Essay on Dynamic Nursing Knowledge and Theory

Metaparadigm refers to a set of propositions and concepts that are used to set the phenomena of a particular discipline. The nursing metaparadigm consists of four central phenomena that are considered to be of interest which are health, nursing, person, and environment. The health care reform has a significant impact on the metaparadigm of nursing. The health care reform results in having more nurses to ensure the increasing healthcare demands are met, advance the nurses skills to help them be in a position of meeting the needs of the aging population who tend to have health problems that are more complicated.

The healthcare reform has enabled the students in the nursing field to be in a position to acquire huge loan amounts from the federal government which has greatly impacted their level of education since they can obtain the right level of education and skills from the recognized institutions. The reform further provides a grant program which includes a health clinic that is nurse-managed which will help reduce the problem of family physicians shortage.

The nursing reform has led to increasing number of patients whereby some of the patients have chronic diseases which have not been treated for a long period and hence requiring more attention and care. Such issues have led to the nurses straining and overcrowding in the health centers since it needs more time to improve the health condition of such patients.

The nursing reform affects the nursing metaparadigm since the law increases Medicare payments for the services provided by the clinical nurse specialists and other health practitioners. It reduces the ability of individuals to be in a position to pay for their medical expenses.

The AACN Synergy Model for Patient Care: A Nursing Model as a Force of Magnetism

According to the American Association of critical-care, the Nurses Synergy Model for Patient Care helps in describing the practice of nursing, the eight characteristics of a patient and as well as help in describing the competence of a nurse. Synergy emerges when the characteristics and the needs of the clinical unit, patient or the system are matched with the expertise of the nurse. The synergy model is of great importance as it helps in the organization of the work of patient care in the entire health care system. The model is required to be used in the whole health care system utilizing the same philosophy. The primary concept that is applied while using the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Synergy Model is that the competencies of the nurses are influenced by the patients and family needs. The American Nurses Credentialing Center awards the magnet status to hospitals that meet various qualifications which are used to measure the quality and strength of their nursing practice (Roberta & Kevin, 2008, p. 4). In my opinion, health care centers should ensure that they enhance the use of the Synergy model as it helps improve services that the nurses offer to the patients and also through the use of the model they can assess if a nurse is qualified and have the required professional skills to handle a given problem.

Nursing Theory: Its Importance to Practice

Theory refers to a set of statements that are established and can also be tested. Nursing theory helps in the provision of the principals that outline the practice and assist in the generation of more nursing knowledge. According to Chinn and Jacobs 1978, the nursing theory help in predicting, describing and explaining the nursing phenomenon. The main aim of the nursing theory is to help provide the foundations of nursing practice, assist in the generation of more knowledge and as well as show the direction in which nursing should take in the future. The nursing theories can be divided according to their function such as interaction theories, needs theories, humanistic theories and outcome theories. Nursing theory is of great importance since it helps individuals to be in a position of differentiating what they know and what they should know (Colley, 2003, p.37). In my opinion, the nurses should be taught the benefits of the nursing theory in their practice so that they can stop assuming that the nursing existed way before the development of the nursing theory. The healthcare centers should have a defined body of theory in nursing, and through this, they will have enhanced professional status for nurses, quality patient care and better lines of communication.

Nursing Philosophies, Models, and Theories: A Focus on the Future

A nursing philosophy refers to a statement that consists of ontological claims regarding the phenomena that are of central interest to a particular discipline and how the phenomena were known and what the members of that specific discipline value. The ethical knowledge that is contained in the nursing philosophies can be used to assess the basis in which the practicing nurses protect the patients and family members privacy and as well as treat individuals with the required level of respect. Nursing conceptual models are the various ways in which the nursing practice processes are viewed. Every nursing conceptual model tends to provide a guide on how the nurses work with the patients. The nursing knowledge is mostly in the form of the conceptual models of nursing, nursing theories and philosophies of nursing. The nursing theories and conceptual models of nursing equip the nurses with the intellectual skills which the nurses are required to have to survive even in a period when there is a reduction of professional nursing staff (Fawcett, n.d., p. 425). In my opinion, the nurses should be involved in the development of the nursing conceptual models, philosophies and theory so as they can ensure that they do not affect them negatively during the nursing practice and advance the nursing discipline.

Nursing Knowledge and the Problem of Worldviews

The concept of worldviews has been embraced in the field of nursing over the past few decades. This has resulted in nurses continuously seeking solutions to problems that arise in the nursing field within the worldviews ideas and opinions instead of what is originating from other disciplines. When the nursing conceptions are based on worldviews, it becomes impossible for agreements and as well as disagreements to transpire in the nursing conceptions regarding the different worldviews and to dismiss any as erroneous (Kikuchi, 2003, p. 7). In my opinion, strict rules should be set to regulate people from solving various nursing problems using the existing worldviews as it results in the nurses acting unprofessionally and risking the lives of the patients. When the nurses are regulated against using the worldview idea, it will be possible to develop an organized body of nursing knowledge.

Integrating Nursing Theory and Process into Practice

Addressing a patients need is of great importance to be able to provide them with quality care across the world. The use of nursing theories in the field of nursing tends to vary from one context to another. A nurse is in a position to increase their level of professionalism by using theoretical research as a form of systematic evidence for decision making and critical thinking. Through integrating the nursing theory into practice, the nurses tend to improve the quality of care (Younas & Somner, 2015). In my opinion, nursing students should first be taught about the nursing theory and then later shown how to apply the knowledge they have learned practically to solve a patients problems. This will assist the nurses to be able to develop their analytical skills and also improve their level of critical thinking.

A Case for Nursing Theory in Practice

This case is a comparison done by Doucet and Merlin discussing three nursing paradigmatic perspectives through the use of one example of a patient who is having difficult moments caused by her illness. The case outlines the importance of theory in nursing care and why theory based nursing education should be considered as being necessarily (Karnick, 2014). In my opinion the theory based nursing education should be considered as one of the requirements of considering an individual as being qualified in the practice of nursing.

References

Colley, S. (2003). Nursing theory: its importance to practice. Nursing Standard, 17(46), 33-37. doi:10.7748/ns2003.07.17.46.33.c3425

Fawcett, J. (n.d.). Nursing philosophies, Models and Theories: A focus on the future.

Karnick, P. M. (2014). A Case for Nursing Theory in Practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 27.

Kikuchi, J. F. (2003). Nursing Knowledge and the Problem of Worldviews. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 17(1), 7-17. doi:10.1891/rtnp.17.1.7.53167

Roberta, K., & Kevin, R. (2008). The AACN Synergy Model for Patient Care: A nursing model as a form of magnetism. Nursing Economics, 26, 1-6.

Younas, A., & Somner, J. (2015). Integrating Nursing Theory and Process into Practice. Health and Medicine, 8.