Contemporary Health Promotion in Nursing Practice

Question: Discuss about the Contemporary Health Promotion in Nursing Practice. Answer: Introduction: Patient centered theory is one of the popular theories of nursing. The theory was developed by Abdellah Faye who in 1960, came up with the idea of the 21nursing problems. According to this theory, a nurse should be at the fore front of delivering holistic care to the patients (Alligood, 2014). The nurse should be ready to use the skills to solve the problems faced by the patient. In her analysis, Faye identified various problems that patients face on day to day basis. Some of the major challenges include personal hygiene; regulatory functions; physical activity; safety; electrolyte balance; sensory functions; body mechanics; oxygen supply; elimination; nutrition; negative feelings; interpersonal relationship; communication; self awareness; therapeutic environment; and personal spiritual goals. These are the problems that the nurse should try to resolve because if ignored, can negatively impact on the health of the patient (Deane Fain, 2015). The theory of patient-centeredness is relevant in nursing. It can be applied by a nurse to provide care to the patient. Patient-centeredness is one of the most effective strategies in nursing care. It should be applied by the nurses to serve the patients. As clearly outlined by Faye, the nurse should be actively involved in empowering and assisting the patient to improve the quality of life. To do this, the nurse should take all the necessary measures to resolve the patients problems. This can be done by following a well-outlined procedure. After identifying the patients problems, the nurse should go ahead to formulate and test the hypothesis before collecting, analyzing data and eventually generating feasible conclusions (Harris, Mayo, Balas, Aaron Buron, 2013). If this procedure is followed, the nurse will definitely succeed in resolving the patients problem and improving the health condition. Personally, I have been applying the theory of patient-centeredness when attending to my clients. I strongly believe in the ideas of Faye because they are relevant and can greatly impact on the patients health is properly applied. This is why I have been doing my best to provide individualized care that is tailored towards satisfying the needs of my patients. When doing this, I take my time to analyze the patients, listen to them, and collect all the necessary information that can enable me to have a deeper understanding of the situation (Aronowitz Fawcett, 2016). After doing all these, I use my critical and creative mind to arrive at a reasonable conclusion. This is how I have been successfully helping my patients to solve the problems facing them. I would like to give an example of Maria, the patient whom I attended to in February, 2016. Maria came to the hospital when I was on duty. She came for a breast cancer diagnosis because she had been instructed by her GP to seek for immediate assessment to determine if the lump in her breast could have caused a cancer. Before the test, Maria told me that she is a 32-year old single mother of 1 daughter. She is employed and works hard because she is the sole provider of her small family. She looked worried because she was not assured of her test results. After the test, she was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer. This caused lots of stress to the patient. She had a feeling that she would lose her job, lose money in treatment, die prematurely, and leave her daughter in agony. In order to help Maria to deal with the situation, I had to apply Fayes principles of problem solving. I had to be a real problem solver who can bring hope to a troubled patient. So, I had to offer her physical and psychological treatment. I knew that this would be a necessary thong to do because it would enable her to deal with her situation (Raingruber, 2014). This strategy was successful because the patient finally recovered and because her condition has been successfully managed. She is no longer stressed. Problem solving, critical thing, and creative thinking are some of the fundamental skills in nursing. Nursing is a challenging discipline that requires all practitioners to be equipped with such skills. A nurse who poses these competencies can be effective in delivering quality and satisfactory healthcare services to the patients (DiCenso, Cullum Ciliska, 2011). Despite their role in nursing, problem solving, critical thinking, and creative thinking have lots of differences. Problem solving refers to the process of finding a resolution to a challenge or complex issue that might arise at any given time. It is a very important skill that is always used in nursing. As already highlighted, nursing is quite challenging because it has a lot of complex issues that need to be addressed at all times. Therefore, it can be better if a nurse knows how to deal with any situation no matter how complicated it might be. On the other hand, critical thinking is an intelligent and objective evaluation or analysis of a situation. Critical thinking should be done by applying ones experiences, observing and reflecting a situation before arriving at a reasonable conclusion or judgment (McPeck, 2016). It is also an important sill that should be possessed by a nurse. Finally, creative thinking is a process of using a persons imaginations to come up with a new idea to resolve an issue at hand. It is also an essential skill that should be possessed by nurses because it can enable them to make intelligent decisions. Critical and creative thinking differ because cause in critical thinking, there are choices that are used to make decisions. However, in creative thinking, there is no such thing because only fresh ideas are made or created. Creative thinking involves the production of new ideas. Meaning, during creative thinking, an individual is supposed to use imaginative skills to come up with new ideas that can be used in resolving a challenge that needs to be addressed. It requires a high level of novelty and creativity. Besides, unlike in critical thinking, creative thinking requires the generalization of ideas (Kong, et al., 2014). However, in critical thinking, this approach is not used because the person does not have to imagine a lot, but only has to rely on existing ideas, critically analyze and critique them before reaching a conclusion. All in all, critical and creative thinking are problem solving strategies. Their effective use can determine the success for healthcare interventions gi ven to the patients. Problem solving is a fundamental skill in nursing. A nurse who