Nursing Responses: Maslow's Pyramid

Accreditation According to the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), "accreditation is a nongovernmental process conducted by representatives of postsecondary institutions and professional groups. As conducted in the United States, accreditation focuses on the quality of institutions of higher and professional education and on the quality of educational programs within institutions" (Standards of accreditation for post-baccalaureate nurse residency programs, 2008, CCNE). Accreditation is a source of objective evidence from an outside entity that a program meets certain quality and content standards. This is essential for both students and patients.

Students make a considerable financial and time investment in their education and need to expect that they can emerge with real skills as well as a diploma upon graduation. They do not have to tools to vet a program before they are accepted. Patients have a right to expect that the nurses who oversee them graduated from high-quality programs. Accreditation serves the interest of everyone in the healthcare system. References Standards of accreditation for post-baccalaureate nurse residency programs. (2008). CCNE. Retrieved from: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ccne-accreditation/resstandards08.pdf Q2.

As well as ensuring standardization, accreditation reviews also ensure that a program is continually improving and keeping current with changes in the healthcare environment. Programs cannot stay static in terms of the information they transmit to graduates. Technology is growing more complex; changes in legislation mean changes in funding and the emphasis placed upon preventative medicine; the relationship of nurses to other healthcare providers is likewise in flux. Nursing accreditation programs must take all of this into consideration when evaluating a university on a regular basis.

Accreditation is never given once and in perpetuity: institutions are under regular review so a once-qualified program may be denied and have to bring it standards back 'up to code.' Nurses are continually learning and many go back to school to enhance their credentials. The schools that teach them must also be changing, learning, and growing with the needs of the world outside.

The pillars of nursing education are today defined as learning how to "deliver patient-centered care as members of an interdisciplinary team, emphasizing evidence-based practice, quality improvement approaches, and informatics" (Lifelong learning in medicine and nursing, 2008: 8). The relatively recent nature of all of these developments to nursing practice underlines the vital nature of nursing programs remaining fresh and future-focused. References Lifelong learning in medicine and nursing: Final conference report. (2008). AACN, Retrieved from: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/MacyReport.pdf Q3.

Studying theories such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs are very important for nurses in addition to traditional nursing paradigms given the need for nurses to understand the different worldviews of patients. For example, sometimes if a patient's physiological needs such as food and shelter are not being addressed, they will not be motivated to make major, long-term life changes needed to improve their personal health like seeking out preventative care.

On the other hand, if physiological needs are not addressed, they may also be unlikely to access higher spiritual and existential needs. The patient's physical health is only one domain of nursing: social, environmental, and psychological factors also are a critical part of health.

The nursing theory building blocks of person, environment, health and nursing also reflect the concept that the culture, personality, and definition of health of the individuals the nurse is treating affect the type of nursing that is being administered -- nursing is always a dialogue between nurse and patient, not a monologue. References Maslow's hierarchy of needs. (2014). R.N. Retrieved from: http://www.rnpedia.com/home/notes/fundamentals-of-nursing-notes/maslow-s-hierarchy-of-basic-human-needs Q4.

"The strongest predictor of nurse job dissatisfaction and intent to leave a job is stress in the practice environment" (Paris & Tehaar 2011). Not only is Maslow's hierarchy of needs extremely useful for nurses to better understand their patients: it is also useful for nurses to better understand themselves. Burnout is very common in.