Professional Presence Essay

Jordan (2009, p. 168) defines mindfulness “as an individual learning process characterized by a heightened awareness of the specific circumstances in a given situation”. Being mindfully present is an integral part of my nursing practice and helps me deliver safe, effective and quality care. I am aware that being present for each individual patient is key and that I also must try to avoid generalizing from my personal experiences (Weil, 2004). This allows me to also mindfully communicate and be open minded and flexible not only with my patients, but also myself and fosters a kind and compassionate environment.

My journey to nursing began with my personal healthcare experience, and has continued to evolve since entering the nursing program at State University. My personal philosophy of nursing is related my life experience and my personal philosophy of life. Using reflection-on-action, I have begun to understand the influences that have lead me to nursing. I discovered client and family centered care to be an important quality when I look at the influential nurses in my life. To develop a positive therapeutic nurse-client relationship, nurses must integrate all 5 dimensions of the therapeutic nurse-client relationship into their practice (CNO, 2006). When it comes to providing client-centered care, the dimensions of trust, empathy

She put her crew to work after they arrived to clean the facilities, get the needed medical supplies for the soldiers, and created the “invalid’s kitchen” to help serve the wounded soldiers appetizing food. A person’s mind was considered nothing beyond the brain. Era II began to evolve during the time after World War II. It was during this time that physicians first began to establish the link between disease and a person’s psyche. This was the first time that there was scientific evidence that psychological stress could contribute to many illnesses such as hypertension, ulcers, and heart attacks. During the time after WWII, the scientific community first began to study the psychological effects that the war had on returning soldiers. Despite the fact that over a million soldiers were screened out due to psychological issues, there continued to be a staggering number of psychiatric casualties. Because of this, psychiatrists were confronted with the realization that psychological weakness had little to do with subsequent distress after combat. Because of this, the term combat neurosis was changed to battle fatigue or combat exhaustion ("History of PTSD ", n.d.). Era III goes a step beyond and proposes that our mind cannot only affect our well-being, but can affect the well-being of another person, even from a distance. In short, Era II shows the importance of an individual’s mind on their own body, Era III shows the importance of an

Dr. Larry Dossey has recognized three major periods in the history of medicine: Era I medicine (mechanical medicine), Era II medicine (psychosomatic medicine), and Era III medicine (nonlocal medicine). Era I "mechanical medicine" and which started approximately in the 1860s, reflects the prevailing view that health and illness are completely physical in nature, and so all treatments should be physical ones, such as surgical procedures or drugs. In Era I, the mind or consciousness is fundamentally equated with the functioning of the brain. Era II started to take form in the period following World War II. Physicians began to realize, based on scientific evidence, that disease has a "psychosomatic" aspect: that emotions and feelings can influence the body's functions. Psychological stress, for instance, can contribute to high blood pressure, heart attacks, and ulcers. This was an extreme advance over Era I (Dossey, 1999).

The tactics used in World War I were radically different than that of previous wars. The majority of the war was fought in the trenches, and the war itself seemed to have no end. Due to this, the psychological impact of the war was unlike anything that had been seen before. During the early days of the war, the soldiers, on both sides, seemed to lack the dedication that would have been necessary to exterminate their enemy. However, as the war progressed, the desire to avenge their fallen comrades overcame their ethics and they began to kill their enemy indiscriminately. Surviving soldiers experienced a phenomenon that was, at that time, referred to as shell shock. Today we refer to this phenomenon as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At this time, this psychological condition was misunderstood and the doctors lacked the training necessary to effectively treat this condition.

Healthcare, and Medicine is advancing more and more each day. As healthcare workers, our understanding of health and healing has improved and changed in the way we care for our patients. Dossey believed in the three eras of medicine. Era 1 began in the 1800s and its focus was solely on the body. The belief that healing and overall health are totally physical. The therapies and treatment were either medications or surgical procedures. The thought that healing all humans based on bodily functions, and how they can be treated will change as time changes. Era 2 began in the 1950s and it focused on the mind and body. Health care providers realized that

What does it mean to be human, and how do we as nurses provide care to our patients? According to Jean Watson “The future of nursing is tied back to Nightingales sense of calling guided by a sense of commitment and covenantal ethic of human service; cherishing our phenomena, our subject matter and those we serve. It is when we include caring and love in our work and our life we discover and affirm that nursing, like teaching is more than just a job but a life giving and life receiving career for a lifetime of growth and learning” (Watson, J. 1978). There have been many different

• “Guardians are concerned citizens who trust authority, join groups, seek security, prize gratitude, and dream of meting out justice”

A1. Models of Health and Healing- The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of the differences between 2 models of health and healing as they relate to what it means to be human.

Professional presence is something of a nebulous concept. Before this course, I honestly never considered what it was and how my nursing practice was defined by it. During my journey through this course I discovered what it truly meant. “Presence is an intersubjective encounter between a nurse and a patient in which the nurse encounters the patient as a unique human being in a unique situation and chooses to spend her/himself on the patient’s behalf’’ (Wingate, 2007). Presence defines how a person interacts with those around them, and particularly in the healthcare field, it’s incredibly important.

Hospice care is a model of care that focuses on relieving symptoms and supporting patients with a life expectancy of six months or less (Altshuler, 2013). For most nurses, caring for a dying elder (individual aged 65 years and above) is a discrete, time-limited experience that begins with first contact, often in a hospital, emergency room, or long term care facility, and ends with the death itself (Phillips & Reed, 2008).

1. Era I – “Mechanical Medicine” began in the 1860’s. Its focus is on surgical procedures and drugs. The thought was that health and illness are only physical in nature and consciousness is equated to functioning of the brain. Era I thinking in displayed in review of psychiatric care in the early 1900 with the use of frontal lobotomies to cure hysteria. The thought was that performing a surgical procedure on the brain will remove the area that is causing the Hysteria. Era I focuses on performing a procedure or providing a medication to fix the body physically, while Era III takes into account the patients perception of health, their stats of mind and their support

Bohart, A. C., Greenberg, L. S., Elliot, R., & Watson, J. C. (2011). Empathy. Psychotherapy , 48 (1), 43-49.

Healing presence, an aspect of integrative nursing, returns the focus of nursing to provide holistic and healing care to patients because the nurses’ focus is on being in the present moment and using patient-centered care to deliver conscious, compassionate care. Healing presence depicts the involvement and relationship the nurse provides to the patient. If a nurse correctly applies integrative nursing with healing presence, then the nurse is implementing conscious and compassionate care. Furthermore, the nurse accomplishes compassionate care because she is physically, mentally, and emotionally in the present moment with the patient. She is not thinking about all the tasks that needs to be completed during her shift and she is also not driving

In Reinventing Medicine, Larry Dossey explores how the methods of healing transformed after the American Civil War. He traces the footsteps of medicines evolution through three distinct eras that are imbedded in our culture. Era I is a physical medicine approach that is practiced in modern health care today through the healing remedies such as drugs, surgery, and radiation. Dossey aims to prove to the world that though Era I provides countless benefits to the art of healing, that there are limitations to it. In order to move past these confines, Era II, also referred to as mind and body medicine, evolved. This era proves that our feelings and thoughts deeply affect our body’s health. Dossey declares it vital that instead of using one or the