Knowledge is seen as power, patients having knowledge gives them the power to be able to make informed health decisions (Henderson, 2003). Without any or limited knowledge, patients become vulnerable and are unable to make informed decisions about their health. The nursing culture of not sharing power with patients, causing an imbalance with the nurse having the all the power and the patient feeling powerless, with a lack of control and affecting how the nurses care for these patients. Nurses and patients need to work together to achieve the best outcome for the patient (Henderson, 2003)
Power is seen as the control or influence over someone or something (Henderson, 2002). When there is a power imbalance, one party of the relationship has more control and influence over the other. A patient came onto the ward, she required a bariatric bed, commode and chair. The nurse decided to put a catheter in, with the reason being unknown. It took multiple attempts from multiple different nurses to get the catheter in. Once they got it in, the following morning the doctors told them to remove it. The nurse did not inform the patient as to why she thought she needed a catheter. The nurse just told the patient that she is going to insert it. The patient was not given enough information about what was happening to be able to challenge or question what the nurse was doing. Questions are not being asked to gain information or object what they are doing as they are felt that nurses are to
Nursing is known to be one of the most challenging careers, owing to the tough responsibilities that nurse practitioners are charged with and the immense sensitivity of their role (Li, 2013). Both Registered nurses and nurse practitioners work together monitoring a range of patients’ health and providing them with adapt care needed within their scope of practice. However, the roles and the responsibilities they bestowed are different. Creating a balance between a tough job and the extremely sensitive wellbeing of a patient, which lies in the decisions that a nurse practitioner makes, does surely propel one to the pinnacle of clinical nursing. As they carry out this sensitive role, they are also expected to be active in a wide range of other areas, including research, education, policy, and clinical governance. It is true that the working environment in which they work, to a considerable extent, does not provide the flexibility needed by nurse practitioners in an effort to carry out these complex roles, but they somehow have shown they are able to achieve this (Fleming & Carberry, 2011). This essay looks to justify the claim that nurse practitioners are the pinnacle of clinical nursing drawn from evidence from existing literature. It will demonstrate the roles and responsibilities a nursing practitioner holds a higher expectation than a registered nurse. It is also argued though that there is immense pressure on registered nurse, making the nurse practitioners role not as
Nursing should not be looked upon or practiced as a mere physical approach to healing. Nursing should encompass the aspect of restoring each individual patient to his/her maximum physical and emotional state of being. In order to achieve such a goal, a patient must be able to bond with her caregiver on a personal level (Blais & Hayes, 2011). Jean Watson’s caritas factors sets an environment where the patient can obtain optimum health benefits (Blais & Hayes, 2011). The goal of this paper is to state my philosophy of nursing, the important dynamics and values that led me to adopting this philosophy, and the reason why I choose nursing as a profession. I will further explain how Jean Watson’s principles of philosophy is
Patients have the right to self-determination and individuals should have control over their own lives. With respect for human autonomy comes respect for patient rights. Apart of the nurses job is to promote, advocate and protect the rights, health, and safety of our patients. Patients have the right to determine their health needs, make informed decisions, and the right to information regarding their treatment and also the refusal of treatment. Nurses are obligated to know the rights of a patient and to make sure the patient understands their treatment plan. Supporting patient autonomy includes making decisions in the best interest of the patient, considering their values and recognizing differences between cultures. In the treatment
These criticisms were involved with the Sinclair Report, the Wiseman Committee and were reacted by the author, which played a key role in the overall summary in the article “Nursing, knowledge and power: A case analysis” by Christine Ceci. The article can be summarized appropriately throughout the main points as well as the connections made by the author. The Sinclair Report brought about the subject as an inquest and provided the article with a foundation to lay the rest of the main points on. The hospital’s Wiseman Committee shaped the summary of the article by influencing the nurses and questioning their knowledge. The nurses and their power were another factor that contributed to the article summary, which had played a key role in the overall reaction of the author. All of these factors had an affect on the overall summary of the article and provided readers with great knowledge on the 1994 inquest of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at the Winnipeg Health and Sciences Centre. The author raised a great argument between the many issues regarding the inquest and as a new reader to this article; I was unaware of all the effects that were present when considering knowledge and
Nursing is a unique profession which is built upon theories that guide everyday nursing practice. According to Taylor, Lillis, & Lynn (2015), “Nursing theory differentiates nursing from other disciplines and activities in that it serves the purposes of describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling desired outcomes of nursing care practices” (p. 27). Many nurses may unknowingly apply a theory or a combination thereof, along with critical thinking to get the best outcome for a patient. Theories are used in practice today because they have been supported by research and help the profession uphold its boundaries. Most nursing theories consist of four concepts which are the patient, the environment, health, and nursing. Each patient is at the center of focus and they have the right to determine what care will be given to them using informed
