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? Applying Biopsychosocial Science to Improve Patient Quality of Care Essay.

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.

Learning Objectives

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.

By Day 3

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 Applying Biopsychosocial Science to Improve Patient Quality of Care Essay

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. Applying Biopsychosocial Science to Improve Patient Quality of Care Essay.

MORE INFO 

Applying Biopsychosocial Science to Improve Patient Quality of Care

Introduction

Imagine this scenario: You’re a physician at an outpatient clinic, and one of your patients comes in with a complex case of depression. The patient hasn’t been able to sleep, eat, or socialize for months. He’s lost 20 pounds and is becoming increasingly depressed. In short, he’s suffering from clinical depression—a serious mental health condition that can lead to suicide if left untreated. What do you do?

If you’re like most physicians (and I certainly was as a young doctor), I’d probably prescribe some antidepressants and send him on his way with the hope that things would get better soon enough. But how could they not get better? That’s what we doctors were trained to think: “This will pass eventually.” Or maybe not so much “pass” as “normalize”—we’ve all seen plenty of cases where medications don’t work right away but do eventually improve our patients’ quality of life over time… that is, until another set of pills fails us again in two weeks’ time!

So why does this happen? Why does taking medicine sometimes make everything worse instead of better? Well, there are many reasons—most notably biological factors like neurotransmitters which regulate moods as well as genetic predispositions for psychiatric illness which can often be traced back to traumatic childhood experiences like sexual abuse or neglect… but also psychological factors such as learned helplessness or even just plain old human nature itself (which includes a whole host of cognitive biases). It’s no wonder that we have so many problems getting people into treatment programs when learning about these things seems like insurmountable obstacles!

What Is Biopsychosocial Science?

Biopsychosocial science is a new approach to understanding health and illness. It looks at the biological, psychological, and social factors that influence health. The term “bio” refers to biology while “psycho” reflects mental processes such as emotions and thoughts; so biopsychosocial science focuses on how these mental processes interact with one’s environment (e.g., family or culture). Finally, the term “social” implies an interaction between individuals within their environment—social interactions can shape our physical wellbeing or even lead us into trouble!

Biopsychosocial research provides scientists with tools for understanding how people respond differently based on their unique biology, experience (i.e., upbringing), personality traits like personality type or temperamentality; gender identity; race/ethnicity; socioeconomic status; age group–to name just a few factors which may influence how we perceive our own health status & state anxiety levels when faced with challenging situations such as illness diagnosis/ treatment decisions made by doctors during visits at clinic offices.”

How does biopsychosocial science impact patient well-being?

Biopsychosocial science is an approach to health care that combines biological, psychological and social factors. It helps health care professionals understand the whole person, not just the disease or condition. For example:

• A patient who has possible depression may be prescribed an antidepressant medication. However, this prescription does not address all aspects of his or her well-being; therefore he or she may still experience problems such as sleep deprivation or lack of energy from functioning on only one mode (e.g., work) instead of two or three modes simultaneously (home life).

• A patient who has arthritis in both hips will likely require physical therapy for treatment since there are other areas where pain exists due to inflammation caused by joint damage such as bone spurs which need extra time spent working out at home each day before going back into school after summer break ends next week!

How can you apply it to your own practice?

• Listen to your patient. Ask them about their life, not just their health.

• Be aware of the different aspects of your patient’s life—their social, educational and work experiences; how they feel about themselves and others; what they value in terms of family or friends (or lack thereof); how they spend free time.

• Be aware that our biases can affect our practices as well as those with whom we interact on a daily basis: if you’re white, male and have been practicing medicine for decades then it’s easy to forget that there might be other ways of looking at things besides those ingrained within us by society at large! It’s important not only to listen but also try your best not act upon these biases when interacting with patients so that everyone feels comfortable discussing issues openly without feeling judged by what others think about them being different from themselves which leads us nicely onto…

Want to learn more about biopsychosocial science and other strategies to deliver better patient care?

Did you know that biopsychosocial science is a new approach to health care? It’s based on the idea that biological, psychological and social factors all influence health and illness. It also emphasizes the importance of considering all of these factors when treating patients.

For example, if you have high blood pressure or diabetes but don’t see it as a major issue because they don’t interfere with your daily life (e.g., no symptoms), then there may be something else going on in your life that could be causing these conditions—perhaps stress at work or relationship issues with family members—and therefore getting treatment for them would help improve your quality of life even further!

Biopsychosocial science is a new approach that health care professionals can use to improve care for patients.

Biopsychosocial science is a way of looking at the whole person, rather than just their disease. It can be used in all areas of health care, not just mental health.

The goal of biopsychosocial science is to help patients understand their own illness and treatment. Biopsychosocial approaches aim to balance both biological and psychological factors that contribute to health problems, including stress management techniques like meditation or yoga; physical exercise; sleep hygiene; nutrition; social support networks (family members etc.,); medication compliance rates (taking medications as prescribed vs taking them when you feel like it).

Conclusion

Biopsychosocial science is just one of the many ways that health care professionals can improve their patients’ quality of life. A deeper understanding of how to apply this approach will help you provide better care for your patients, so it’s important to learn as much as possible about biopsychosocial science and other strategies to deliver better patient care.