Essay Sample on Nursing: From Submissive to Art & Science

Introduction

Largely, over the past five years, nursing scholars, nursing theorists, and nursing scientists expounded that, nurses were submissive individuals, who when given orders were responsive, followed instructions, and directions from physicians. They equated nursing to the profession of giving. To them, nursing lacked application of scientific concepts, and at the same time, there were limitations in decision making. Currently, however, nursing is known as both art and scientific career, which is grounded on the application of skills, knowledge, theory, research, and concepts. The paper seeks to explore nursing practice and also demonstrate changes in the perspective of the practice. It will also attempt to perform literature that not only talks about nursing practice, but also defines the art and science of nursing.

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The art of nursing can be defined using numerous terminologies. First, it is when nurses apply professional interpersonal skills to connect with the patients (Tirado, 2016). Conversely, nursing as an art calls for a nurse to support and interact with the patient, and at times the patient's family. A nurse is supposed to develop actual interaction so that the patients will learn how to manage their conditions or diseases. In a similar approach, nurses help patients to not only understand how to cope with diseases but also teach family members basic care procedures that they can employ in order to treat the patient. Conversely, the science of nursing is more concerned with the implementation of scientific methodology, theories, and concepts for nursing practice (Saleh, 2018). Nurses require not only skills but also the knowledge that will help them develop confidence necessary to care for different patients. A nurse is expected to master not only the skills of interacting with the patient but also hot to connect with the knowledge leaned. Therefore, the art and science of nursing focus on interpersonal skills, facts, and knowledge.

The art of nursing influences the modern nursing practice since the esthetics are more intuitive and requires abstract knowledge. It is rooted in the general nursing philosophy that is all-inclusive and patient-centered care, which leads to satisfactory. Tirado (2016), denotes that, the profession of nursing as an art today requires a nurse to have self-awareness skills, and know-how to relate to oneself, patients, and other people. Similarly, a nurse should abide by the moral knowledge and ethical standards of nursing practice. Nurses understand that every decision they make in nursing practice is subjected to moral judgment, as there are moral principles, such as autonomy, informed consent, and many others that nurses comply with so that they can satisfy patient needs.

At the same time, the science of nursing guides research processes by completely influencing the quality and health of patient life (Turkel, Watson & Giovannoni, 2018). In the current practice, nurses can generate and test phenomena hence helping nurses to understand the purpose and role of data in healthcare setting. According to research done by Saleh (2018), the application of science in nursing practice is important in making clinical decisions. Research finding provides evidence, which is ideally reliable. This way, nurses can develop a protocol that will be followed daily for the nursing practice. Science is important because it emanates as a relationship between process and inquiry.

Both art and science of nursing have inclined my nursing practice for the years that I have worked as a nurse. In particular, the art of nursing alone is more valued in society as compared to the application of science. However, the two go hand in hand because it is through research findings that a nurse makes a decision on how to manage the disease. Nursing as art has influenced my practice due to defined and specialized based. I can now teach patients and their family members care procedures, which they use to treat the patient at home. Similarly, I can offer altruistic services to society. This has been made possible through formal training, which gives me courage and confidence to connect and socialize with patients and people in society. Nursing as an art has also imparted the code of ethics that guides my interaction with patients. I have autonomous, and competence skills, which helps me to control my professional activities.

The science of nursing has also influenced my practice. Currently, I work continually by researching and investigating drugs and diseases with the goal of advancing my profession. Through scientific philosophy and principles, I can now understand that I am responsible and accountable for public work. I have realized that I have a mandate of providing healthcare services for patients at different points of the continuum. Indeed, nursing is more than an occupation, since its focus is to improve nursing practice and provide care to the society. My knowledge is ordered through theories and methods, which are based on nursing practice. Saleh (2018), highlights that nursing as a science is characterized by phenomena of inquiry rather than interpersonal skills.

Major effects on the varying health care environment including skilled nursing practice include; unsustainable costs, fragmentations, disparities, and access problems. Salmond and Echevarria (2017), highlights that unsustainable costs that do not accompany quality and excellence in health outcomes in the United States are among the major factor for the changes experienced in the healthcare environment. Patients and employers are unwilling and sometimes unable to afford medical bills notwithstanding the fact that the United States devotes more on health care than any other nation in the world. The greater cost of care is driven to technology, drugs, and higher health prices, which are important to nursing as a science than nursing as art when considering delivery.

