Nursing theory applies conceptual frameworks to guide practice through predicting and describing specific behavior. There are many types of nursing theories out there, but the theory I chose was Dr. Katharine Kolcaba’s, The Comfort Theory. In an effort to address why the profession of nursing needs theory, it is important to identify the purpose and importance of theory in general. Not only does nursing theory need to demonstrate the progress of the profession itself, but nursing theory needs to be meaningful and applicable to our current practice. Many authors have somewhat different opinions of what nursing theory actually means, but the general consensus seems to support the fact that it is a set of clearly defined concepts and values.
The way in which a nurse practices can greatly affect the outcome of the patient (Potter & Perry, 2006). For this reason, nursing practices based on theories and concepts should be researched. The process of using concepts, theories, research and practices to form rationales usually begins with a concept or theory and is cyclic in nature, as each component may lead to the other (see Appendix A). In the nursing profession, several concept-directed theories guide both research and practice. The purpose of this paper is to select and analyze one of the many nursing theories that exist.
Abstract Comfort is an important concept in nursing practice that must be used as a guide in providing holistic care to improve patient’s health status. In the history of nursing practice, the concept of comfort is vague and is often times linked to end of life situations only. Dr. Katharine Kolcaba, a teacher and a nurse researcher, developed the theory of comfort with the goal of improving the patient’s experience and overall satisfaction as well as to promote higher hospital integrity and better institutional outcomes. This paper informed the reader of the concept of Comfort Theory, its strengths and weaknesses including the barriers and challenges met when using the theory, its application and implication to critical care setting, and its relevance to healthcare professionals and to the health care system. Further on, the plan to implement the theory in critical care nursing was presented.
The CNL is described as an advanced unspecialized clinician. AACN’s white paper describes the CNL as a lateral integrator in a leadership role in the clinic setting. The CNL coordinates and facilitates the care for all groups of clients in a patient care setting thus improving outcomes. The task at hand is to define the clinical nurse leader. The CNL as an advanced unspecialized leader in nursing was first
Application of Theory Paper Nursing theory is the framework that defines nursing practice, establishes standards of care and provides the information essential for functioning patient care. Theory presents logical and educated reasons for nursing actions, based on structured, written depictions of what nursing is and what nurses do (Rousell, 2010). When problems arise within the educational, research, administration and direct patient care settings; theory supplies a foundation for dialog. When using theory to facilitate resolution of a nursing issue it guides leaders in the direction of the common goal of affording superior patient care (Rousell, 2010). In this paper I will apply the Ida Jean Orlando’s Nursing Deliberate Nursing Process Theory to patient boarding in the Emergency Department (ED), a current issue at the facility I am employed.
Nurses intermingle with people from diverse branch of the world with a mixture of civilizing practices, so cultural alertness seems essential in creating a patient-nurse relationship during the interview phase of the health assessment, initial step of the nursing process. Every culture perceives wellbeing and sickness differently; as a result, cultural traditions have power over nurses’ decision making process which represents a baseline to begin action for healing and provides high quality of care that nurses have to give. “Cultural ability means the aptitude of nurses to value and admit the cultural backgrounds of persons and give care that best meets the persons’ requests—not the nurses’ requests” (Edelman & Mandle, 2010, p.
These three points are essential to the role of nursing in our Changing healthcare system. Transforming practice: According to the IOM report, nurses should be able to practice to the full extent of their education and training. Nursing care should be given to patients based on their individual needs not what is convenient for the provider. For patients to receive care required our healthcare system will need transformation and nurses have the opportunity to play a major role; to create a more accessible, high quality we need to visit our scope of practice especially for APN and discuss barriers and restriction on practice. Transforming education: The IOM report indicates that nursing education should serve as a platform for continued lifelong learning and include opportunity for seamless transition into higher education (IOM 2011).
It is also important to know where and how theories can best apply to current nursing practice. Compare and Analyze a Common Core Concept A common core concept among Virginia Henderson’s need theory and Dorothea Orem’s self-care deficit nursing theory is nursing. Both theorists use the nursing concept in their theory to define the role of nursing. Henderson defines nursing as the unique function of a nurse to help a person sick or well in the performance of activities contributing to health or its recovery that the person would perform unaided if he or she had the necessary strength, will, or knowledge. Nursing can also consist of assisting an individual to a peaceful death.
Mental health nursing is a unique field, under constant scrutiny, perhaps because of the misunderstanding of its science or the misconception about the community it serves. This scrutiny has provided mental health nursing with the opportunity to examine its practice of restraint use and through its history constantly improve its practices. Ethics in nursing is a constantly studied area. The American Nurses Association code of ethics requires that the nurse provide care that is respectful of the dignity and individuality of each patient. Underlining this concept are the nursing ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence (Taxis, 2002, p.158).
This author will also discuss theory assumptions related to person, health, nursing and environment. This author chose to write about the philosopher/theorist Patricia Benner. Benner uses a humanistic model in her nursing theory. Benner was interested in the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition and applied it to nursing. Benner looked at how nurses learn to do nursing, rather than just how to do nursing.