Nursing Essays (Examples)

Nursing What Effect Does Simulation

Learning in adults is most effectual when the environment is both participative and interactive. Another important characteristic is that learners obtain instantaneous feedback. Teaching methods that necessitate a learner to think though data or information and come to a conclusion or forecast an outcome are more valuable than is reading or lecture. "The minute-to-minute care and monitoring of critically ill patients requires nurses to collect, analyze, and react to data and information. Simulation is an excellent way to both teach and practice these skills" (auen, 2012).

Conventional teaching methods stress linear thinking as a single concept is taught at a time. In physiology and critical care courses, the body is divided into organ systems and studied. Even though this method is suitable to help learners dissect intricate information, organ systems do not function in separation from one another. "For instance, in a critical care course, new cardiac surgery nurses learn…… [Read More]

Nursing Research Value of Research to Nursing

Nursing esearch

Value of esearch to Nursing

Nursing is different from other health care professions. It has a large scope for practicing therefore it is necessary to understand theory in order to provide a strong framework for understanding of this profession. The daily practice of nursing contributes to a nursing practice theory, which can be empirically tested. A quantitative nursing research has three levels such as descriptive, co-relational and experimental. Therefore nurses are encouraged to consider all the virtues of experimental designs very carefully. They have to present an evidence-based practice as they have to plan a future research. This essay describes value of research to the nursing profession and also the contribution of a key theorist to the nursing research.

Value of esearch to Nursing

Every nursing practice theory should be at a level where it can be tested empirically. Today nurses are expected to work on evidence-based practice…… [Read More]

Nursing Across Theories Nursing Is a Core

Nursing Across Theories

Nursing is a core concept that is common across contemporary nursing theories. Even though the definitions, applications, and philosophies are different with each theory, the concept of nursing plays a vital role in each one. Contemporary theories came about when the teaching of nursing students was not sufficient to the performances of what the nurses were being taught in schools and ultimately affecting patient care in the long run of nursing practice. The role of nursing theories was to enable schools to better equip nursing students for nursing practice that would provide adequate care and teaching to patients in the long run that would better equip the patient in knowledge of health and well-being.

"Nursing systems are a series of actions taken by a nurse to aid in meeting a person's self-care needs" (aulita, 2010). Nursing describes the nurse's responsibilities, roles of nurse and patient, and the…… [Read More]

Nursing Theory Caring as an Integral Nursing

Nursing Theory

Caring as an integral nursing concept can be viewed from diverse perspectives. It can be an attribute, a complex set of behaviors, or an attitude. This has made some people believe that it is impossible to improve and measure it although there is evidence that both improvement and measurement are possible. People recognize that caring models of professional practice affect the service users, health outcomes, healthcare staff, and ultimately health care costs. The ability of healthcare staff to deliver caring-based models is driven by characteristics of healthcare service users and organizational behaviors. While nursing has generated a lot of research about caring, this concept remains relevant to all healthcare professionals encountering users of health care services. The caring concept has many similarities with relationship-based care and person-centered care.

B. Literature review

Nurse at risk of threatened well-being

In many countries, an increasing tendency to abandon the nursing field…… [Read More]

Nursing Research How Data Collection Influences Statistics

Nursing Research

How Data Collection Influences Statistics

Data collection influences statistics in several ways. First, data is collected according to a "category scheme," which is the establishment of meaningful categories in which the data is collected and analyzed (Polit & Beck, 2008, p. 508). If the category scheme is not well developed and meaningful, adequate data may not be effectively collected and examined to inform the nurse researcher about whatever topic he/she is investigating. Assuming good data collection, it allows the nurse researcher to define "themes" through common characteristics, variations and patterns shown by the collected and examined data (Polit & Beck, 2008, p. 515). In addition, data collection allows the nurse researcher to validate and refine themes through the use of quasi-statistics. Quasi-statistics is the enumeration of how often specific themes or observations are supported by collected and examined data (Polit & Beck, 2008, p. 517). If a specific…… [Read More]

Nursing Shortage Issues Surrounding the Nursing Shortage

Nursing Shortage

Issues Surrounding the Nursing Shortage

In the early 2000s, national strategies to improve the nursing workforce profile were largely focused on increasing the number of nurses at the bedside through the use of sign-on bonuses and travel nurses. While these strategies tended to provide local short-term solutions, they did little to address long-term issues affecting the nursing shortage. With nursing education programs challenged to increase student enrollment, many colleges were confronted with a limited financial infrastructure, a shortage of qualified faculty, and difficulty establishing the clinical sites needed to support additional students. Thus, they found themselves turning qualified applicants away (Clark & Allison-Jones, 2011).

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2010) there are three routes to becoming a registered nurse (N), a 3-year diploma program typically administered in hospitals, a 3-year associate degree usually offered at community colleges, and the 4-year baccalaureate degree offered…… [Read More]

Nursing Science the Historical Development of Nursing

Nursing Science

The historical development of nursing science can largely be dated back to the era of Florence Nightingale. It is however imperative to note that nursing as a largely independent profession has over the past century converged into a well founded theoretical perspectives culture. In this text, I will develop a nursing science historical development timeline with a mention of specific theorists, theories, years as well as events in nursing history. Further, I will discuss the relationship existing between the profession and nursing science. This paper will also make a mention of how nursing is influenced by a select class of other disciplines including but not limited to psychology, anthropology, education and religion.

Nursing Science: Historical Development

1850 -- Considered by many to be the pioneer of nursing as we know it today, Florence Nightingale joins The Institute of St. Vincent de Paul to start off her training as…… [Read More]

Nursing the Greatest Challenges Facing Nursing Leadership

Nursing

The greatest challenges facing nursing leadership and the profession as a whole include, but are not limited to, "highly political environments, budget reductions, changing reimbursement patterns, staffing shortages, and rapidly evolving technological advances," (Schmidt, 2006, p. 34). In addition to these environmental and organizational challenges, nurses and nurse leaders contend with issues related to communications, public relations, and personal psychological barriers to greatness. Nurses are endowed with more formal and informal types of power than in the past, expanding the locus of the profession from bedside care towards policy making and administration.

Nurses and nurse leaders can influence the regulatory mandates that govern and guide nursing practice. In fact, nurses and nurses alone are entrusted with the responsibility of developing and changing regulatory mandates that impact the nursing profession in particular. egulatory mandates that do not impinge directly upon nursing, or which have a broader application in health care,…… [Read More]

Nursing Case Study Case Discussion This Case

Nursing Case Study

Case Discussion

This case scenario is a classic case of professional misconduct carried out by Nurse X. The nurse did not have enough medical or chemical knowledge and therefore she made this mistake. It is common sense for any health care professional to realize that nasogastric or endoscopic route is very different to an IV route. All nurses and health care providers must be extra careful when administering to the patient's body through the IV route. It is noteworthy here that something as minor as an air bubble can result in the death of the patient. Through the nasogastric and endoscopic route, the medicines are introduced in the gastrointestinal tract from where they are absorbed in the blood. Therefore it should be noted that there is a huge difference between drug solution made for gastric route and drug solutions made for the IV route. Drugs that are…… [Read More]

Nursing Is a Science and an Art

Nursing is a science and an art, combining evidence-based practice with a practice based on caring, compassion, kindness, and respect. Evidence-based practice legitimizes nursing as a profession, as it eliminates guesswork during the delivery of care and ensuring a scientific foundation for clinical decisions. Nursing involves following and often developing the standards and procedures that promote both individual health and public health. As an art, however, nursing involves caring for patients, families, and communities. The ontological root of nursing is the act and process of promoting health and well-being. Nursing is a relational profession, highlighting the nurse's role within the health care system.

Nursing is frequently defined as both "art" and "science," (Potter, Perry, Stockert & Hall, 2013; Mississippi Delta Community College, n.d.). The art component of nursing is best expressed in the subtle nuances of the delivery of care, including attitudes and behaviors toward patients. As an art, nursing…… [Read More]

Nursing Education

Nursing Education

Does nursing have a unique body of knowledge or is it the application of various other fields of knowledge in a practice setting?

Nursing does have a unique body of knowledge as Moyer and Whittmann-Price (2008) state "it is nursing's unique knowledge base that warrants a unique service or practice called professional nursing" (6). This means that like the other help-specific sciences nursing was founded on the basis of research that is unique to the methods needed for the practice of that occupation and no other. This definition of this practice is bounded within that research

What are the expectations and patient considerations of evidence-based practice in nursing?

First of all, evidence-based practice assumes that the exercise of the field is predicated on what research has determined will best aid patients. Expectation, viewed from an ethical perspective, is that nurses will provide care that is not anecdotal but…… [Read More]

Nursing Theorists the Objective of This Study

Nursing Theorists

The objective of this study is to identify, describe, research and apply the concepts of a specific nursing theorist and compare and contrast it to other nursing theorists. As well, this work in writing will provide examples of clinical situations from personal nursing practice that illustrates the concepts and application of the framework and will describe these in ways that serve to illustrate and clarify the use of the conceptual material.

The nursing theorist chosen in this study is Dorothea Orem. Dorothea Orem was born in 1914 in altimore, Maryland in the U.S. And earned her diploma at Providence Hospital in Washington DC. Orem worked as a staff nurse as well as a private duty nurse, nurse educator, and administrator and finally as a nursing consultant. Orem received her honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1976. Orem's theory was first published in 'Nursing: Concepts of Practice in 1974,…… [Read More]

Nursing Metaparadigm

Nursing metaparadigm is a declaration or series of declarations that identifies occurrences that include a range of philosophical beliefs and directs the approach to the identified assumptions. A metaparadigm is defined as the most comprehensive perspective of a field that serves as a summarizing unit or outline with which more limited structures or concepts develop. In this case, each field or discipline identifies an interesting or relevant phenomenon that it addresses in a unique way (Masters, n.d.). Unlike the concepts and propositions in the conceptual models, those that indentify and connect these phenomena are more intangible. The nursing profession is based on conceptual theories and models that reflect several paradigms originating from metaparadigm in the nursing field. The conceptual models in this profession are based on four central concepts i.e. person, health, environment, and nursing. This implies that nursing practice is based on the person receiving care, environment within which…… [Read More]

Nursing Professional Boundaries There Are Boundary Issues

Nursing Professional oundaries

There are boundary issues in every aspect of nursing practice. Some of the issues range from stopping to purchase some groceries for a home-bound client, accepting gifts from clients, having friendship with clients and engaging in sexual relationships with clients. While there is substantial gray area compared to black and white in the study of professional boundaries, nurses can make appropriate decisions if they have the relevant information concerning fundamentals of professional boundaries (Kagle and Giebelhausen, 1994). Therefore, it is advisable for the nurses to read additional information and take part in discussions with their colleagues to widen their comprehension of the topic.

Professional boundaries refer to the limits that shield the liberty between the professional's authority and their client's susceptibility. This means that upholding proper boundaries will help in controlling the authority allowing for safe links between the nurse and client based on the client's wants.…… [Read More]

Nursing Theory as Nolan and Grant 1992

Nursing theory, as Nolan and Grant (1992, p. 217) correctly state, cannot be separated from the practice of the profession. On the other hand, theories that have become known collectively as "grand theory" have become so fraught with terminology discrepancies and idealistic representation that it has become impossible for practitioners to use. This has created what Nolan and Grant (1992, p. 217) refer to as the "theory-practice gap," where there is a lack of basic communication and collaboration among nursing theorists and practitioners in the field. To remedy this, a new approach to nursing theory and its relationship to practice arose, known as "mid-range theory." This approach was first suggested by Hildegard Peplau at the end of the 1960s (Peden, 1998). ecently, there has been a revisitation of the merits of mid-range theories as a more effective approach not only to the practice of nursing, but also to research in…… [Read More]

Nursing Work at the ER Nursing Work

Nursing work at the ER

Nursing work at the Emergency Room (ER)

The interviewee is Eric Johnson, a Registered Nurse (RN) in the Emergency Room (ER) of Toledo Hospital. He has been an ER RN for seven (7) years now. Scheduling the interview with him was challenging, as nurses work many hours, and Eric managed to allot a small amount of time for the interview because the interviewer is his friend.

What kind of education/certification/experience does the nurse have?

Nursing work in the ER is a specialization by itself. Thus, ER nurses are given continuous education, certification to different areas of nursing expertise specific to ER work, and the experience itself in the ER is worthy enough for a nurse to be experienced in different aspects of technical/medical hospital work. Formally, the interviewee has been trained in basic life support, advanced cardiac life support, neonatal advanced life support, pediatric advanced…… [Read More]

Nursing Interview One of the Remarkable Things

Nursing Interview

One of the remarkable things about the nursing profession is the wide variety of work opportunities available to nurses. This paper highlights information about a unique nursing career. Jenny J. is a nurse who works for NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In her career as a nurse working for NASA, Jenny's work experience may seem to be outside of the realm that one traditionally associates with a nurse. In the time that I have known her, Jenny has participated in flight training programs, been able to experience zero-gravity exposure, and has routine contact with astronauts who continue to go into space, despite the limitations in the current U.S. space program. However, Jenny's work experience makes it clear that the skills that are most critical in the performance of her job are her nursing skills. She provides ground support and technical training for astronauts, in…… [Read More]

Nursing Role

Nursing ole

oles and responsibilities

"A nursing job demands great dedication and commitment from the learner." (Johnstone, 1999). The practitioner of this field is required to have the ability to work under great pressure as well as being able to remain calm under extreme circumstances. There are many responsibilities for any nurse and here we will look at some of them. Firstly, nurse is supposed to be the one who provides care to those who need it the most. Their main task is to provide comfort to the patient not only through physical treatment but at an emotional level as well.

In cases where the doctors are not available the nurses should take the lead in assisting the patients in whatever their requirements are, therefore a nurse should have extensive knowledge and experience regarding dealing with sensitive matters which affects the patients. "The nurse should also try to give clients…… [Read More]

Nursing Administration Staffing

Nursing Administration-Staffing

A strategy for recruiting nurses for the acute care units

The effect of the nursing shortage crisis combined with higher patient acuity has become a crucial concern for the nursing management team. This relates largely to the balancing patient needs with staffing needs. Nurse executives at hospitals contribute to the shortage of women having numerous opportunities outside the health care industry and to inadequate compensation for work done. However, diverse recruitment strategies can be employed to help in reversing this pattern. Local initiatives may include collaborating with nursing schools as primary sites for clinical rotations, offering referral bonuses, and establishing residency programs. It also includes hiring new graduate nurses, encouraging the nurses to visit high schools to boost students' interest in the field, and encouraging more males to join the field. Internal strategies include paying acute care nurse premium dollars for working additional hours, giving annual bonuses associated…… [Read More]

Nursing Leadership and Conflict Management the Complexities

Nursing Leadership and Conflict Management

The complexities of communication in healthcare are accentuated by the urgency of providing expert-level care and continually fueling a high level of professional competence with one's peers and the broader professional communities. The more time-sensitive a given field of nursing or medical practice, the more critical it is to have highly accurate, relevant and timely patient data to make decisions on (White, Thornbory, 2007). Across the entire medical industry and specifically in nursing the greater the competency a professional has, the greater the credibility they earn over time (McElhaney, 1996). This is what makes leadership so difficult in the nursing industry, as excellent leaders will over time coach and create highly effective nursing professionals who are honest about their strengths, in addition to their weaknesses (Fuimano, 2005). Authenticity and transparency are critically important for creating a solid foundation of trust in communication, and the more…… [Read More]

Nursing Organization Plan Nursing Org Plan the

Nursing Organization Plan

Nursing Org Plan

The author of this report is asked to lay out a master plan for a nursing/medical organization spoken and enumerated from the standpoint of a new nursing executive. The plan given in this report will have six major sections. In the same order in which they will be covered in this report, these facets include contextual information, nursing strategic planning, culture and image, physical setting and technology, nursing's role in inter-disciplinary care and quality/success metrics. While crafting and expressing such a plan is a complex and daunting task, there are a few core principles that should guide anything and everything pertaining to the plan.

The Plan

The mission statement, vision statement and organizational assessments of the organization will all center on three basic ideals, those being integrity, quality of care and the utilization/realization of human capital. In short, the nursing wing of the organization…… [Read More]

Nursing Original Understanding of What it Meant

Nursing

Original understanding of what it meant to be an N

Being a egistered Nurse meant applying evidence-based practice to patient care. It meant doing whatever it took to make patients as comfortable as possible, listening closely to their needs, and to the concerns they and their family presented to the healthcare team and me. Being a egistered Nurse meant collaborating with my colleagues and other members of the healthcare team to provide the best quality of care for each and every patient, under the circumstances. My original understanding of what it meant to be an N included having the necessary training, background, and experience to be a primary care provider.

Current expanded view of what it means to be an N

Since taking this course, I have acknowledged the "substantial expansion" in the N workforce over the past several years (Staiger, Auerbach, & Buerhaus, 2012, p. 1). Understanding the…… [Read More]

Nursing Leadership and Management

Nursing, Leadership and Management Case Analysis

Source of motivation

The nursing career is a challenging one and needs a lot of motivation and determination in order for one to continue in the quest to offer the service to those who need it and stay motivated and even motivate others. There are varied sources of my motivation in the nursing field. The most important is the intrinsic motivation source. It is described as the willingness of a person to make some decision or take an action depending not on the material rewards but the possible satisfaction that they may derive from the experience or the action (Jeremy Wight, 2011). The decision to engage in the nursing management activity is motivated by the pleasure or the learning experience that is derived from engaging in the activity. It is indicated that intrinsically motivated people derive pleasure from completing a task, the job itself…… [Read More]

Nursing Workforce Crisis and Initiatives

The health care sector comprises of different professionals with different educational qualifications and work in various settings. Nurses account for a significant portion of the entire health care workforce given their role in coordinating patient care activities. Actually, nurses are regarded as the primary professionals who provide health care services to different patient populations. Despite the significance of nurses in the health care workforce, nursing is experiencing a crisis in relation to the shortage of nurses, which has become a major issue for policymakers in the health sector. The shortage of nurses has increased at a time when there is an increased need for delivery of high quality patient care in order to enhance patient outcomes. This increase in nursing shortage has in turn contributed to the development of various nursing workforce initiatives that are geared towards addressing this problem.

The Nursing Workforce Crisis
The modern health care sector is…… [Read More]

nursing informatics and patient care nursing education

Key Issues in Nursing Informatics
Since as early as the 1980s, information technology, computer science, and nursing science have all been integrated under the rubric of nursing informatics: with the goal of improving patient care and quantifiable outcomes (Kaminski, 2015). Nursing informatics has also enabled the entrenchment of evidence-based practice in healthcare. Key issues in nursing informatics include the ongoing changes to hardware and software, the need to align various informatics systems and techniques across multiple care providers in a globally integrated healthcare system, and the need for core competencies to become mandatory for all nurses. Advancements in medical technologies and science, such as genetics, will also radically transform the role informatics plays in patient care.
Therefore, nursing informatics has radically transformed the nature of the nursing profession by expanding the requisite skills for professional practice and altering the roles nurses play in healthcare institutions. Even though there have been…… [Read More]

Nurse Interview

Introduction
An MSN-prepared nurse educator, Anita (name changed for this paper) is the ideal individual to interview for this project. Anita exemplifies the value of pursuing the MSN, particularly as the degree empowers the individual to pursue careers in research and education as well as in being a nurse practitioner. Furthermore, Anita shows how the trajectory of nurse education is not always a straight line. Nurses often pursue their degrees intermittently, successively developing their skills and applying them in the professional setting. The purpose of this paper is to offer an overview of Anita’s journey from a nursing student to a nurse educator via the MSN path, showing how a nursing student can learn from their mentors.
Overview of Career
Before Anita received her credentials as a nurse educator with an MSN degree, she had worked extensively in healthcare in three different states including Missouri, Colorado, and California. She started…… [Read More]

Nursing Healthcare and Ohio

The Nurse Practice Act of Ohio directs responsibility and accountability in professional nursing practice. The Act defines the roles and duties of the Registered Nurse, delimiting the professional duties of the registered nurse. For example, an amendment to the Nurse Practice Act of Ohio enables nurses, including all nurse practitioners, to determine and pronounce death officially (Ohio Board of Nursing, 2017). Health counseling and teaching, administering nursing practice, and executing nurse regimens are also part of the Nurse Practice Act of Ohio (“Chapter 4723 Nurse Definitions,” n.d.). Therefore, the Act shows what nurses are and are not responsible for, improving consistency and role clarity. The Nurse Practice Act can also aid healthcare administrators to manage staff and ensure ascription to legal and ethical parameters of the profession.
My belief system aligns with the principles of caring and cultural competency. I believe that nurses do more than deliver care according to…… [Read More]

Nursing Research Evidence Based Practice

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the method of gathering, handling, and applying research results to enhance medical practice, the work atmosphere, or patient results. Based on the American Nurses Association or ANA, medical treatments ought to be functional, systematic decisions centered on EBP scientific studies. Making use of the EBP method of medical practice can help to deliver the very best quality and most price-effective patient treatment conceivable. This document is going to discuss the crucial qualities of EBP associated with research in nursing with special reference towards culturally customized diabetic issues training to lessen HBA1c levels amongst Americans with Asian descent suffering from type two diabetes.
What effect does a meta-synthesis or meta-analysis have on research translation? Describe a clinical practice in place that is supported by this level of evidence.
Meta-analysis offers the base for evidence-based practice as the outcomes could be utilized to establish a new best practice…… [Read More]

Nurse Abuse and Workplace Harassment

Workplace Harassment in Healthcare Settings
Nurses experience a wide range of abuses in the workplace including physical and psychological harassments and physical violence. Patients, patients’ families or friends, and coworkers can all precipitate harassment and abuse directed at nurses, with worldwide prevalence rates at over 36% for physical violence and 66.9% for nonphysical violence (Spector, Zhou & Che, 2014). Bullying, abuse of power, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, or racial harassment by coworkers and supervisors are also relatively common, creating toxic environments in healthcare organizations (Lee, Bernstein, Lee, et al., 2014). In fact, the majority of violent or abusive acts remain unreported due to the lack of institutional support or formal methods of reporting experiences of violence or harassment by either patients or coworkers (Kvas & Seljak, 2014).
Females and demographic minority nurses are at a much higher risk for being targeted for harassment and abuse (Okechukwu, Souza, Davis, et al.,…… [Read More]

Nursing Research Methods and Examination

Topic: 1
My research is being designed to investigate the efficacy of a culturally appropriate and targeted diabetes education program on the reduction of A1C levels after six months. The population I am focusing on is Asian Americans with Type II diabetes, within a specific age range. My hypothesis is that after three months of the program, the A1C levels of the experimental group will be lower than they were prior to starting the program.
Because I intend to measure the same population of people before and after the intervention, the ideal methodology to be used would be a pre/post test. I would like to employ quantitative research methods regardless, particularly for measuring the dependent variable (A1C levels). This is a unifactorial study, focusing only on one diabetes factor (A1C levels), making it relatively straightforward. Another way I can approach this study is to design a correlational study in which…… [Read More]

