The Theoretical Foundations of Nursing - Paper Example

Introduction

Within the nursing profession, the discovery of nursing theories has significantly helped in health care deliveries. The development of nursing theories started in recent years with several pioneers who wanted to streamline the nursing profession. However, many nurses don't get the intended motive of nursing theories, and even some don't understand that the present nursing theories developed to streamline and guide daily health care services. Moreover, nursing theories encompass the ethics and frameworks laid down to guide nursing practices. Besides that, this paper discusses the application of nursing theories, nursing theory levels and reasoning in the nursing profession.

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Identify a theory that you find workable for this particular situation. What is it about the theory that you like? Which particular components of the theory have contributed to your feelings? How do you expect that this nursing theory would guide the professional practice of nursing in the twenty-first century?

The duty-based approach is among the suitable theory which applies to this current situation. It is fundamentally associated with philosopher Immanuel Kant which emphatically inclines its basics on religious setting and people thinking like Saint Augustine of Hippo. It emphasized the essentials of personal free will and intentions to ethical decision making. Kant suggested that performing what's right is not about the reputation of the outcome but instead having good plans and heart to act. The ethical action is one conducted by the duty that is done precisely. The best part of this theory which has contributed to my feeling is that Ethical obligations universal and knowledge of what these obligations entail is arrived at by discovering rules of behavior that are not contradicted by reason. In coming years I expect that this nursing theory will help the nurses Act by the maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. Through choosing to follow the moral law in nursing professionalism, it will result in acting ethically.

Search for the best evidence regarding this problem cited above in this article. Is the information useful to you, in what manner, and how does this make it useful and generalizable as evidence? How does empiric research impact upon this case? How does this research supply the foundation for further practice?

Pioneering work done by Linda H. Aiken at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002 showed that each extra patient a nurse had above an established nurse-patient ratio made it 7 percent more likely that one of the patients would die. She found that 20,000 people died a year because they were in hospitals with overworked nurses. This case report is useful since it gives the nursing practice an in-depth analysis in a natural, real-life context. Based on real-life experience and conducting a range of studies, we reflect when considering a nursing theory. The empiric research impact on to describe in detail a patient's episode of care, explore professional attitudes to and experiences of a new policy initiative or service development or more generally to investigate contemporary phenomena within its real-life context. The generalization made from the case study makes the nursing theories to be adopted universally, and the nursing practices are streamlined with fundamental ethics.

Do you think this scenario reflects the "art of nursing"? Do you think a focus on nursing as art is essential today? Why?

In daily routine nurses are faced with challenges in their professionalism. This scenario doesn't reflect in the approach and concept of nursing as art. Nurses understand that regardless of personal health people require quality life. This makes nurses focus on nursing practice as important art in people's lives today. This involves nurses to practice active listening and response that will draw attention to family, patient and community values.

Do you believe that the nurse experienced moral distress (i.e., in which she was unable, through no fault of her own, to do the right thing)? What needs to happen so that the next time she is in a similar situation, she will not experience moral distress?

Nurses face challenges in the daily exercise of their professionalism. Issues associated with medical hegemony within the health staff can result to nurse distress, since recognizing the power of physicians in the work environment may keep them off from implementing some actions that resist this power, especially advocating in favor of patients' rights. Reflecting on nurses' failure to exercise power raises potential ethical implications associated with the submission of nurses. The presence of sound ethical values becomes hugely important, since this influence the decision-making process and individuals' personalities which will reduce the occurrence of such nurse distress in the future.

What is it about the environment in which the nurses worked in this case - patterns of control, rules, and prohibitions - that positively or negatively affects the ethical decision making?

The work environment in which nurses provide care to patients can determine the quality and safety of patient care in different hospitals. Health care services are provided to patients in an environment with complex interactions among many factors, such as the disease process itself, clinicians, technology, policies, procedures, and resources. Different nursing environments establish rules which nurses and other health workers do not develop and apply the fundamental theories on nursing practicing. Application of ethical decision in a healthcare setting has both positive and negative consequences. Some ethical decision help to save lives and improve the quality of health care among patients which lead to improved quality of life and reduced the death rate. Nevertheless, the application of ethical decision maybe not universally accepted which lead to poor results in patients care hence nurses get complaints by the society.

Consider the tenets of Chaos theory. How can Chaos theory be applied to this situation?

Chaos theory is a scientific principle describing the unpredictability of systems. As stated by James Gleick, chaos is a science of the "global nature of systems," and so it crosses many disciplinary lines-from ecology to medicine, electronics, and the economy. It is a theory, method, set of beliefs, and way of conducting scientific research. Applying chaos theory to organizational behavior allows theorists to take a step back from the management of day-to-day activities and see how organizations function as unified systems. In this situation, chaos theory will help nurses resolve with the management issues affecting their services delivery and find a corrective measure to prevent the occurrence of such scenarios in the future.

Reference

Alligood, M.R. (2010). Nursing theory: Utilization and application (4th Ed.). St. Louis, MO: Nursing Theory.

Brown, T. (2013). Critical Care:A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between.".

Chinn, P. & Kramer, M. (2011). Integrated theory and knowledge development in nursing (8th Ed.). St Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.