Theory and ethics in nursing
Post 1: After graduation, I will put into place the nursing theory is the “Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory” created by Dorothea Orem. This theory revolves around the concept that individuals have the ability and responsibility to care for themselves to maintain optimal health. However, when individuals are unable to perform self-care activities due to illness, injury, or other limitations, nurses step in to provide assistance and support. The core principle of the Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory asserts that patients desire to care for themselves and can achieve faster and more comprehensive recovery through their own self-care efforts. This theory finds application in rehabilitation and primary care settings, where patients are encouraged to foster independence (Petiprin, 2023). Hospitalization due to illness which can lead to lack of movement often result in long or short-term disability. This can take a toll on quality of life and ADLs for the patient.
Orem’s theory is used often in rehabilitation care. I currently work in an acute rehabilitation center that specializes in patients recovering from conditions like stroke, traumatic brain injuries, and amputations. My aspiration is to remain in this field. I hope to help patients throughout their critical rehabilitation journey, which is instrumental in their eventual recovery and independence at home.
Nursing administrators would need to focus on creating systems that allow for individualized care plans to fit each patient’s specific self-care deficits. These assessment tools should be able to identify patients’ self-care abilities and areas where they require assistance. Administrators would also need to ensure that the staff is well educated on providing the necessary care and education to patients and their families on self-care techniques.
Nursing Management should play an important role in coordinating care making sure that each patient’s self-care needs are addressed effectively. They would need to make sure there is a collaborative team focusing on their goals (PT, OT, nutrition, case management, home health etc.). When it comes to an interdisciplinary team, OT and PT are usually the professionals that can properly assess the patient’s level of ADLs. The Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living is a commonly used assessment tool in hospitals. It evaluates a patient’s ability to perform six essential activities without assistance. These activities include bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, continence, and feeding. Each activity is scored based on the level of assistance required, ranging from total independence to complete dependence. The Katz ADL is valuable for quickly assessing a patient’s functional status and determining their level of independence in daily tasks (Wallace, 2007). Its important for nursing management to work to develop and implement care plans that empower them to take an active role in managing their health.
Nursing Education In nursing education, Orem’s theory would emphasize the importance of teaching about the principles of self-care. Nurse educators need to assess and support nurses in maintaining or restoring their ability to perform self-care activities. Nurse educators would need to make sure that nurses are educated on how to educate their patients for home care. Nurses need to develop their assessment, planning, and intervention skills related to self-care management.
Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory highlights the importance of empowering patients to participate in their own care. Its important to recognize the role of nurses in providing support and assistance when self-care deficits exist. Nursing administrators, managers, and educators must collaborate to create environments that foster patient autonomy and help assist with self-care practices.
References
Petiprin, A. (2023). Dorothea E. Orem – Nursing theory. Nursing Theory. https://nursing-theory.org/nursing-theorists/Dorot…
Wallace, M., & Shelkey, M. (2007). Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living. https://www.alz.org/careplanning/downloads/katz-ad…
post 2: After graduation, my plan is to begin my career in the clinical field and possibly shift over to the academic side one day. A nursing theory that resonated with me for both fields but particularly for the clinical field is Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring. Watson points out the major elements of spirituality and ethics involved in caring for others (McEwen & Wills, 2023). The act of caring is such a vital part of nursing that this theory can affect the nursing administration, management, and education. Caring is the core of nursing and nurses provide high quality patient care with dignity and respect in both the clinical and academic setting. In the clinical field, nurses provide direct patient contact while the patients and family members are in a delicate mental state, by providing empathetic care to each patient the nurse is able to increase patient outcomes. Watson states that by implementing the act of caring in nursing, we are able to renew ourselves and also be able to deliver the best possible care to each patient (McEwen & Wills, 2023). Nursing is defined by caring and is mutually beneficial for both the patient and the nurse.
Reference
McEwen, M., & Wills, E.M. (2023). Theoretical basis for nursing. (6th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
post 3: The nurse Megan and the hospital administration need to consider things like respecting patients’ rights, helping people, not causing harm, and being fair. Nurses help patients and make sure their care goals are met while following ethical rules. Respecting autonomy means that nurses have to respect someone else’s right to make their own decisions and support their choices, even if the nurse disagrees with them. Beneficence means doing what’s best for the patient. Nonmaleficence means not causing harm to the patient, and justice means treating patients fairly and equally. (ANA, 2018).
Nurses must follow good rules like helping patients, not hurting them, and staying loyal to them. When there are too many patients for each nurse, the nurses may feel very worried because they cannot give good care to all the patients and make sure they are safe and well. The choice to take care of more patients than is is safe can be a tough decision for nurses. They have to decide between taking care of all their patients and making sure they’re safe by following the rules.
While I was at the hospital, I noticed that the nurses had to take care of too many patients because there weren’t enough staff. This made the nurses feel very frustrated, tired, and upset because they couldn’t give the best care because they didn’t have enough things they needed. Watching they didn’t have enough things they needed. Watching how having too few nurses affected patients and nurses demonstrated the the importance of having enough nurses for each patient. It also said that healthcare leaders should make good choices based on honesty and fairness.
References:
American Nurses Association.(2018). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursi…
West Coast University.(2023). Practice and Principle. Ratios Retrieved from https://westcoastuniversity.hosted.panopto.com/Pan…
post 4: I really appreciate how you emphasize the importance of prioritizing the well-being of nurses in order to increase quality of care. I feel like nurses’ well-being really goes unnoticed in these situations because the main focus tends to be on legal and patient obligations. However, a burnt-out nurse is associated with decreased quality of care and can compromise patient safety, so I agree that it is extremely important to ensure the well-being of nurses in these difficult situations (Velando-Soriano et al., 2020). Nurses who experience burnout suffer from emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishments (Velando-Soriano et al., 2020). A nurse who is experiencing such emotional distress cannot provide a patient with safe, quality care (Velando-Soriano et al., 2020). Therefore, I agree that fostering a multifaceted approach, which also considers nurses’ mental health, is essential for finding ways to address the issues of safe nurse-to-patient ratios.
I also want to thank you for sharing your personal experience with unsafe nurse-to-patient ratios. Managing the care of eight patients is definitely overwhelming. A situation like the one you experienced puts both you and your patients at risk, which is why it is important for administration to address these issues diligently.
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