Nurses: How to Use the Technical Attributes

¶ … nurses: how to use the technical attributes of nursing while still conveying compassionate care.

Even though nursing is an empirical, scientific discipline, knowledge derived from the humanities and behavioral sciences should also form the foundation of client-centered nursing practice. A nurse must deal with the patient's subjective, psychological perceptions of what 'good health' means when setting health-related goals. The nurse must also understand the patient's particular cultural context. However, given these factors, the nurse cannot ignore certain biological imperatives imposed by the patient's condition (such as if the patient is a diabetic and needs to lose weight).

Q2. Mary Mahoney was a pioneer of nursing during an era where African-American women were prohibited from securing employment or education in healthcare. "She was also very instrumental during her career in bringing together minority nurses...and in helping other people [of color] to get involved in nursing" (Eyes on the Prize, 2011, Minority Nurse). For individuals to trust the healthcare profession it is essential that they feel as if the professional 'face' of nursing is one that they can recognize.

In recent nursing history, Jean Rochelle Marshall, "has worked to end minority health disparities and increase educational and leadership opportunities for nurses of color. Her accomplishments include successfully securing funding, development and management of innovative, nationally acclaimed programs designed to meet the needs of a broad range of populations, with special emphasis on the medically underserved (Eyes on the Prize, 2011, Minority Nurse).

Q3. In the healthcare delivery system, the role of the nurse is primarily that of a patient advocate. The nurse analyzes the patient's physical, social, psychological and spiritual needs and shapes treatment around these diverse factors that impact the patient's health. Rather than viewing the patient as a manifesting a disease to be cured, the nurse views the patient in a holistic fashion.

Q4. The person in the Myra Levine Conservation Model is "a holistic being who constantly strives to preserve wholeness and integrity" and one "who is sentient, thinking, future-oriented, and past-aware" (Myra Levine: Conservation theory, 2011, Nursing Theories). The person always exists in the context of his or her environment. The environment is defined as the internal "physiological and pathophysiological aspects of the individual" and "the perceptual, operational, and conceptual environments" of the external environment. Health is a pattern of adaptive change to environmental pressures (Myra Levine: Conservation theory, 2011, Nursing Theories). Nursing is defined as "accomplished through the use of the conservation principles: energy, structure, personal, and social integrity (Myra Levine: Conservation theory, 2011, Nursing Theories).

Q5. Hildegard Peplau's theory of interpersonal relations defines the person as a "developing organism that tries to reduce anxiety caused by needs" (Theory of interpersonal relations, 2009, Nursing Theorists). Peplau's theory underlines the need for the nurse to understand the consequences of needs, and nurses help empower patients to fulfill those needs. In contrast to Levine, Peplau's stresses the ability of the organism to determine and structure care. Peplau's definition of the environment is similar to Levine's, defined as "existing forces outside the organism and in the context of culture" (Theory of interpersonal relations, 2009, Nursing Theorists). Like Levine as well, Peplau stresses the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the health process. Health means "forward movement of personality and other ongoing human processes in the direction of creative, constructive, productive, personal and community living," as the person is able to engage in self-care and also engage with others (Theory of interpersonal relations, 2009, Nursing Theorists). Nursing is defined in a more social fashion than in Levine, it is a "significant therapeutic interpersonal process. It functions cooperatively with other human process that make health possible for individuals in communities" (Theory of interpersonal relations, 2009, Nursing Theorists)

Q6. Multicultural approaches to nursing are essential to treat the diverse populations of urban healthcare environments. Dealing with patients with different health expectations, definitions of healthy practices, and life stressors requires the nurse to have special understanding of specific challenges a patient might be facing, due to race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Taking the time to understand the unique stressors poverty can place upon patients, impeding their ability to engage in good health practices; the obstacles a lack of English literacy or education can present in following healthcare directives; and economic and cultural factors that can inhibit the ability to eat healthfully and exercise are all examples of the need for a multicultural perspective.