, listening, and understanding.

Thank you for your reflection on this question. It is evident that you are focused on your patients in times of stress and uncertainty and your ability to establish the positive environment makes all the difference to the patient.

I enjoyed reading about the various theories this week. Now that I have a better understanding on Florence Nightingales Environmental Theory, I feel like I apply this every day at work; especially once the pandemic started. Florence Nightingale believed that changing the environment around the individual and improving living conditions can improve overall health (Whitney, 2018). Although we are not battling providing clean water or proper sewage systems to improve health, we are changing the enviromnent for our patients in many ways. The first thing I do when meeting my patient is do a room “sweep”; a fresh start. I clean up any dubris, organize, supplies, make sure bathroom is clean, make sure patient has clean linens and gown. Once the pandemic hit, I now wipe down all surfaces multiple times through the day as an extra effort to keep both my patient and the staff safe. I wipe down common areas like the nurses station including computers, phones, light switches, handles and tube station. Taking those extra moment to make the effort to keep our environment clean and safe.

Whitney, Stacey. (2018). Dynamics in Nursing: Art and Science of Profession Practice. History of Profession Nursing. Grand Canyon University. https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs430v/dynamics-in-nursing-art-and-science-of-professional-practice/v1.1/#/chapter/2

Nursing theory is inter-connected to nursing practice because it helps to improve the quality of nursing care. The nursing process, which is the most important tool for putting nursing knowledge into practice which is a systematic problem solving method. In nursing process, Assessment is the first tool before stating treatment. For example, when a COPD patient arrives to unit after assessment, a nurse must know how much oxygen is to be administered to this patient. COPD patients need less oxygen. So like this, Nursing Theory and nursing practice are related.

A nursing concept model is an organized structure that explains a certain way of thinking. Theories describe and explore a proposed and testable relationship between variables or ideas. (Whitney, 2018).

The Imogene King’s Theory of Goal Attainment involves personal, interpersonal and social efforts to achieve the same goal. Personal to be considered a personal system which includes, perception of self, growth, body image learning and coping. “Perception significantly contributes to nurse–patient relationship because an accurate perception of self, facilitates the perception of others and even the perception of body image, time, place, and daily life events, and helps person establish better interaction with the surrounding environment” (Adib-Hajbaghery, Tahmouresi, 2018). King’s theory defines nursing as the interaction of the patient with the environment to attain health and improve well-being. King’s theory was based on four main elements that contribute to goal attainment. 1. Appropriate nurse-patient relationships promote health. 2. Mutual understanding of nurse-patient is needed. 3. Goals of both the nurse and patient should be in sync. 4. Nurses knowledge used to establish relationships and create goals (Adib-Hajbaghery, Tahmouresi, 2018). I would like to apply this to the recent pandemic. The nurse and patient work together to achieve a similar goal by changing social norms. Having the same education and similar ideas, working to goal attainment of prevent a disease. Washing hands, social distancing and wearing masks were efforts used to stop the spread of covid. The nurse-patient having similar goals and techniques that help prevent covid and promote health.

Adib-Hajbaghery M, Tahmouresi M. (2018, June 29). Nurse–patient relationship based on the imogene king’s theory of goal attainment. Nurse Midwifery Studies. 

Whitney, S. (2018). Dynamics in Nursing. Art and Science of Professional Practice. Grand Canyon University. https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs430v/dynamics-in-nursing-art-and-science-of-professional-practice/v1.1/#/chapter/2

I liked your comment that appropriate nurse-patient relationships promote health. The first step of treatment starts with a patient-nurse relationship. When a patient begins to have faith in a nurse, it helps in decreasing the patient’s feelings of helplessness. The nurse helps the patient to become engaged with the treatment process by providing them with information and answering questions. The main concept of this theory is that patients are the focus of nursing care and each patient might have different needs (Gamez, 2009).

Granados Gámez, G. (2009). The nurse-patient relationship as a caring relationship. Nursing science quarterly, 22(2), 126-127.

Nursing theory helps nurses follow a disciplined practice that roots back to centering their practice around specific ideas that correlate with one another in order for the nurse to maintain consistency in their practice. Nursing theory is a structure of purposeful and systematic ideas that help to organize disciplinary thinking and influence practice (Whitney 2018). There are many different nursing theories taught and studied and many nurses may practice some or all of the theories in their professional nursing career. When looking at a conceptual model, we find that this is the framework, so to speak, that helps to organize a specific nursing theory. Examining Change Theory a bit closer, we see that the governing principle uses certain motivating factors where patients feel empowered and have a desire to change unhealthy habits. By setting goals and offering incentives, learning and change occur for the patient (Whitney 2018). This theory is used across nursing all the time on a regular basis. Change Theory shows to have foundations in using undesired outcomes as motivators to get better or healthier and this elicits deep rooted change that can often times come from both internal stimuli, wants and needs and external forces and motivations such as nurses. Lewin, believed that desired change in human behavior could occur by first identifying the undesired behavior, then understanding the cause of such behavior, and what forces would need to be strengthened or weakened to bring about change (Burnes & Cooke, 2013). For example, in nursing practice when a nurse speaks with a type 2 diabetes mellitus patient and informs them that there A1C test unfortunately came back high at 10.4 the nurse can educate the patient about how important diet and exercise changes are in order to help manage their type 2 diabetes and bring their A1C levels down on their next blood test, that would be the external stimuli that elicits change. The internal unwanted stimuli that elicits change in this type of patient is the patient may be feeling unwell due to unregulated diabetes mellitus type 2. Those stimuli together will help promote change in this patient and move them toward a better and healthier lifestyle and overall better management of their diabetes. The nurse must help educate the patient on how they can promote lifestyle changes in this patient’s life to move toward health and wellness.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

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I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource