Imogene King's Theory of Goal Attainment Essay

Nursing is defined in the lesson as the care provided to restore or maintain health is the function of nursing. Care is provided to aid the human response to health and illness (Chamberlain, 2013). I find this central concept of professional nursing to be one of the most important concepts in my practice as a nurse. In order to be a good nurse we have to first and foremost nurse. This is not an easy thing to accomplish at the high levels our patients deserve. I take great pride that I am a member of several professional organizations and hold certifications at the highest levels pertinent to my practice. I take the time outside of my job to maintain currency and educational sharpness above and beyond what is required of me at my job, because it matters to the people I take care of. Nurses today are required to take on an ever expansive role as a practitioner. In critical care nursing we are taking care of an ever increasing number of complex sick patients and are required to know far beyond the scope we all learned in nursing school originally. It goes back to our socialization with experienced nurses to help us transition in to the new roles

The role of the nurse in the healthcare setting is to be supportive, informative, advocate and help patient through their treatment journey through the use of language- verbal and non-verbal.

Not all patients are capable of independently identifying and articulate their care needs, so the nurse also adapts the role as an advocate. Clarity and continuity in a trusting environment enables good communication. Progressive identification of needs takes place as nurse and patient communicate with one another in the interpersonal relationship (Peplau 1988, p. 84). Being considerate to the needs and vulnerability of patients is a moral attribute, as nurses are accountable for the care they deliver.

The nurse’s role would be to evaluate first the patient’s level of understanding of their disease. It is important to also include a patient’s support system when teaching. The nurse must give the patient information about his or her condition in a form he or she can easily understand so the patient can develop a genuine comprehension of the disease process. After the patient has a good comprehension of the disease, he or she can then apply this knowledge to his or her own situation. When this knowledge is applied to a patient’s own situation, the patient is then able to ask questions and form a new way of thinking about living with the disease. When these steps are accomplished, the patient will then be able to create a plan that would help in achieving his or her goals in regards to living with the disease process. As nurses caring for patients with chronic illnesses, recognizing where patients are at in their journey with learning about their chronic illness, and meeting them where they are will help when educating and guiding them to the next step.

The nurse understands she has the knowledge of the disease process, and the patient has the knowledge of how the disease affects himself. The second phase of the relationship is the working phase, where the patient identifies who can help them with their health care problem. The nurse looks at the health care problem from the patient perspective and begins educating the patient on their health care problem, therefore the educated patient is better able to collaborate with the nurse to determine what interventions are necessary and acceptable to the patient to achieve a patient centered health related goal. The termination phase is the final phase of the theory, the nurse and the patient determine how the patient will maintain their progress and continue to work on the health care goals independently without the assistance of nursing. (Deane, & Fain, 2016).

There are four phases between the nurse and the patient relationship. The phases include orientation, identification, exploitation, and resolution. In reference to the orientation phase, this is introduced by the nurse. During this phase, the nurse and the patient become familiar with one another, as well as establish a dependable relationship. The following phase, identification, starts to recognize the issues to be incorporated into the relationship. For instance, the main goal is to assist the patient in identifying his or her own responsibilities in the treatment plan, in addition to advocating for interdependence and contribution. During the exploitation phase of the nurse-patient relationship, the nurse and

To enable individuals to improve, maintain, or recuperate health, to cope with health problems, and to achieve the best possible quality of life, whatever their disease or disability, until death, is undertaken by the use of clinical judgement in the provision of care. Nurses advance health, healing, growth and development and prevent disease, illness, injury and disability. Simultaneously they minimise distress and suffering. They enable patients and families to acknowledge and cope with their disease or disability,

King’s Theory of Goal Attainment was proposed in the 1960s and published in 1981. It was derived from her conceptual system which presented in 1968, and incorporates the concept of self, perception, growth, development, time, interaction, communication, role, and coping. The Theory of Goal Attainment is a practice methodology based on the nurse and patient setting goals together, and the nurse assisting the patient to meet these goals they set for their health (Caceres, 2015). These interactions between the nurse and patient are the process in which the professional relationship develops, mutual goals are set, and actions are planned to achieve these goals. It is an interaction-transaction process and is based on the nursing

Series of interaction amongst nurse-patient and researcher-participant stresses the importance of relationship in an interpersonal process. The nurse-patient and researcher-participant are characterized by their own professional relationship including their own unique features in accomplishing goals. In this paper, I will examine their differences and similarities within the context of interrelationship.

As a nurse you have to care about the patient, their health, using holistic care, and the environment. The patient is the person that comes to you for health care due to them being ill or wanting information on how to improve their health. Patients are the nurse’s main priority and their goal is to make the person feel great again. To do this, nurses care about their health and well-being. Health is your body working at it’s greatest potential. You can obtain good health by taking care of your body, eating well, exercising, and practicing a healthy lifestyle. While caring

Nurses support and enable individuals, families and groups to maintain, restore or improve their health status. Nurse also care for and comfort when deterioration of health has become irreversible. A traditional ideal of nursing is caring and nurturing of human beings regardless of race, religion, status, age, gender, diagnosis, or any other grounds.

According to Pepau the goal of nursing is to help the patient find their felt problem. The nurse and patient work together therefore they develop relationship between each other’s. These two individuals with common aim have interpersonal relation. Nursing is therapeutic in that it is a healing art, assisting an individual who is sick or in need of health care ( Pepau 1952). Nurse plays several roles in this relationship. As a resource person, nurse gives adequate information that help patient understanding of issues. As a counselor: a nurse helps patient to incorporate the sense of current life change event, and provides advice for change. Nurse plays role of leader by making sure patient undertakes maximum engagement to achieve treatment goals.

King’s large system includes personal, interpersonal, and social systems that overlap. She postulated that nurses interact with patients through the lens of how nurses see the situation, while the patients have their own perceptions. Together they must communicate, set goals, and find ways to reach those goals (Alligood, 2010).

“The basic concept of the theory is that the nurse and patient communicate information, set goals together, and then take actions to achieve those goals. It describes an interpersonal relationship that allows a person to grow and develop in order to attain certain life goals. The factors that affect the attainment of goals are roles, stress, space, and time” (Nursing Theory, 2011).   King desired to advance the profession of nursing by developing a framework and theory that can be understood and used by all nurses, in any situation. She not only developed the theory but she always remained active in the profession and availed herself to nursing students around the clock to aid with their knowledge and application of the theory right up until her sudden death in 2007.

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