Nursing contributions and benefits during war

Introduction
In the American civil war era, “nurses” were largely upper- and middle- class white-American females. The profession of nursing was yet to be instituted, with a majority of individuals who assumed the nursing role being required to learn in the process of performing their everyday tasks. Armed forces hospitals were only just seeing the entry of female nursing staff, as, traditionally, recuperating soldiers filled a majority of nursing posts, particularly on the field which was regarded as inappropriate for females (Cashin, 2016; Hallett, 2014). But together with female nurses, others belonging to different backgrounds, serving in the role of laundress, matron, cook, etc., carried out much the same duties. In this essay, nursing advantages and contributions in wartime will be examined.
Contributions
Nursing staff offered their services in every kind of hospital: traveling hospitals, operation teams, hospital ships, hospital trains, base hospitals, recuperation hospitals, field hospitals, evacuation units and camp hospitals…… [Read More]

Nursing Shortage in America

A summary of the issue and the middle-range theory that could be used
There has been a disturbing trend of both surplus and shortage of nurses at different times throughout the healthcare workforce history in the US. There was a nursing shortage in the early parts of 2000s (Snavely, 2016). While there is already a moratorium regarding nursing shortage at the moment, the situation is likely to worsen in future because of a number of factors. The first cause is that since there is a recovery from the 2008/2009 recession in process, there is a likelihood that nurses who picked up their tools and went to work during the recession will revert to their statuses before the recession. It was estimated that 120 000 Registered Nurses will leave the nursing profession by the year 2015 (Auerbach, Buerhaus & Staiger, 2015). Such an eventuality will lead to the nursing situation as…… [Read More]

Nursing Shortages in the United States

Introduction
One of the main objectives of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s Healthy People 2020 campaign is to increase access to care for patients (ODPHP, 2018). However, with more and more primary care physicians leaving primary care for specialized medicine, there is a gap in care coverage. That gap could be filled if advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) were permitted to practice to the full extent of their education and training—but they are not. The Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2010) recommends that they should and gives explicit steps on how that recommendation can come about.
Selected Recommendation
Recommendation #1: “Remove scope-of-practice barriers. Advanced practice registered nurses should be able to practice to the full extent of their education and training. To achieve this goal, the committee recommends the following actions” (IOM, 2010, p. 1).
Background
The field of nursing was originally promoted to help fill the gap…… [Read More]

Nursing Burnout and Practice

Applying Theory to a Practice Problem: Part 1: Introduction and Problem of Practice
The problem of nurse burnout is one that impacts the nursing industry all over the globe. Researchers have identified the problem and its significance in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (Henry, 2014; Canada-De la Fuente, Varga, San Luis, Garcia, Canadas & Emilia, 2015; Wang, Liu & Wang, 2015; Sadati, Rahnavard, Heydari, Hemmati, Ebrahimzadeh & Lankarani, 2017). Nursing burnout can lead to higher costs for health care facilities, as burnout typically leads to higher turnover and higher turnover to the need for more training and expenditure on staffing. Nursing burnout can also impact care given to patients as it can result in compassion fatigue (Henry, 2014). There are numerous indicators of burnout among nurses but how to address it and reduce the risk of burnout is still unclear (Canadas-De la Fuente et al., 2015).
Burnout…… [Read More]

Nursing Leadership

Taking a Stand (Leadership)
In nursing, one is bound to encounter a wide range of moral and ethical challenges. This is more so the case given that as nurses, we often have to work with various kinds of people, often during challenging moments in their lives. All these people have personal expectations and demands. Trying to balance these demands and harmonize the various needs of those we come across could be a challenge. This is more so the case given that we also have to take into consideration the interests of other stakeholders in the entire care-giving equation. In the final analysis, this means that from time to time, we encounter situations that call upon us to reconcile our nursing profession duties and obligations with our personal or individual values. It should be noted that when it comes to navigating the ethical and moral minefield, the relevance of the nursing…… [Read More]

Nursing Burnout

Peer-Reviewed Nursing Articles
The study by Van Oostveen, Mathijssen and Vermeulen (2015) is characterized as qualitative because its primary objective was to obtain more “in-depth insight” into the experiences and perceptions of nurses regarding nurse overwork. This is a regular aspect of qualitative studies: they do not seek to test a hypothesis or identify a correlation among variables but rather to better understand a phenomenon or gain insight into the subjective experience of a group. Instead of statistical analysis being conducted, the qualitative study typically identifies themes or factors that can help researchers obtain more knowledge on what is most impactful regarding a specific issue. To collect data for the study, researchers conducted focus groups and interviews, which are common qualitative methods for collecting data because they provide opportunities that allow the participants to talk at length and give a great deal of information in their own terms so that…… [Read More]

Nursing Protecting the Image of the Profession During Care Delivery

How Does the Nurse Protect the Image of the Profession during Care Delivery
The nursing profession remains one of the most trusted vocations, and as a matter of fact, it has been rated as such several times in the past. It is, however, important to note that despite being a highly fulfilling job, nursing is also one of the most demanding occupations. Regardless, nurses ought to ensure that they not only play a central role in the promotion of health, but also work towards helping those under their care in the alleviation of suffering caused by illness. In general, in seeking to protect the image of the profession during the delivery of care, nurses must abide by the nursing code of ethics which, according to Epstein (2015), “describes the profession’s values, obligations, duties, and professional ideals.”
Further, a nurse should, during the delivery of care, demonstrate superior emotional stability. This…… [Read More]

