Nightingale’s approach was patient-centered care; she viewed the person as multidimensional with intellect made up of "biological, psychological, social, and spiritual components” (Current, 2012). Nightingale viewed all people equally and wanted to help the masses that were suffering. She believed nursing was a service to God and that nursing care aided in maintaining or restoring patients through the alteration of a patient’s environment (Alligood, 2010, p. 99). Florence Nightingale’s nursing theory began laying the groundwork for subsequent nursing theorists. One theorist who followed in her footsteps and adopted her philosophy regarding nurse caring behaviors is Jean Watson.
What Nursing Means To Me According to Algase (2010), nursing is defined as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through treatment, and diagnosis” (p.148). Many years ago being a nurse meant wearing a starched, pristine white uniform with a matching white cap and shoes. That immaculate white uniform was a symbol of purity. When you saw a nurse wearing it, you automatically associated them with having compassion, being charismatic and caring, and following orders. Fortunately, the nursing uniform has progressed over the years as well as the attitude about the nursing profession.
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.
To provide care that is all encompassing we need to meet the needs that the mind, spirit, body and soul. My philosophy falls in line with the Healing Hospital paradigm. According to Chapman (2007), the Healing Hospital revolves around many things but most importantly supports culture of care. Love is the center of healing and I will discuss further the paradigm of the Healing Paradigm citing challenges and the logic behind it. The Healing Hospital paradigm is based on the age old idea that love in the ultimate key to healing.
The NCNR dedicated areas within its institute to focus just on how to conduct research. Knowing how to conduct research is important as studies were undergone to not only improve nurses’ ability to slow a patient’s illness, but to also assist the nurse in promoting a healthy lifestyle for the patient. The NCNR believes research is necessary because nurses “are more likely to have continuing contact with the most vulnerable populations” (Merritt, 1987). Research is needed to assist nurses in identifying those patients at risk so interventions can be put into place to empower the patient to realize a healthy lifestyle is achievable. Conclusion Nursing research has always been and continues to be directed toward patient care.
Each dimension reflects a unique aspect of community health. Community health in terms of status, or outcome, is the most well-known and accepted approach; it involves biological, emotional, and social parts. Community health, when viewed as the structure of the community, is usually defined in terms of services and resources. The view of community health as the process of effective community functioning or problem solving is well established. However, it is especially appropriate to nursing because it directs the study of community health for community action.
They provide a rehabilitation center that works not only with the body but the mind, to treat the whole person. And, they have a Breast Care Center, which has earned a national accreditation and provides state-of-the-art screening and diagnostic tools (MCMC, 2009-2010). Being affiliated with the right organizations can help with strengthening your status in the community, which is why Mid-Columbia, became affiliated with the Planetree Alliance. Planetree is a non-profit organization that believes the same things that Mid-Columbia does and they help with continuing promotion of nurturing the body, mind and spirit. They believe that kindness and compassion helps minimize the stress that hinders healing (Planetree, 2009) and treating the patients like human beings rather than numbers, can go a long way.
I believe that providing the best possible care for each patient should be the primary concern of nursing. In doing so, the environment is crucial in the meeting the needs of the patient. Central concepts of nursing are “person, environment, health, and nursing” ( Masters, 2014, p.48).Careful consideration must be given in educating the patient about the illness. In early years, the responsibility fell upon the physician. In recent years, the responsibility has been transferred to the nurse to manage the patient’s environment in order to promote the patient’s recovery.
She is a nurse, writer, professor, and a theorist. The death of her husband made her develop the caring theory. The basis of Watson’s theory is caring for the person holistically. Watson supports the idea of humanistic and holistic care; focus is on “caring”, promoting health, and preventing illness (Duncan & DePew, 2005). Watson also characterizes nursing as a healing art and science dedicate to the pursuit of harmonious and sacred relationships (George, 2011).
Health Promotion in Nursing Practice Health promotion education practiced in the communities can positively affect the communities’ health and nurses contribute to this result. “The International Council of Nurses (ICN) (2009) reported that health-promoting actions performed by nurses working in diverse settings provide ideal opportunities for health promotion with a goal of creating healthy homes, schools, cities and workplaces. Individually and through national associations, nurses, along with other healthcare providers, can be effective in paving the road for good health through health promotion.” (Jadelhack, 2012) Nurses’ can educate their patients on the important lifestyle changes that include smoking cessation, implementing an exercise regimen, vaccinations, dietary changes, etc all of which can contribute to the prevention of health problems such as obesity, hypertension, coronary artery disease, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. The General Nursing Directorate (GND) addressed the following goals for primary health care centers on behalf of the nursing profession 1.