Nursing Meta-Paradigms Paper Example

Introduction

The provision of top-standard nursing care has always been my lifetime goal. The goal is driven by a desire to fill the existing gaps in nursing care. Since being a nurse practitioner offers increased self-sufficiency, I am better placed to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients. Regardless of my achievements, I still acknowledge the need to enhance my competency and experience by focusing on the delivery of evidence-based care approaches. For me, beginning my career as a nurse practitioner is a significant step in life.

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Nursing Metaparadigms

For decades, nursing meta-paradigms have been used to guide nursing knowledge while shaping professional discipline. The meta-paradigms including the environment, nursing practice, health, and the person also formed the basis of valuable nursing theories (Marchuk, 2014). To enhance the safety and quality of nursing care, nursing theories must incorporate patient-caregiver interactions, care delivery, and setting. The four meta-paradigms are identified and analyzed in this section.

Person

The person is an essential meta-paradigm that refers to the individual in need of nursing care. It is critical that nurse practitioners consider the fulfillment of patients' psychological and physical needs. Treatment and diagnosis procedures must be tailored to suit individual patients' needs, to ensure the provision of optimal care. The knowledge of a client's personal feelings and needs enable nurse practitioners to concentrate more on alleviating their pains, hence increasing the chances of patient compliance, quality care, and desirable treatment outcomes (Marchuk, 2014).

Health

The health meta-paradigm represents the clients' mental and physical wellbeing. Health and person meta-paradigms are closely knit aspects that care providers must link to determine specific patient needs. Care provision must entail the handling of both personal and health concerns.

Nursing Practice

It is vital for nurse providers to nurture reliable and friendly relationships with their patients. Nursing practice involves the promotion of health and prevention programs which are commonly applied in patient wellness evaluations. Through undergoing a nursing course, practitioners increase their capacities to appropriately examine, diagnose, treat, and follow-up. Thus, caregivers should apply fundamental concepts of nursing practice to enhance care.

Environment

Environment refers to the care settings including private nursing residences, dispensaries, and hospitals. The setting has played a significant role in shaping patients perceptions concerning the best setting to provide optimum care. As Bender and Fieldman (2015) state,

The narrowed health delivery environment has caused a reduced appreciation of the age-long environmental consciousness. It is imperative that practitioners concentrate on all possible environments to facilitate the customization of provided treatment, diagnosis, and follow-up procedures.

It is crucial that nursing theories encompass the association between the environment, nursing practice, health, and person. To create personalized care plans while providing quality care, all nursing paradigms should be acknowledged and applied. The objective is to offer prime patient-oriented care that increases patients' satisfaction.

Patient-Specific Concept

Caring

In nursing, caring is an essential element of progressive practice that is described in several ways. As revealed by DalPezzo (2009), caring can be categorized into functions, nature, and responsibilities. In most cases, nursing care is used to indicate responsibility. Usually, care is perceived to be the inner characteristics of nurses. Most potential nurses have cited the need to care for others as the primary driver towards pursuing the career. Finally, other examples of nursing care include investigating, listening, diagnosing, and anticipating outcomes. As defined by DalPezzo (2009), "Nursing care is a skilled, safe, high quality, holistic, ethical, collaborative, individualized, interpersonal caring process" DalPezzo (2009). Therefore, nursing care functions, nurtures, and is responsible.

Competency

Opinions concerning nursing competency may be different due to factors such as the location of employment. Competency prerequisites vary with different care areas. Competency can be described using features such as the ability to apply various skills, provide instructions that concentrate on particular competencies, customize learning experiences, and conduct self-examinations. The primary phases of nursing experience highlighted by Butts and Rich (2013), categorize caregivers as a novice, experts, proficient, competent, and advanced beginners. The authors perceive competent practitioners as those who have spent considerable amounts of time in practice, approximately 3-5 years. Other benefits of competent nurses include the ability to evaluate outcomes, detect trends in treatment outcomes, demonstrate advanced organizational skills, and enhance the performances of novice nurses through offering advice and recommendations as deemed necessary. Competent nurses are capable of providing safe and quality care. While nurses are required to be responsible in almost every field, they must set their priorities right to effectively match the needs of particular client populations. With the evolvement of nursing practice, nurses may find it compulsory to enhance their academic attainments and maintain their competency.

Propositions

Propositions are theoretical foundations that connect several competency and caring concepts. Propositional statements include:

• Patients tend to seek competent practitioners.
• All experienced and competent nurses must demonstrate care for patients' emotional and physical needs.
• Nurses must care for their patients regardless of their specialization.
• Caring and competent nurses encourage open, trusting, and friendly relationships.
• Competency can be influenced by years of service.

Conclusion

In summary, nursing meta-paradigms assist nurses in formulating patient-oriented and practice specific guidelines. Practice specific models are relevant for practitioners who seek to learn important nursing responsibilities and expectations.

References

Bender, M., & Feldman, M. S. (2015). A practice theory approach to understanding the interdependency of nursing practice and the environment: Implications for nurse-led care delivery models. Advances in Nursing Science, 38(2), 96-109.

Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2013). Philosophies and Theories for Advanced Practice Nursing, 2nd Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/books/9781284058543/epubcfi/6/2Dal

Pezzo, N. (2009). Nursing care: A concept analysis. Nursing Forum, 44(4), 256-64. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/195019326?accountid=87314

Marchuk, A. (2014). A personal nursing philosophy in practice. Journal of Neonatal Nursing, 20(6), 266-273.