Nursing and Leadership Theory

The four categories derived from the questionnaire are: Shared decision-making, Leadership and Safety, Well-being, and Professional development. The selected administration theories are: Innovation leadership, Transformational leadership, and Strategic leadership.
The first category is Shared decision-making and goes well with strategic leadership. One of the questions that fit well into this category from the self-assessment is: “2. Are staff nurses involved in decision-making and all phases of projects that affect nursing, including quality processes?”. People within an organization must all take an active role regarding the decision-making process. This especially rings true for complex decisions. Strategic leadership is an administration theory that suggests the ability for everyone to work together to initiate change. “a person’s ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and work with others to initiate changes that will create a viable future for the organization” (Wang, 2018, p. 29). When looking at the theory, there is a…… [Read More]

nursing and whether environmental health assessment is possible

Because any nurse dedicated to evidence-based practice should be wary of jumping to conclusions and presuming a causal relationship between the workplace environment and the client’s health, it is recommended to perform thorough risk assessments and ideally collaborate with environmental health specialists who may be able to perform actual analyses of potential contaminants, irritants, or anything measurable. “Risk assessors should have a basic grounding in epidemiology, toxicology and chemistry,” which is why the scope of this risk assessment may be beyond the role of a nurse practitioner (“Environmental Health Risk Assessment,” 2012). Actual environmental health risk assessments are systematic and rigorous, including “the process of estimating the potential impact of a chemical, physical, microbiological or psychosocial hazard on a specified human population or ecological system under a specific set of conditions and for a certain time frame,” (“Environmental Health Risk Assessment,” 2012, p. 3). There are two main components to…… [Read More]

Nursing and the Holistic Approach

Nursing Theory Analysis Paper: The Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms
Introduction
The middle-range theory of unpleasant symptoms was developed by Lenz, Suppe, Gift, Pugh and Milligan (1995) in an article entitled “Collaborative Development of Middle-Range Nursing Theories: Toward a Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms” and updated in a follow-up article entitled “Middle-Range Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms: An Update” (Lenz, Pugh, Milligan, Gift & Suppe, 1997). The theory holds that three categories of variables are responsible for affecting the occurrence, intensity, timing, level of distress, and quality of symptoms: 1) physiological factors, 2) psychological factors, and 3) situational factors. In doing so, the theory of unpleasant symptoms addresses the four concepts of nursing metaparadigm: person, environment, health, and nursing. This theory is especially useful in the emergency department (ER), which is the current field in which I work.
Background
The background of the theory of unpleasant symptoms is situated in the need identified by…… [Read More]

Nursing Students' Attendance at Learning Activities in Relation to Attainment and Passing Courses

Title
A well-written title serves two fundamental purposes in research. The first purpose of the title is to provide a “clear statement to the reader of what to expect,” and the second purpose is to “help someone searching for an article on your topic area to find your paper,” (“What Makes a Good Title?” 2013). A clever title might not serve either of these purposes, which is why authors like Rejno, Nordin, Forsgren, et al (2017) opt for a straightforward and explicit title. The full title of the research is “Nursing students' attendance at learning activities in relation to attainment and passing courses: A prospective quantitative study.” Although clunky and lacking imagination, the title does fulfill the primary functions of alerting the reader what they can expect from the article, and making the article relatively easy to find in academic or peer-reviewed databases. In fact, the authors even point out…… [Read More]

Nursing and the Humanistic Approach

Learning Theory and Practice
The humanistic theory of learning puts the recipient of the learning at the center of the learning process—i.e., the individual is the focus rather than the environment, the nurse, the situation, etc. This stems from the person-centered approach that Rogers (1951) developed, describing it as “the best vantage point for understanding behavior is from the internal frame of reference of the individual” (p. 495).
The main advantages of humanistic theory are that: 1) it offers a learner-centered approach to learning that allows the needs of the individual learner to be front and center, and 2) it assists in the development of adequate motivation, relationship-building, communication, and self-efficacy (Halstead, 2007).
When developing a target change to a patient lifestyle, humanistic theory is especially helpful because it allows the patient’s needs to be identified and addressed first and foremost. For example, a patient who is obese may need…… [Read More]

Nurse Practitioner Autonomy

Today, health care in the United States is characterized by growing demand combined with skyrocketing costs and critical shortages of qualified health care practitioners. In response to these challenges, there has also been a growing consensus among health care providers that nurse practitioners possess the education, training and expertise that are required to provide high quality medical services for a wide array of disorders. In fact, some studies have indicated that nurse practitioners can treat fully 90% of the typical conditions that have historically been treated by primary care physicians with higher rates of patient satisfaction and compliance with treatment regimens. Nevertheless, fewer than one-half of the states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs only have granted nurse practitioners full practice authority, meaning that tens of millions of health care consumers across the country are being denied the full range of benefits that can be…… [Read More]

Nursing Leadership Style

Topic: Leadership Style - nursing
Bring to mind a leader in your healthcare organization. Would you describe his or her style as authoritative, democratic, or laissez-faire? Why?
The leader within my organization carries a democratic leadership model. This is basically the case because the leader consists of a number of other individuals within the process of making decisions to find out what tasks to undertake and the way to get it done. Nevertheless, the obligation and power to make the very last choice stays with the head. The leader reveals the issue to the team, asking for tips on how to resolve it. Right after listening to the group's points of views and recommendations, the leader helps make the final decision (Civil Patrol Air).
Furthermore, the democratic leader is extremely receptive and collegial in managing a group. Concepts move easily among the team and therefore are reviewed freely. Everybody is…… [Read More]

Nursing Evidence Centered Practice

Introduction
Research substantiates that patient results are enhanced when the nurses practice in way that is based on evidence. Delineated as a method for resolving issues faced in medical care that integrates the meticulous use of prevailing best practice adopted from scientific studies, the specialty together with patient ideals and predilections of a clinician, evidence-centered practice has been demonstrated to augment patient safety, enhance clinical results, decrease healthcare expenses and also diminish variation in patient results. The significance and implementation of EBP is authenticated. Nonetheless, obstacles to extensive use of prevailing research evidence in nursing are present, comprising of the articulacy and acquaintance level of clinical nurses (Black et al., 2015).
Summary of Key Points of the Article
The main objective of the article was to assess the impact of a research training program on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the clinician associated to research as well as evidence-based…… [Read More]

