Biopsychosocial Model Assignment

NURS 6341: Specialty in Clinical Nursing | Week 6

A common characteristic found in all great teachers is a love of their subject, an obvious satisfaction found in arousing this love in their students, and an ability to convince them that what they are being taught is deadly serious.

—J. Epstein

Think about what you see and what you note as you engage in clinical activities in your practicum setting. From your observations, how do the nurses who are regarded as “experts” provide quality care? In what ways do they bring both a telescopic and a wide-angle view of their patients and their specialty to their nursing practice?

This week you continue to advance your awareness in your specialty of interest by exploring how the physical, emotional, and social dimensions, also known as the “biopsychosocial science,” of illness and recovery are woven together in the application of highly skilled care. As a nurse with advanced knowledge, you reflect on how you negotiate these multiple dimensions and nuanced requirements, and as a nurse educator, how you will present or develop them in others.

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Learning Objectives – Biopsychosocial Model Assignment

Students will:

• Analyze biopsychosocial strategies that improve patient care
• Analyze current research literature for applicability to specialty areas of interest
• Evaluate a practicum experience in the context of quality*
• Analyze opportunities for integrating quality measures into the nursing classroom*
• Construct a detailed practicum log**

* You continue working on the Assignment related to this Learning Objective, first introduced in Week 4 and submitted in Week 7.

** You continue working on the assignment related to this Learning Objective, first introduced in Week 1 and submitted in Week 7.

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Benner, P., Tanner, C., & Chesla, C. (2009). Expertise in nursing practice: Caring, clinical judgment, and ethics (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.

• • Chapter 4, “Proficiency: A Transition to Expertise” (pp. 103–135)

The authors continue to present the stages of nursing practice development by outlining the characteristics of proficiency and how the leap from competent to proficient nursing is transformative in six major ways. As with the previous stages, consider this process from your own experience and observation of nurses in your practicum setting.

• • Chapter 5, “Expert Practice” (pp. 137–169)

This chapter completes the presentation of the stages of nursing practice. As you read, bring to mind expert nurses in your specialty area of interest and characteristics of their skilled performance.

• Chapter 1 is one of three chapters in Expertise in Nursing Practice written by contributors other than the authors. Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus are brothers who have developed a model of skill acquisition. In this chapter they explain their model and its five stages—novice, advanced beginner, competence, proficient, and expert— and its application and implications for development of nursing practice. Note the conclusion that experiential learning is essential for progressing from novice to expert in any field and consider how this practicum may advance your nursing practice.

Sadigh, M. R., Phd. (2013, April 01). Development of the Biopsychosocial Model of Medicine. Retrieved April 05, 2017, from http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2013/04/mhst2-1304.html

This brief presentation explains the concept of the biopsychosocial model—how physical, psychological, and social factors interplay in both the development and treatment of disease.

Discussion: Applying Biopsychosocial Science to Improve Patient Quality of Care

“We had a patient that was in the OR, and I’d gotten word that he had been … in the CCU beforehand, had a really poor heart….I was coming into work that evening and had received word that his family was sitting … in our waiting room. So I thought I’d go out and meet them.… They were like stressed to the max … [and] proceeded to tell me this whole story about what this poor man had gone through….[I]t was like they were just looking for this release valve and I gave it to them, and they seemed to appreciate that, and I think at that point we kind of clicked.”

—(Benner, Tanner, and Chesla, 2009, p. 142)

In this excerpt taken from your course text, the nurse describes her interactions with the patient’s family as a significant aspect of providing quality patient care. From her first interaction with both the family and the patient, she has an intuitive grasp of what is needed to calm the worries of the family as a system.

Consider examples such as these from your course text, practicum setting, and previous clinical experiences. Also reflect on your own experiences or observations of nurses engaged in patient care in which the larger impact on the family, or the community (the clinical staff or a broader group) was not as strongly considered or not acknowledged at all.

In this Discussion, you exchange views with your colleagues on the concept of quality patient care that is based on biopsychosocial knowledge.

To Prepare

• Review the article, “Biopsychosocial Model” and examples from the text reading that demonstrate its application. Reflect on your previous clinical experiences or those during your current practicum, and identify situations in which you used biopsychosocial knowledge when working with a patient.
• Reflect on your practicum experience through the lens of the biopsychosocial knowledge. How have you applied your advanced skill and knowledge when working with patients, families, or communities (clinical or others)? What specific biopsychosocial strategies have you used or could use to ensure or improve quality care in your practice?
• Conduct further research to locate evidence-based biopsychosocial strategies that improve quality care for patients, families, and communities.

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By Day 3 Biopsychosocial Model Assignment

Post an explanation of three biopsychosocial strategies* you use or may use to improve quality care for a patient, a family, and community. Explain how each strategy aids the individual/group by describing specific examples from your practicum and current literature.

* To meet the requirements of this Discussion, you must identify at least three strategies: one for the patient, one for the family, and one for the community.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one of the following approaches:

• Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence, or research.
• Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
• Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research. Biopsychosocial Model Assignment.