The Nursing Process Essay

This discussion question is based on a case study. As in all case studies, review the facts of the case and consider the various steps of the nursing process in order to address the critical thinking questions.

For centuries the development of nursing knowledge has been influenced by numerous theorists and their respective theories. These theories have influenced, and continue to influence, nursing education, practice and research. (Johnson & Webber, 2005)

The second step that I used in the nursing process was diagnosing. Based on my results from my assessment, I was able to use that information to come up with a couple nursing diagnoses. This step is used to offer effective nursing care because it helps me set an intervention and plan of care to help my patient’s health outcomes for the better.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an in depth exploration of the nursing care considerations of patients in a specific clinical area. Through the synthesis of prior knowledge, clinical experiences and skills, evidence based best practices, and care of patients a comprehensive care and teaching plan will be composed. Integration of critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills, combined with evidence-based research will provide confirmation of nursing process comprehension. The inclusion of reviewed literature will further support knowledge and understanding.

The ASPIRE framework, also referred to as the nursing process (Barratt, Wilson and Wollands, 2012) was used to structure and develop Susan’s care plan. Introduced by Barrett, Wilson and Wollands (2012), following on from APIE developed by Yura and Walsh (1967), ASPIRE stands for assessment, systematic nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation, recheck and evaluation. Hogston and Marjoram (2006) believe that systematic nursing diagnosis was added to offer direction and time for the nurse to reflect on gathered information and systematically develop a diagnosis. Also the aspect of rechecking is to enable the nurse to monitor and plot a patient’s progress contributing to the final stage of evaluation of care and if its successfulness (Barratt, Wilson and Wollands, 2012).

My definition of nursing is that of someone who genuinely cares about the well-being of others and helps heal those who are ill. Nursing is both an art and a science because in order to understand a patients diagnosis you must know the pathophysiology and basic lab values. The science part of nursing allows us to make judgments on medication orders doctors prescribe, procedures, and practices. Art is also apart of nursing because as nurses we must have intuition, compassion, and warmth towards our patients. It is what allows us to therapeutically communicate with our patients. A person can have the science part, but not master the art and therefore, that person may be uncompassionate towards a patient. I have see nurses in clinical settings

Nursing care is focused on the assessment, nursing diagnoses, planning, implementation, and evaluation of patients. This nursing process can also be implemented in aspects outside of nursing and on the nursing field as a collective group. The nursing role is evolving, following the process the outcomes have to be evaluated and put into perspective. Research is being completed the conclusions are all the same, the higher education of nursing care the better the patient outcomes.

When patients are unable to meet their needs independently, they become distressed and encounter feelings of helplessness. Every patient is different and will exhibit needs that are individualized to them personally. This is where the nurse comes in. Their relationship to the patient must be built on trust and they need to know that patient well enough to determine what their needs are (Current Nursing, 2010). Orlando felt that nurses act independently on behalf of their patients. She believed that by using a nursing process, the nurse would be capable of meeting the patient’s immediate needs (Nurse Scribe, 2007).

     Nursing care is based on the development of a helping relationship and the implementation and evaluation of therapeutic processes. Therapeutic process includes health promotion, education, counseling, nursing interventions and empowerment of individuals, families or groups. It helps individuals make choices in regards to their health care.

Closely linked to this decision-making model is the ubiquitous nursing process. The nursing process includes data collection and documentation, analysis of the data to determine current condition and real or potential health related issues, development of an individualized plan of care to deal with these issues, implementation of that plan of care, and evaluation of the plan of care to determine its effectiveness and adjust the plan as needed. (Blais, Hayes, Kozier, & Erb, 2006)

“Advanced nursing practice is the deliberative diagnosis and treatment of a full range of human responses to actual or potential health problems.” (Calkin, 1984). Advanced nurse practitioners attempt to maximize the use of knowledge and skills and improve the delivery of nursing and health care services. The field of advanced nursing practice differs from basic practice as the former requires clinical specialization at the master’s level. At this level, nurses become expert practitioners whose work includes direct and indirect patient care. Direct patient care involves caring for patients and their families; this is the focus of my section on nurse clinicians. Indirect patient care includes work as an educator, researcher, and a

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.

“The nursing process is an analytic problem solving method whereby the attainment of pre-determined nursing goals by means of chosen nursing care strategies is attempted through a systematic

The standards of practice describe a competent level of nursing care as exhibited by the critical thinking model known as the nursing process. This practice includes the areas of assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The nursing process includes significant actions taken by registered nurses (RN) and forms the foundation of the nurse’s decision-making (“American Nurses Association,” 2010).

Nursing process discipline is a nursing theory developed by nursing theorist, Ida Jean Orlando. This theory, one of the first written about the nursing process, was written to help establish nursing as an independent function in providing health care for a patient. Through this independent nursing function, Orlando developed her theory on the concept of the nurse-patient interaction. During that interaction the nurse recognizes a patient behavior as an “… immediate need for help” (George, 2011, p. 165). This “immediate” need must be correctly identified by the nurse, so the nurse may provide care to relieve the need for help experienced by the patient. Orlando’s creation of the nursing process discipline helped to further establish