Position Paper
Position Paper—Theory Application
NURS 306 Theoretical Foundation of Professional Nursing
Nursing Theory Paper
Purpose of the Assignment
This assignment is designed to allow the student an opportunity to complete an in-depth analysis of a nursing theory/model. Analysis of the theory coupled with application to a clinical scenario is intended to demonstrate the relevance of nursing theories to professional practice.
Student Approach
The theoretical foundation class allowed to explore the different nursing theories that have been proposed throughout history. Every nurse has a theory they follow based on their beliefs. Despite the historically significant nurses such as Florence Nightingale, I wanted to use someone that has not had too much recognition.
Reason for Inclusion
I have a background in public health which emphasizes health promotion/prevention. Dr. Nola Pender’s Health Promotion Model (HPM) is essential to nursing due to the complex conditions I have seen in the last couple of hospitals. While it has been a year, I still abide by her theory.
Curricular Outcomes
Critical Thinking
Uses nursing and other appropriate theories and models to guide professional practice.
Pender’s HPM focuses on wellness and promoting a healthier lifestyle in hopes for a better outcome in the future. While I was taking this class, I was working on an intermediate care (IMC) unit. There, I was teaching patients on relapsing. I currently work as a rehabilitation nurse, where we meet the patient’s goals. Because patients are under our care for a longer period of time, it grants me the time to educate them on the tasks required to achieve normalcy while assessing them.
Nursing Practice
Performs therapeutic interventions that incorporate principles of quality management and proper safety techniques.
Pender believes in focusing on the individual characteristics, barriers, and expected outcomes. I gave an example of when I used Pender’s HPM to take care of one of my patients when I worked on IMC. The patient was a newly diagnosed type II diabetic, so I educated him on proper blood sugar control, how to safely administer insulin to oneself, and the YMCA’s diabetes support group. I also had his family involved in the care plan and requested a social worker to discuss his predicament.
Communication
Adapts communication methods to patients with special needs.
Communication is a necessary skill to facilitate information between the patient and healthcare team. At both facilities, I had to communicate with patients who are recovering from a stroke. Many of them would either be aphasic or have altered mental status, so communication proved difficult.
Teaching
Uses information technologies to communicate health promotion, risk reduction , and disease prevention
Many patients I worked with on IMC had difficulty returning to normalcy. I used Pender’s HPM to forge a path patients would follow by collaborating with the interdisciplinary team. If patients wanted to return to their baseline activities of daily living (ADLs), health promotion and disease prevention were taught.
Research
Differentiates between descriptive nursing literature and published reports of nursing research.
While I used the nursing literature cited to discuss Pender’s HPM, I had to cite a research article involving nursing. To support my stance on health promotion, I cited an article from Mohammadi which discussed health counseling, the implication of the HPM, and its effectiveness for healthy intervention. The research article supports the HPM, with the textbook literature describing what it does.
Leadership
Delegates and supervises the nursing care given by others while retaining accountability for the quality of care provided.
When taking care of my patients on the IMC unit, I delegated to the nursing care partner (NCP) the tasks they had to perform to ensure quality care was given. Such tasks included taking patients to the bathroom, obtaining their vital signs and blood sugar, and collecting blood specimens. I would examine the recorded data and see if any intervention was necessary. The HPM allowed me to discuss the recorded values if the patient had questions on how to control such parameters.
Professionalism
Applies an ethical decision-making framework and legal guidelines to clinical situations that incorporate moral concepts, professional ethics, and advocacy for patient well-being and preferences.
Like many theories examined in the course, Pender’s HPM utilizes an ethical decision-making framework and legal guidelines for the appropriate clinical situation. When I was working on IMC, every patient’s baseline was assessed to see what they can and cannot perform. A care plan is implemented based on the findings to ensure the goals are met. The same skills are being used at the rehabilitation facility I am working at currently.
Culture
Demonstrates sensitivity to personal and cultural definitions of health, and how these beliefs influence an individual’s reaction to the illness experience and end of life.
While healthcare is diverse cultural population, I primarily treated African Americans, who view good health as a state of individual well being that is based on their lifestyle choices. They are also considered religious with strong familial ties. I had to factor these into the plan of care when promoting health and reducing the risk of disease for many of the individuals. Pender’s HPM views culture as an individual characteristic and a potential barrier; culture should be considered when taking care of the patient.