lacks problem solving skills cannot be of any significance to a patient. Whenever discharging their duties, a nurse should be ready to help the patient to deal with the patients problems to be able to help in improving the health condition (McPeck, 2016). Nursing is an organized profession in which all the activities should be carried out using a clearly outlined procedure. Problem solving in nursing should be done by following the following steps: 1) Identification and definition of the problem, 2) assessment of alternatives, 3) choosing of the best alternative, 4) implementation of the recommended alternative, and 5) evaluation of the problem-solving process. These problems should be effectively applied in the nursing process which is also done in the following order: 1) assessment, 2) diagnosis, 3) planning, 4) implementation, and 5) evaluation (Melnyk, et al., 2014). As a nurse, I have been engaging in serious decision making processes. Whenever I get a complex situation, I have to use my critical and creative thinking skills to provide reasonable solution to various issues. However, to succeed in all these, I have to apply the appropriate steps and procedures for problem solving and nursing. I take the necessary measures to carry out each activity at the right time. For example, before treating the patient, I have to spare enough time to assess the condition, provide appropriate diagnosis, come up with a care plan, prioritize the needs, and eventually addressed in the right manner (Jones, 2014). Such decisions are only made after critically analyzing the problem, formulating alternative solutions, before coming up with the most viable alternative to adopt while resolving the issue. In order to prove my problem solving prowess, I would like to give an example of Joan. Joan is an Aboriginal patient whom I got a privilege to attend to in February. She was handed over to me to be served during my shift. From her records, Joan is a 37-year old Aboriginal who just lost her job because of her overweight. She had been diagnosed with obesity, High Blood Pressure, diabetes type 2 and apnoea. Therefore, as the presiding nurse, I had to develop a care plan for the patient. I succeeded in doing this because I applied the most suitable nursing and problem solving approaches. After using my observation skills to assess the patients condition, I perfectly applied my critical and creative thinking capabilities to prioritize the needs and effectively addressed them to the satisfaction of the patient (Fairman, Rowe, Hassmiller Shalala, 2011). Had I not used the skills, I would have failed. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia are bodies that regulate healthcare professionals in the country. They discharge their regulatory mandate by formulating and enforcing regulations and policies that must be adhered to by the healthcare professionals in the country. However, the major difference between the two bodies is that they have different powers because it depends on the roles and mandate given to them. Whereas the Nursing and Midwifery Board is only concerned about the nurses and midwifes, AHPRA is an overall body that regulates the activities of all the 14 national boards across the nation. It ensures that all the boards use consistent regulations aimed at providing safe care to the general Australian public. The current Continuing professional development (CPD) came into force on June 1, 2016. It states that all the Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses and midwifes interested in CPD must have successfully finished at least 20 hours of CPD after registration; or between 5 and 20 hours for the professionals registered less than one year before the renewal of registration. These are the qualifications that must be met by all the practitioners otherwise no approval can be granted. They are all important because they provide the Australians with an opportunity to be served by competent and qualified practitioners who are guided by the ethical codes of conduct and standards governing the profession (Burston Tuckett, 2013). The National Framework for the Development of Decision Making Tools for Nursing and Midwifery is a very important document in Australia. It outlines concepts and principles to help the nursing and midwifery professionals to make rational decisions to satisfy the diverse needs of the health community across the country. Nurses and midwifes are always confronted with challenging situations which require serious and well-thought decisions to be made. However, it should be much better if all the decisions are made in line with well outlined frameworks. This is why the document was developed. Reference can be made to the framework if there is need to make consistent decisions in the profession. If this is done, the practitioners can be empowered to make feasible and well-guided decisions that can enhance quality service delivery (Smith Parker, 2015). This is what all Australians are looking for. Quality standards and accreditation criteria used in the country are very important because they bring sanity to healthcare sector in many ways. First, the standards help in the improvement of quality of healthcare services delivered to the Australian public. High quality standards should always be maintained by the healthcare providers. It can help in ensuring that the patients get safe care that cannot interfere with them in any way, but improve their health status (Donato Segal, 2013). On the other hand, accreditation of programs and practitioners is a brilliant idea because it guarantees competence in service delivery. If only highly trained and qualified professionals are allowed to practice, it is obvious that the Australian public will get a value for the money spent on healthcare (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen Korhonen, 2015). Accreditation is therefore important because it only allows the public to be served by practitioners who are qualified and are guided by the ethical values o f the healthcare profession. References Alligood, M. R. (2014). Nursing theorists and their work. New York: Elsevier Health Sciences. Aronowitz, T., Fawcett, J. (2016). Thoughts About Social Issues: A Neuman Systems Model Perspective. Nursing science quarterly, 29(2), 173-176. Burston, A.S. Tuckett, A.G. (2013). Moral distress in nursing: contributing factors, outcomes and interventions. Nursing Ethics, 20(3), pp.312-324. Deane, W. H., Fain, J. A. (2015). Incorporating Peplaus Theory of Interpersonal Relations to Promote Holistic Communication Between Older Adults and Nursing Students. 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