Fragmentation also influences changing health care environment through unacceptable levels of errors, and recurring communication failure (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). In most circumstances, the healthcare system is difficult to navigate hence a problem in professional nursing practice. When patients and nurses seek to offer healthcare services, there are great barriers to retrieving care and this problem persists across multiple providers and settings. This can be attributed, however, to lack of accountability to provide support system tools. Nurses, therefore, cannot gather and apply digital information to address research and quality care issues.

Moreover, disparities such as underdeveloped infrastructures, inconsistent use of guidelines, and lack of clinical information for people of color, to mention but a few are among the impediments for the changing healthcare environment. According to Salmond and Echevarria (2017), disparities stifles participation, inhibits communication, and undermines teamwork. People of color face inequalities in health care coverage and access to quality healthcare services. These are the barriers that influence the changing healthcare environment, especially in the United States. Based on disparities, professional associations influence nursing practice so that it keeps pace with people of color health care needs.

The art and science of nursing have altered in the last five years in the health care setting to focus more on providing quality of health care, population health, and sustainable costs for middle- and low-income earning patients. Currently the nursing roles through Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are shifting away from fee-for-service payments that reward volume towards reimbursing for value by implementing value or evidenced-based delivery models (Fraher, Spetz& Naylor, 2015). HHS Secretary Burwell lately proclaimed that by 2018, fifty percent of Medicare programs will be assessed on value or quality of care offered by Nurse practitioners before payment is done (Fraher, Spetz& Naylor, 2015). For example, Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCHMs), and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).

Most Nurses are now fixated on offering "upstream" precautionary, and basic care for chronic illness in hospitals. The factors that have stimulated the change of nursing roles in the health care systems include; suboptimal results, and differences, cost and quality concerns, and varying social and illness type demographics (Fraher, Spetz& Naylor, 2015). The Affordable Care Act has introduced programs manned by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services focusing on enhancing quality of health care, and controlling cost (Fraher, Spetz& Naylor, 2015). The enhancement of greater coordination of nursing care will enhance quality of care, augment the patient results, and cut expenditure normally ascribed by superfluous hospitalization, repeated diagnostic testing, and medical histories multiple prescriptions, and adverse drug interactions. Public health nurses have played a significant role in establishing, executing, and assessing programs to advance the health population via health promotion, and disease prevention (Fraher, Spetz& Naylor, 2015). Care coordination and transition care have been introduced in the last few years. Care coordination entails nurses employed with patients to assist organize the amenities they get, also ensure their predilections, and requirements are achieved. It will also speed up the appropriate delivery of health care services.

Improving nursing knowledge of, and adherence to evidence or value-based practice to patients is one of the strategies I have applied in the practice of nursing care. I have been able to enroll for an online course to learn more on competencies of 'care organization and transition management' a critical component required when implementing value-based practice (Reynolds, 2016). I was able to cover several units; teamwork, and collaboration, population health management, support for self-management, nursing process: deputation for nursing and assessment, and coaching and counseling patients, and families.

The other strategy I have applied is learning to interpret information from the electronic health records (EHRs), and patient archives to recognize unsolved health requirements of patients, and to facilitate better population health intervention programs (Reynolds, 2016). Through these systems, I have been able to enhance my skill in 'care organization and transition management' enhance the quality of care at a cheaper cost (Reynolds, 2016). While learning more on how to interpret data from EHR, I also realized that Telehealth systems permit nurses to greatly monitor, and communicate with patients. It allows for prompt identification of emerging issues, and discussions that are suitable to patients (Reynolds, 2016). The above knowledge will help me successful remain professional and productive in the health care environment which is centered on quality-based care.

Upon completing my Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) I am considering to acquire dynamic leadership skills as my main strategies. The leadership skills will help me acquire the skills of 'care organization and transition management', a critical component during the implementation of quality-based care (Duffy et al., 2014). By completing BSN, I will be able to analyze, and construe clinical outcomes better, and it will also help me facilitate better population health intervention programs. I will also gain better strategies of developing and managing robust health care teams which will speed up the implementation of quality-based care in hospitals (Duffy et al., 2014). Finally, I will also be able to acquire ethical and professional nursing code which will help me manage and prevent worker conflicts.