Nursing Hospital Readmissions

Nursing Hospital Readmissions
What tangible and intangible resources will be needed to implement your project?
The ability to deal with readmissions requires changing the culture inside the facility. This means that various resources need to be utilized in conjunction with each other to have the greatest impact. The most notable include: improved training, coordination, focusing more on the small details and having a philosophy that is patient centric. These intangible resources are necessary to ensure improved collaboration throughout the process (Fox, 2013).
In the case of tangible resources, a standard policy must be created where the nurses will plan to discharge someone within 24 to 48 hours prior to the actual event occurring. This means establishing a protocol of different steps to follow and monitor. They will need greater access to various computer systems and files to ensure there is strong communication and collaboration. For example, prior to discharge the…… [Read More]

Nursing Adoption of EHR Technology Systems

Approach Outline for the Meeting with Nurses
Undercurrent of resistance expressed by nurses is understandable and these concerns will be addressed fully before the implementation of EHR. Nurses posed several reasons for resisting this new change; however, most of these reasons derive from lack of EHR system misunderstanding and how it functions. Nurses assumed that the EHR implementation would give rise to communication issues as well as lower productivity amid nursing staff. During the training stage, the nurses will be shown how the EHR system will complement their existing workflow and values and how a little effort in training and understanding this EHR system will ease out their practice considerably (Wayne, 2016).
Nurses will assured that they will be involved throughout the planning stage of the implementation so that they get the chance to test the new EHR system. Additionally, involving nurses in the planning stage will ensure that productivity…… [Read More]

Nursing Leadership Helping with SIDS Prevention

There are many medical events and disorders that are entirely preventable. There are others that can happen even in the best of circumstances. When it comes to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, there is much that is known and much that is not known, at least for sure. Even with this uncertainty, there are certain tactics and methods that are employed as a means to limit the risk of a SIDS-related death or injury to a child. These tactics and methods are imparted through education and guidance. A good amount of the time, this knowledge is shared by nurses that are qualified and that know the proper techniques to maximize the safety and outcomes of the children involved. The proper amount, type and method of leadership from nurses takes adept and proper leadership from the nursing leadership that underpins the nurses that do the educating. While any good-faith attempt…… [Read More]

Why Nursing Leadership Drives Safety

Introduction
Although senior management and public policy are also integral to the creation and maintenance of a culture of safety in healthcare organizations, nursing leadership is the most critical component in promoting desired patient outcomes. The importance of safety culture is given a tremendous amount of coverage in nursing literature and in daily discourse, but “nurse leaders continue to struggle to achieve such a culture in today's complex and fast-paced healthcare environment,” (Sammer & James, 2011, p. 3). Until recently, gaps in the literature have stymied efforts to improve patient safety via the implementation of a comprehensive safety culture in the healthcare organization. In particular, there had been gaps “in relation to knowledge on the extent and nature of the role of nurses in patient safety improvement,” (Richardson, 2010, p. 12). Recent research has helped to clarify the specific aspects of nursing leadership that can promote patient safety and improve…… [Read More]

Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms and Nursing Burnout

Applying Theory to a Practice Problem: Part 2: Application of Middle-Range Theory to Problem
Summary of the Problem of Nursing Burnout
Nursing burnout is a global phenomenon among nurses: it is problem that leads to negative effects for other nurses, health care facilities, and patients seeking quality care. The factors that lead to burnout among nurses have been studied in a variety of ways, and researchers have identified personality type (Canada-De la Fuente, Varga, San Luis, Garcia, Canadas & Emilia, 2015) as well as external environmental issues as causes of burnout (Sadati, Rahnavard, Heydari, Hemmati, Ebrahimzadeh & Lankarani, 2017), yet there is still no clear understanding of how to address this issue.
Middle-Range Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms
The mid-range theory of unpleasant symptoms developed by developed by Lenz, Suppe, Gift, Pugh and Milligan (1995) proposes that physiological factors, psychological factors and situational factors all play a part in determining the…… [Read More]

Clinical Practice Nursing and DNP

Topic 1
DNP-prepared nurses are uniquely responsible for translating research into practice, creating the ideal environment in which evidence-based practice will flourish. However, resistance to change and perceptions of new clinical practice guidelines sometimes hinder the efforts of DNP-prepared nurses. Knowing that a new practice is evidence-based is not sufficient to ensure adaptation of the new practice by staff members. The DNP-prepared nurse also needs to communicate the reasons for the change in practice, provide background knowledge, and empower nurses by soliciting feedback and questions. Moreover, the DNP-prepared nurse can facilitate adaptation of new technology or techniques by simplifying them and eliminating any unnecessary steps. Research shows that when multiple steps or multiple changes are implemented at once, nurses were more skeptical of the new clinical practice guidelines (Castiglione & Ritchie, 2012). Therefore, the DNP-prepared nurse who frames the new guidelines clearly, and minimizes disruptions to nurses’ routines is more…… [Read More]

Planned Change in Nursing

Problem Statement
Planned change is necessary in the healthcare setting. Described as “purposeful, calculated, and collaborative,” planned change helps prepare nursing staff for a new technology or process, ensuring its safe and effective implementation (Mitchell, 2012, p. 32). The issue that I wish to address within my organization is technology upgrades. Nurse administrators would like to invest in portable electronic devices for all nursing staff, which would enhance quality of care and promote accuracy and efficiency: which are embedded in the mission and goals of the organization (Leape, Rogers, Hanna, et al., 2006). However, the technology has not been implemented properly because underlying processes and procedures have not yet changed. We need a change management strategy that builds on the Kurt Lewin model of unfreezing, moving forward, and then refreezing. Ultimately, the change needs to result in changed norms of behavior.
Medication errors had been either steady or even slightly…… [Read More]

