Nursing Theory Essay

Virginia Henderson is famous for her definition of nursing, “The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge, and to do this in such a way as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible" (Blais, 2012). Her philosophy supports that caring is the foundation, the center of all patient healing.

I define my philosophy of nursing within the three nursing domains of person, health, and environment. My goal is to communicate the importance of nursing as a knowledge-based career, depending not only on the nurse fulfilling her role but also on the patient’s compliance. A patient must learn to provide self-care at home in the same capacity as the nurse would provide care in the clinical setting. I discuss various subjects within nursing. I explain why I want to be a nurse, what I believe a nurse’s role is, the different domains of nursing, and where I believe nursing will be in the future. My philosophy demonstrates the interdependence of the nursing domains. You cannot fully evaluate a person without evaluating their health,

Nursing as a profession is an incredibly varied field, with as many opinions on how and why as there are nurses. It is therefore incumbent on each nurse to determine what aspects of nursing research and history will influence her practice. This work is presented as a Professional Nursing Mission Statement for the author. In the following pages, the governing bodies, ethical code, professional traits, nursing theorist and theory, and historical figure that guide personal nursing practice are presented with scenarios demonstrating their effects. Providing the building blocks for an individual approach to nursing will result in a deeper understanding of practice.

According to the American Nurses Association, “Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” (ANA, 2010b). Nursing has come a long ways. From primitive times when caring for the sick was predominantly the rule of medicine-men who acquired the skills from their ancestors, to the era when it was viewed as a mean profession for prostitutes and nowadays when it is considered a noble profession with trained and skilled personnel.

Overview In this paper I will explore my personal philosophy of nursing. I believe who you are as a person and the environment you come from has a big influence on how you practice as a professional nurse. I grew up in a very family centered environment and for as long as I can remember I have been concerned with the wellbeing of others. It was very important to my parents that my siblings and I graduate from college as we would be the first generation in our family to do so; my dad quit school after the 8th grade to help support his family and my mom married immediately after graduating from high school.

The nursing theory consists of four major concepts including person, health, environment, and nursing. According to the Fundamentals of Nursing, these four concepts “… give nurses a comprehensive perspective that allows you to identify and treat patient’s health care needs at all levels and in all health care settings.” (Potter & Perry, 2009, p. 40) Florence Nightingale’s theory was one of the first models for nursing. The focus of this theory was that nursing consists of caring through the environment and helping the patient overcome their symptoms and changes in function related to their prevailing illness. It also focuses on the manipulation on the environment for the potential benefit of the patient. Florence “… had always seen to the heart of things- that the real nurse must be a dedicated being- that

It is historically documented that fundamental nursing practices are based in the concepts of caring (Alligood, 2014; Leininger, 1997). Caring in nursing is not exclusive to physiological variables, but also include social and cultural (May, 1992; Neuman & Fawcett, 2001). Nurses aspire to understand the client system holistically through use of the nursing process so that a nurse may be able to provide individualized interventions to support the needs of the client system (Henderson, 2006). Christian nurses aspire to understand the client system holistically through the use of the nursing process, but also provide care based on the teachings of Jesus Christ (Shelly & Miller, 2006). Maslow (Maslow, 1943) identified client system needs as a “general-dynamic” theory synthesized from existing and unique psychological research to better understand humanity’s “integrated wholeness” but did not identify specific holistic care interventions (p. 370-371). Nursing often applies Maslow’s theory of human motivation to classify priority needs with primary cultural, physiological, and social client systems (Audrey Berman & Shirlee Snyder, 2012). Within these cultural, physiological and social systems are philosophical and theological perspectives regarding the nature of man or woman, health and illness, suffering, death, and appropriate nursing care. Nurses must develop a professional philosophy that manages and betters

Theory is a cluster of concept or ideas that propose a view concerning a phenomenon to guide nursing practice (Chitty, 2005). The four concepts basic to nursing that are incorporated in this paper are nursing, person, health, and environment (Cherry & Jacob, 2005). The goal of this paper is to describe the core concept of nursing shared amongst Dorothea Orem and Virginia Henderson’s theories. The comparison and analysis of concept definitions between these two theories will also examined. Finally Henderson’s theory of concept statement, metaparadigm and her philosophy will be explored.

The salient point in Henderson’s definition is describing the duty of a nurse as one that cares or assists an individual whether sick or well in obtaining a state of health in order to live an independent lifestyle (paraphrased). Henderson also described the independent and dependent role of nurses and the importance of a collaborative work with the other members of the multi-disciplinary health care team especially the doctors (Henderson, 1966). The Royal College of Nursing, on the other hand, described nursing as the utilization of clinical judgement in extending the care necessary for the people to maintain and achieve an optimum state of life throughout their lifetime (RCN, 2003). Other significant definitions of nursing were those given by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Nurses Association (ANA).

Nursing theorist Virginia Henderson (1897-1996), often referred to as the “First Lady of Nursing”, developed a nursing model based on the 14 components of activities of daily living. The paper discusses the importance of applying these components to the nursing practice. She emphasized the importance of increasing the patient’s independence so that progress after hospitalization would not be delayed (Henderson 1991). Henderson’s Theory and the main concepts are discussed using a case study approach on a specific client to better explore the theory and how it influenced the nursing practice. Henderson’s principles and practices of Nursing laid a ground work for

In general people’s perception, nursing is a profession about caring for sick people. According to the Florence Nightingale (Alligood, 2013) nursing is to be accountable for other people’s health condition. Nursing theorist

Describe the definition of nursing as put forward by the American Nurses Association. How does it address the metaparadigm theories of nursing?

Nursing theories, concepts or models are adapted from the theoretical frameworks of other discipline in healthcare. However, as nursing advances, new frameworks may arise, the nursing theories, concepts or models from the past or present may fuse, extinct or change donaldson (year). Hence, nursing is a discipline which is consistently reviewing and upgrading its theoretical frame works to provide the best quality of care to patients. (https://www.jacksonvilleu.com/blog/nursing/the-importance-of-nursing-research/)

Two important events took Virginia Henderson great impact on the development of the definition of nursing. One was undoubtedly Henderson 's role in reviewing the nursing text: "Principles and Practice of Nursing" Bertha Harmer (1992). Henderson realized that many

In healthcare, there is a functional and purposeful relationship that exists between the nurse, the doctor and the other interdisciplinary team. This relationship established by the healthcare team comes with a responsibility aimed at achieving a goal, which is to assist the patient to be able to gain independence and progress after hospitalization or rehabilitation. What is paramount to the healthcare team is focusing on the basic human needs of the patient gearing towards health which is a building block of health and wellness. With this being said, the writer chooses Virginia Henderson’s theory of needs because it gives an insight or guides the nurse for what to look for in caring for our patient’s needs with her 14 components of nursing care which still apply to modern nursing care and practice up till present day . As Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) working in the Transitional Care Unit (TCU), her theory is made visible through my patient’s recovery process experienced every single day. “Henderson 's principles and practice of nursing fall under the category of grand theory that can be applied to many types of nursing” (Nicely & DeLario, 2011).