Discussion 7.1: Theory, Practice, and Philosophy of Nursing
Discussion 7.1: Theory, Practice, and Philosophy of Nursing
Value: 15 points
Discussion Guidelines
Initial Post
Address the following issues and questions in your initial post:
- How do you interpret the statement “Theory must be a guide to practice, not an end in itself”? Defend your answer.
- Now that you have studied the various nursing theorists, revisit your personal philosophy of nursing that you identified in Week 1. Have your three tenets (beliefs) changed? What have you learned that either validated or changed your philosophy of nursing?
This discussion will be graded using the Discussion Initial Post and Replies Rubric found in your syllabus.
Response Post(s)
Using the reply to the initial posts of at least two of your classmates.
Submission
Post your initial and follow-up responses and review full grading criteria on the page.
Discussion 7.1: Theory, Practice, and Philosophy of Nursing
Theory must be a guide to practice and not an end in itself. Nursing concepts improve the clinical experience for patients and quality of decision-making by providing proven techniques in the administration of care, thus, guaranteeing safety and security (Nibbelink & Brewer, 2018). Additionally, the theories provide an evidence-based framework where nurses can make informed decisions, resulting in improved care quality outcomes (Younas & Quennell, 2019). However, the concept must not replace traditional professional sensibilities, including does defining nurse-patient relationships. Furthermore, decision-making should be based on a thorough analysis of the prevailing situation, with solutions being context-based.
After an extensive analysis of nursing theory and the theorists, my three tenants have not changed. In any case, they have been reinforced. I have come to appreciate the positive implications of a progressive personal philosophy in defining my practice. I have learned that compassion is at the core of health care service delivery and that being genuinely interested in understanding the patient’s consent increases the prospect of realizing positive care outcomes significantly. Developing an amicable relationship with the patient and the family also increases investment in the recovery, thereby promoting a more collaborative approach. The individual communicates more openly and endeavors to improve the experience of the practitioner operating with the treatment plan and the interdisciplinary team. I have also come to appreciate the importance of collaborative participation in the conventional care setting. As a nurse, I have recognized the importance of developing a good professional relationship with other members of staff, especially those I interact with on a regular basis. The individuals are vast repositories of information stemming from their extensive experience in addressing conventional challenges in the traditional workplace. What I have learned has certainly validated my philosophy of nursing and sufficiently revamped it. I have had an enlightening experience, and my personal values challenged and improved as a result of my encounters.
References
Nibbelink, C. W., & Brewer, B. B. (2018). Decision‐making in nursing practice: An integrative literature review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(5-6), 917-928.
Younas, A., & Quennell, S. (2019). Usefulness of nursing theory‐guided practice: An integrative review. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences, 33(3), 540-555.
Theory, Practice, and Philosophy of Nursing
I interpret the statement “Theory must be a guide to practice, not an end in itself” to mean that theory is the basis for making sound clinical judgments and not just a historical manifestation. This means that in nursing, even today, we should be studying an assortment of theories and utilizing them as a basis to sculpt nursing practice (Saleh, 2018). Understanding nursing theory is only the beginning because when theory is implemented into practice, that is truly when nursing can expand and progress, thus meaning it is not an end. Theory offers the framework that differentiates nursing practice from other disciplines and directs how nurses interact with patients and view each health circumstance (Saleh, 2018). High-quality nursing practice involves the application of knowledge, skills, caring, and art to care for patients in a successful, competent, and respectful way (McEwen, 2014). This all stems from nursing theory.
My personal nursing philosophy has not changed since the beginning of class. It has only adapted and become stronger. My tenets of integrity, knowledge, and empathy remain the same. I still believe that in order to be a good, strong nurse, I must treat my patients using the knowledge I have obtained from up-to-date evidence-based practice which is also backed by nursing theories. I must also perform all tasks and duties with the utmost integrity. Lastly, I must place myself in my patients’ shoes so that I can better understand them and their feelings. However, I now have a better understanding of different nursing theories, which work for my current practice, and how to adapt and add other theories into my practice as I see fit. I have discovered that Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory is the most applicable to my current nursing practice. However, if I were to change fields, a different theory might be better for guiding my practice. This will also hold true as I become a Nurse Practitioner. What I use Registered Nurse may not work best for an Advanced Practice Nurse. I also learned that all nursing practice is based on nursing theories and philosophies that have advanced over time. Theories from hundreds of years ago can still be applied to nursing today, and as nursing has advanced over time, new nurses have developed modern theories to apply to the ever-changing situations nurses encounter.
References
McEwen, M. (2014). Overview of theory in nursing. In M. McEwen & E. M. Wills (Eds.), Theoretical basis for nursing (4th ed., pp. 23–48). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. https://zu.edu.jo/UploadFile/Library/E_Books/Files/LibraryFile_171030_28.pdf
Saleh, U. S. (2018). Theory guided practice in nursing. Journal of Nursing Research Practice, 2(1), 18. https://www.pulsus.com/scholarly-articles/theory-guided-practice-in-nursing.pdf
Discussion Board 7.1 Theory, Practice, and Philosophy of Nursing
The statement, “Theory must be a guide to practice, not an end in itself,” has significant meaning to me. Nursing theory-guided practice is very important in the clinical setting, but it should be driven by the unique patient condition. As a nurse, we have to take all aspects of the patient into consideration when implementing theory-guided practice. We cannot disregard any patient condition or considerations just to make a certain theory or metaparadigm fit into our nursing practice. Younas and Quennell identify the importance of using nursing theory-guided practice over traditional practice in an article that they published. They did an analysis of literature including over twenty-six articles that proved nursing theory-guided interventions to be the most effective (Younas & Quennell, 2019). I believe that nursing theory is extremely significant in our everyday nursing practice while still keeping individualities of the patient’s condition and illness in consideration.
In the discussion board post for the first week of this course, I identified my personal tenets of nursing to include being compassionate, honest, and caring. I also strived to provide nursing care that was holistic and be an advocate for all of my patients. After studying nursing theories and continuing my practice as a nurse, my tenets have slightly changed over the past few weeks. While being an advocate for my patients and providing holistic care for my patients is still some of my main priorities as a nurse, I have identified a few more priority actions to my nursing care. Another tenet that I have added to my personal philosophy of nursing includes providing safe, individualized, and educated care to my patients. I strive to be a lifelong learner as a nurse. My tenets have slowly changed due to the environment and department that I work in. I have been working under conditions where nurses are not put in the safest situations. I have been working in situations where the nurses have not received the proper education for the positions that they have been put in. Personally, I strive to educated and provide safe, effective, and quality care to every patient that I take care of in my practice. In an article by Vaismoradi et al. (2020), the numerous personal aspects of nurses were determined to affect and influence how closely safety protocols were followed in regard to patient care. These personal aspects include the nurse’s knowledge, perceptions, and their attitude towards patient care (Vaismoradi et al., 2020). Overall, my patient care is influenced by all of the tenets that I have described in the beginning of this course and now. This course and the study of theories has only helped develop my nursing practice and philosophy to be even stronger.
References
Vaismoradi, M., Tella, S., A Logan, P., Khakurel, J., & Vizcaya-Moreno, F. (2020). Nurses’ adherence to patient safety principles: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), 1-10.
Younas, A., & Quennell, S. (2019). Usefulness of nursing theory‐guided practice: an integrative review. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 33(3), 540–555.
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