Evidence Based Practice Nursing Theories

Nursing Theories: Florence Nightingale’s Environment Theory
To a large extent, the Crimean War significantly contributed towards the development of Florence Nightingale’s Environment Theory. This particular war “was fought mainly on the Crimean Peninsula between the Russians and the British, French, and Ottoman Turkish, with support from January 1855 by the army of Sardinia-Piedmont” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). In essence, the war came about as a consequence of dispute and squabbles between powerful nations in the Middle East, with Russia being the main trigger of the conflict after it sought to “exercise protection over the Orthodox subjects of the ottoman sultan (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). The war lasted over a 3 year period (between October 1853 and February 1856).
Florence Nightingale was granted permission by the then Secretary of War to take a team of nurses on a volunteer mission to treat and generally take care of British personnel injured during the war.…… [Read More]

Clinical Reflection Nurse Practitioner

Clinical Reflection
I would describe my relationship with my preceptor as amazing and beneficial. Over time, I have managed to develop a very health working relationship with her. She is always understanding and willing to help. From time to time, she avails to me nurse practitioner journals and has advised that I subscribe to the said journals so as to keep abreast with the relevant issues in the nursing world. At this point in time, I could say that I am definitely fulfilling my clinical goals. As the old saying states, ‘practice makes perfect.’ My exposure and constant interaction with patients has made me confident of my abilities. This is more so the case having been able to successfully conduct a number of physical examinations.
I would describe the kind of interactions I have had with patients as mutually beneficial in that I benefit from greater exposure and patients benefit…… [Read More]

how evidence based practice transformed nursing

Abstract

Although the practice of nursing can be traced back thousands of years, the history of modern nursing as a profession begins with the integration of evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice has dramatically, profoundly, and irreversibly altered standards of healthcare services around the world. Similarly, evidence-based practice has changed the methods of nursing education to improve core competencies and promote a focus on patient outcomes. The social history method is used to evaluate the primary research question, which is how the integration of Evidence-Based Practice impacted nursing in the educational and practice domains from 1870 to 1920. Using the social history method reveals the contextual variables that facilitated Florence Nightingale’s own work, which established the precedent for evidence-based practice. A combination of primary and secondary sources allows for a deeper, richer understanding of the importance of evidence-based practice and the impact on nursing in terms of improved self-concept, self-efficacy, and legitimacy.…… [Read More]

Leininger Transcultural Nursing Theory

Introduction
Cultural competency is currently taken for granted in nursing theory and practice. However, cultural competency was not always normative. Madeline Leininger was the first nursing theorist, practitioner, and scholar to distinguish transcultural nursing as a unique means of providing top quality of care. The underlying principle of transcultural nursing, also known as ethnonursing, is applying anthropological and sociological principles to nursing practice. Contemporary nursing practice is culturally competent at its core primarily because the principles of Leininger’s nursing theory have become fully incorporated into education and professional practice.
Leininger: Describing the Theorist
Born in Nebraska, USA, Leininger recognized the importance of caring as a fundamental principle of the profession of nursing (“Madeline Leininger’s Culture Care,” n.d.). Leininger received several collegiate degrees, the first of which was a nursing diploma in 1950 from St. Anthony’s School of Nursing in Denver, during which time she worked in a children’s home and…… [Read More]

The Evolution of Personal Nursing Philosophy

Since commencing my path of formal nursing education, my personal nursing philosophy has evolved, strengthened, and matured. Core theorists such as Magdaleine Leininger and Jean Watson continue to provide the underpinnings of my nursing philosophy, worldview, and outlook on practice. Leininger’s transcultural nursing theory continues to inform my ethical framework when working with diverse patient populations, while Watson’s theory of care underpins my attitudes and beliefs toward what we frequently refer to as the anatomy of care. In four papers produced throughout the RN-BSN program at West Coast University, including one entitled “The Anatomy of Care,” I have demonstrated competencies in all the major areas of the university’s learning outcomes. Reflecting onmy growth as a nurse through the RN-BSN nursing program, I build bridges between theory and practice and shall continue to do so throughout my career.
During the initial development of my personal learning philosophy, I exhibited awareness of…… [Read More]

The Nursing Image Discussion

My perception of change theory has broadened. I have found relevance of this particular theory in today’s dynamic nursing environment – particularly when it comes to adopting technological advancements. It is important to note that the growing prominence of computer assisted devices could for some reason overwhelm some of us who are yet to internalize changes in the healthcare environment. A good example of this is the adoption of bar-coded medication administration, whereby the patient is equipped with a scannable ID badge which a nurse could scan against drugs, and instantaneously verify the prescription on the basis of the patient’s records, effectively avoiding medication errors. The introduction of such technology could invite anxiety and perhaps resistance to change (Glasper, 2016). Lewin’s change theory could come in handy in seeking to let go of the regular way of doing things, and inviting a new mindset that not only welcomes but also…… [Read More]

Informatics and its Relation to Nursing Education

Past, present and future of Informatics and its relation to Nursing Education
Not so long ago, nurses used to be trained apprenticeship model. Senior doctors and nurses used to provide on-job training to those who showed interest in the field of nursing. However, it was soon made into a more professional program and students started being taught theoretical concepts in school before proceeding to hospitals and other health facilities for internship. From the late 1970s, things became even better. The focus of nursing education moved to student learning. Nursing schools from around the world started adopting curriculums and programs that improved students understanding of nursing itself and its role in the delivery of health care. There was also a shift of focus to improving critical thinking skills of nurse students and their decision-making capabilities. Generally, the early 1980s ushered in a shift from teaching nursing students how to do to…… [Read More]

Perioperative nursing

Question 1
Change may not be readily accepted in all instances. In some cases, change is accepted but sustenance of the same becomes a challenge later on. There are quite a number of potential barriers to change that could impede the full implementation of the suggested strategies to end nursing shortage in the OR. To begin with, failure to closely monitor change initiatives could make the desired change impossible to accomplish in the long-term. Failure to monitor the said change initiatives could lead to both deviations from the intended course and lack of commitment from those tasked with overseeing change. According to Magnaye et al. (as cited in Promes, 2016), in seeking to see through change initiatives, there is need for those responsible for the implementation of change “to scientifically track implemented change initiatives in order to accurately plan, evaluate, and monitor elements necessary for changing situation” (69). For instance,…… [Read More]