Foundations Of Nursing Discussion

A philosophy of nursing practice is a nursing approach developed by a nurse to guide their daily practice. The nurse uses the nursing philosophy to define what they believe is nursing, the nursing role in health care, and how the nurse interacts with patients. Besides, a nursing philosophy addresses the nurse’s ethics in relation to nursing practice (Cheraghi et al., 2019). Philosophies of nursing and nursing theories are interrelated since they directly affect each other. The purpose of this paper is to describe my philosophy of nursing practice and explore how middle-range nursing theories support the philosophy.

Philosophy of Nursing Practice

My philosophy of nursing practice is founded on delivering high-quality, compassionate, holistic, patient-centered care guided by the best practice. In my nursing practice, I have endeavored to apply a holistic approach in providing nursing care since I believe that nursing is not only about caring for the physical needs but also the emotional, spiritual, and social needs of patients. In addition, my philosophy is anchored in respecting patients, including their treatment preferences, cultural beliefs, and ethnic background. I believe every patient is unique with unique health needs, and I aspire to offer the best care without bias. I consider nursing a privilege, and as a nurse, I should strive to provide care with integrity and incorporate evidence-based practice to promote the best possible outcomes for patients and their families. I endeavor to fulfill three major roles of a nurse: to educate, advocate for patients, and promote good health practices in patients, which are key to promoting better health outcomes.

How the Philosophy Can Accommodate My Expanded Awareness of Practice Issues as A DNP

In my DNP training, I have learned about various nursing practice issues that DNP-prepared nurses should address to improve healthcare delivery and patient experience. The issues include increased healthcare technology adoption, nursing shortage, complex patient conditions, and ever-changing healthcare needs. These issues need to be addressed using evidence-based practice (EBP) identified through research (Edwards et al., 2018). The nursing philosophy can accommodate my increased awareness of nursing practice issues by embracing research and EBP. Besides, the issues should prompt me to change my practice approach and constantly work on improving my clinical knowledge and skills to align myself with the constantly evolving healthcare and patients’ needs (Edwards et al., 2018). Furthermore, the nursing practice philosophy can accommodate my increased awareness by embracing innovation through research, which is vital in developing strategies to address the identified healthcare issues.

How the Philosophy Reflects or Supports Advocacy of Social Change as A DNP

The philosophy of nursing supports my advocacy for social change as a DNP by stressing empowering individuals through health promotion to enable them to change their environment to a safe and healthy one. The philosophy states that the nurse has a role in attaining the community’s health goals to promote change, and thus I should introduce change into people’s lives (Edwards et al., 2018). It drives me to take the initiative to understand the nature of change, how individuals respond to it, and how to bring change to improve community health. As a DNP, I empower clients to use their position, capitalize on individual characteristics, develop expertise, and take advantage of opportunities to bring positive change into their lives.

Middle Range Nursing Theories

The middle-range nursing theories that support my nursing practice philosophy are the Behavioral System Model by Dorothy Johnson and Katarine Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort. Johnson stressed the importance of research-based knowledge on the effect of nursing care on clients. She asserts that nursing is a science and an art and has a body of knowledge reflecting both science and art. The Behavioral System Model assumes that organization, interaction, interdepending, and integration of the parts and elements of behavior that make up the system (Peterson & Bredow, 2019). The interrelated parts contribute to the development of the whole. In addition, man endeavors constantly to maintain a behavioral system balance and steady states by automatic adjustments and adaptations to the natural forces impinging upon him.

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The Behavioral System Model supports my philosophy of nursing practice by directing that nursing interventions should be directed toward promoting regularity in the patient’s behavior to maintain or achieve balance in each subsystem. Thus, as a DNP, I will establish that the nursing process has been completed when I have measured the expected behavioral outcomes and revised the plan of care as needed further to promote stability of the patient’s behavioral system, adjustment to the situation, and adaptation to stress (Peterson & Bredow, 2019). The model further supports the philosophy in nursing practice, education, and research.

Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort asserts that comfort occurs in three forms: relief, ease, and transcendence. If a patient’s particular comfort needs are met, they experience comfort in the feeling of relief. Ease tackles comfort in a state of contentment, while transcendence is a state of comfort in which individuals can overcome their challenges (Oliveira et al., 2020). The theory states that patient comfort can occur in four contexts: physical, environmental, psychospiritual, and socio-cultural. Furthermore, the theory describes patients as people, families, communities, or institutions needing health care. The environment is defined as any facet of the patient that the nurse can control to improve comfort. Lastly, health is perceived to function optimally in the patient, as defined by the patient, family, or community (Oliveira et al., 2020). The Theory of Comfort supports my philosophy of nursing practice by demonstrating that nurses should prioritize patients’ comforts. Thus, interventions should increase comfort by alleviating pain, degree of symptoms, and suffering. It supports the philosophy’s view of applying a holistic approach and caring for patient’s physical, emotional, spiritual, and social needs.

How Interdisciplinary Theories Inform the Philosophy of Nursing Practice

DNP nurses in the current health care systems require a strong scientific knowledge base from nursing and other disciplines, including physical, social, and behavioral sciences. The Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory is an interdisciplinary theory that informs my philosophy. It guides my philosophy since it provides a framework nurses can use to communicate patient care needs and clinical processes to healthcare team members (Pype et al., 2018). The theory guides me to engage in discussions and develop ideas with other health care professionals. Furthermore, the theory supports the philosophy with its idea of holistic care being a vital concept in nursing science. It asserts that holistic care focuses on the person, the health of the person, and the environment, which are concepts at the core of nursing science.

Conclusion

My philosophy of nursing practice focuses on delivering high-quality, compassionate, holistic, patient-centered care guided by the best practice. The Behavioral systems theory asserts that man endeavors constantly to maintain a behavioral system balance and steady states through automatic adjustments and adaptations. Kolcaba’s Theory emphasizes that nurses should provide patients comfort through relief, ease, and transcendence. CAS guides my philosophy by emphasizing the interaction of team members with each other.

References

Edwards, N. E., Coddington, J., Erler, C., & Kirkpatrick, J. (2018). The Impact of the Role of Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurses on Healthcare and Leadership. Medical Research Archives, 6(4). https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v6i4.1734

Cheraghi, F., Yousefzadeh, M. R., & Goodarzi, A. (2019). The Role and Status of Philosophy in Nursing Knowledge, Insight and Competence. Journal of Clinical Research in Paramedical Sciences, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.5812/jcrps.90762

Oliveira, S. M. D., Costa, K. N. D. F. M., Santos, K. F. O. D., Oliveira, J. D. S., Pereira, M. A., & Fernandes, M. D. G. M. (2020). Comfort needs as perceived by hospitalized elders: an analysis under the light of Kolcaba’s theory. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 73. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2019-0501

Peterson, S., & Bredow, T. S. (2019). Middle range theories: Application to nursing research and practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Pype, P., Mertens, F., Helewaut, F., & Krystallidou, D. (2018). Healthcare teams as complex adaptive systems: understanding team behavior through team members’ perception of interpersonal interaction. BMC Health Services Research, 18(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3392-3

Foundations Of Nursing Discussion