Power as defined by Kelly & Crawford (2008) is the ability to achieve one’s goals by creating, acquiring and using resources to do so. Nurses over time - whether learned, cultural or related to gender-specific characteristics, have not embraced power (Kelly & Crawford, 2008). The public view of nurses as subordinates to physicians, simply “trained” to follow doctors’ orders, an overall lack of understanding as to the level of education and the kind of work nurses actually do (Sullivan, 2004) has lent to this perception. Sullivan (2004) writes about telling
The healthcare industry has intensely advanced throughout the world, in turn changing the principles that incorporate the practice and culture of nursing practice. Altering the model of care to a patient-centered mode signifies an organizational culture shift and requires the participation of executives at the senior level (Cliff, 2012). To practice this care to provide the best care possible, it goes beyond the nurse to all healthcare professionals and senior leadership. The days of patients and nurses following a physician’s order without favor to care has now loaned themselves to more of an interdisciplinary approach to practice. Though, it is encouraged that the patient makes decisions for themselves, after receiving the proper education and information on their condition. Part of the patient-centered care is to be the patients’ advocate, by letting them know you are there for them when they are unable to speak and advocate for themselves and what is in their best interest. That goes in hand with educating them on “self-management of care, health literacy, patient, and family education through nurse-patient communication and interaction (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016, p. 271).”
However, knowledge is an ongoing collection of information and a continual refinement of skills gained through practical experience. Dalton, Campbell, & Bull (2017) states that in nursing education, practice and policy inform knowledge (pg. 1). Through the foundation of knowledge accumulated in formal education, the nurse is able to build a framework for their client’s care. Nurses are continually learning through client interactions and if they apply critical thinking, nurses enable themselves to better solve difficult client encounters. Knowledge in the healthcare system continues to evolve through technology and nurses should welcome new methods and forms to their clinical practice.
Human caring as the moral ideal of nursing is the central focus of professional practice. It involves concern and empathy, and a commitment to the client’s lived experience of human health and the relationships among wellness, illness, and disease. The nurse, as a person, is engaged as an active partner in the human care transactions with clients across the life span. Nurses function autonomously and use power to shape the profession and empower clients through caring partnerships and other transactions. Within this framework, power is defined as the capacity to participate knowingly in the nature of change and is characterized by awareness, advocacy, choice, freedom to act intentionally, healing and involvement in
Patients, in any healthcare setting, deserve respect and care that is centered on their unique needs. Nurses and health care are required to assist them to achieve this goal. Changing the health care system will require us to reestablish our
Nursing is a unique profession which is built upon theories that guide everyday nursing practice. According to Taylor, Lillis, & Lynn (2015), “Nursing theory differentiates nursing from other disciplines and activities in that it serves the purposes of describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling desired outcomes of nursing care practices” (p. 27). Many nurses may unknowingly apply a theory or a combination thereof, along with critical thinking to get the best outcome for a patient. Theories are used in practice today because they have been supported by research and help the profession uphold its boundaries. Most nursing theories consist of four concepts which are the patient, the environment, health, and nursing. Each patient is at the center of focus and they have the right to determine what care will be given to them using informed
King’s theory encompasses all facets of the patient’s being. Focusing on nurse patient communication and goal attainment created the backbone for King’s theory. The three essential components of her theory that will be discussed are “the need for health information, the need for care that seeks to prevent illness, and the need for care when the patient is unable to help themselves” (Nursing Theory, 2011).
It was clearly stated that “the purpose of this study was to explore hospital nurses ' lived experience of power” (Fackler et al., 2015). Furthermore, “this study identifies the meaning and experience of power from the perspectives of hospital clinical nurses” (Fackler et al., 2015).
As healthcare moves from the Industrial Age to the Information Age, a new role for nurses as knowledge workers comes in its wake (McGonigle & Mastrians, 2015). In his definition of a knowledge worker, O’Grady cited “that the knowledge worker is someone who synthesizes a broad array of information and knowledge from a wide variety of sources and brings that synthesis to bear on nursing work” (O’Grady & Malloch, 2003, para. 2). Thus, a knowledge worker is one who translates and integrates information that would eventually be applied in the context of patient care (O’Grady & Malloch, 2003). Nurses, as knowledge workers, therefore, have moved “from the process and function orientation to that of outcome and evidence-based direction” (O’Grady & Malloch, 2015, para. 1).
Nurse’s roles are expanding according to the need of the patient and society. A nurse has to play roles from bed side nursing to the prevention of disease and illness, educating patient, families and collaboration with different healthcare teams. Howell (2012) indicated