NR 501 Week 8: Course Reflection and Future Application
NR 501 Week 8: Course Reflection and Future Application
I will say that after discussion and familiarization with nursing theories, it was a great experience to know that I will be able to support my daily clinical practice form now and continue after completing the degree I am currently pursuing Family Nurse Practitioner. I believe that nursing is both a science and an art that allows us to see the uniqueness in individuals. All theories I have learnt are useful for guiding my intended nursing practice, but I will say that the one I prefer is Roy’s Adaptation Model (RAM) nursing theory. Nursing practice benefits from the application of this theory if we appreciate how practical this theory is, particularly in OB/GYN nursing practice. I have been working in this area for a few years and I certainly would like to continue in primary care empowering women with knowledge preventing health issues that may affect their health and quality of life. Healthcare is a very dynamic field and therefore it is crucial that all healthcare team and even patients are ready and able to adapt to all changes brought about by new technology and research when dealing with diseases and preventative health care.
According to Matarin Jimenez et al (2017) Roy recognized the individual as a composite and living adaptation system made of internal processes such as regulator and cognitive, which operates to maintain adaptive capability in the four modes of adaptation namely physiological, self-esteem, role function, and interdependence. Confronted with the stimuli from the environment, the individual comes up with responses that can be adaptive or not. In the environment there are focal stimuli, such as age, that influence to the effect of that focal stimuli, with unclear role on behaviors.
It is of paramount importance that current and proven scientific knowledge is provided to women, so they will be able to make informed decision and to adjust and change unhealthy to new and healthy behavior in order to promote and maintain their health. Some women need to change their mind set and apply the new information passed on to them in order to promote women’s health and change their way of thinking regarding pap smear and sexual habits. Patients also need to change their diet dramatically to be able to comply with the cervical cancer screening as they are recommended.
In my future role as a family nurse practitioner I intend to manage patient’s chronic conditions, but also women’s health issues and I envision continuing to use Roy’s Adaptation Model (RAM) nursing theory at a higher level and in a broader sense while caring for those patient under my clinical practice.
Roy’s adaptation theory is used to adapt to the new diet and lifestyles for this population to get the benefits of ketogenic diet. Strict self-discipline is needed to adapt to this diet. As a primary healthcare provider, appropriate education is needed to make patients know the rationale behind the strict diet, so that patients will be able to comply accordingly.
Primary care nurse practitioners also need to check the patients regularly, so the patients can adapt to ketogenic diet along with intermittent diet without having hypoglycemic complications. Patients who can adapt and incorporate the changes to their life can have meaningful and improved quality of life. Those who cannot adapt to the changes will face deteriorating health problems and it would endanger their lives. Roy’s adaptation theory is helpful for any patient to adapt to evidence-based practice that meet patient’s specific healthcare needs. Nurses and the healthcare providers can utilize this theory to help and educate patients for a smooth transition of adopting new life styles for better patient outcomes. The fundamental goal of nursing is to help a person adapt to their environment (Kaul & Mahal, 2013).
The nursing theory that I am choosing is Florence Nightingale Environmental Theory. I am choosing this theory because I believe that one needs a balanced environment to promote optimal healing. Florence Nightingale recognized such detailed factors about what a person’s environment should contain in order to be a healthy healing environment. As a nurse practitioner, we must help a patient balance their environment by educating them on how to take care of themselves or by prescribing medication to help them treat an illness or disease they have. Florence Nightingale identified several different factors that affect a patients healing environment. A few factors would be the ventilation, cleanliness, proper lighting, noise and feeding. These are some of the essential items identified to help facilitate the proper healing environment. The patients we see will be from all different socioeconomic classes. Some may be in poor health and unkempt while others are very involved in their health and well-being. In a home setting it will be important to make sure that the home is able to accommodate any needs our patients may have and if the home is too unsafe we should help our patients and families get in touch with a social worker to find a solution. If it is any other aspect of life we can provide them with the right resources to help care for themselves. If an element is out of balance the client becomes stressed and the nurse is to do what is needed to re-balance the environment (Zborowsky, 2014). As an inpatient nurse practitioner, it is easier to monitor the patient’s lifestyle in the hospital versus a nurse practitioner who is a primary care provider and sees their patients in a doctors office. This theory can be used in future practice by evaluating the environmental factors of a patient and determining how to better balance them for each patient. As the nurse, we do what we can to accommodate our patients and provide them with the means necessary to have a healthy living environment.
References
Zborowsky, T. (2014). The Legacy of Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory: Nursing
Research Focusing on the Impact of Healthcare Environments. Herd,7(4), 19-34.
! I would also have to agree that Nightingale was definitely a genius and ahead of her time. She is one nursing theorist that has always amazed me. Nightingale is the epitome of what we should be to our patients: a voice when there is no one to speak. She was awesome! By figuring out that something like cleanliness would improve a patient’s health status is simply awe inspiring.
Being socially aware and culture sensitive, we can service our patients and provide the best care no matter what background they come from. At one point in time we were all new nurses and we needed the help of other nurses to assist in our development and competency. I believe there is more to do in nursing in that we do not perform enough education and encourage leadership skills in order to enhance our profession. There is never enough teaching and we always learn new things that can be passed on to new nurses that are coming into nursing.
As nursing expands and research is continuously being performed, the expansion of knowledge is vital to support creative ideas and changes that must be implemented in advanced clinical practice. A Nightingale nowadays would probably meet some opposition and others would support them. A Nightingale would definitely “shake things up”and get people to be more patient focused to solve identified problems. The only way we know what works is by evidence that has been tested, tried and now known to be true and a Nightingale would provide this.
