The Paradigm of 21st Century Nursing: Theories of Caring and Practice

As a registered nurse practicing in the state of California I am responsible for practicing within my states legal regulations and nursing scope of practice. My concern for the welfare of the sick and injured allows me to practice ethical provisions of nursing. These are required if I am to carry out competent and effective nursing care. Nursing encompasses the prevention of illness, the alleviation of suffering, and the protection, promotion, and restoration of health in the care of individuals. Therefore, as health care professionals we must be familiar with the different philosophical forces, ethical principles, theories and values that influence nursing. At the same time, we must be respectful to our patient’s

Nursing care is a dynamic field of practice. The way it looks today is far out greater intense and very structured. It advances itself by the use of nursing theories and evidence based practice. Policies and procedures constantly change with the advancement of technology and science. While caring for the patient in the given case studies, a nurse involved utilizes practical knowledge, a culture care model and transpersonal caring relationship to attain a caring environment (Smith & Parker, 2015).

The topic of ethics is prevalent in health care and addresses a broad range of topics in nursing. In almost every interaction with a patient there could be a situation that may bring up the question of ethics. Fortunately, there is the realization that placing the nurse in the care of a patient, may put the medical personnel in an environment where the ethics are questioned. There are whole departments dedicated to advising nurses in these situations. There are also ethic committees to help guide you when you find yourself in a situation that may question your practice or circumstances.

The history of ethics has been around for a long time. Nurses have an ethical obligation to care for patientsand do no harm. Ethical conflicts and dilemmas occur every day in the health care world. “Ethics is defined as the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession”(FARLEX, 2011).The nurse should have the adequate skills and experience to provide great care to the patient. Nurses should always accept their moral and responsibilities that come along with their job and

Nursing means being aware of patient’s beliefs, wants, and backgrounds without holding judgement or enforcing one’s own beliefs onto another. Nurses are supposed to be open-minded and put patients before themselves. In this situation, following the code of ethics in my practice allows me to act appropriately within my scope of practice. Treat the patient without any bias and ensure that they are supported, cared for, educated in their options, and ultimately

Ethics, the rules and principles that guide right behaviors or conduct, are foundational to the field of bioethics, which focuses on ethical issues in healthcare (Mclennon, Uhrich, Lasiter, Chamnes, & Helft, 2013). Nurses are faced with ethical decision making principles daily when caring for their patients, some days more than others. According to Yoder-Wise (2011), ethics may be distinguished from the law because ethics is internal to an individual, looks to the ultimate “good” of an individual rather than society as a whole, and concerns the “why” of one’s actions (p. 91). In this particular situation, the nurse has to decide if she will respect the wishes of the patient’s family members or be upfront and honest with her patient and

With new direction that healthcare is taking Change in nursing practice is eminent to deliver care to a complex population from conception to death. Representations on how to practice nursing is expected to raise and transform. This new endeavor is the road to keep patient healthy. The relationship between the patient and care giver will go past actual occurrences of malady. The focus is on delivering care that is mainly focus on the needs of the patient in a continuum. In collaboration with everyone in the care team the patient is a unique person with unique needs who from one stage to another, meaning from the hospital to rehab, from rehab to home and to the community. Care for everyone in the same fashion each time without limitation. The continuum of care framework focuses on integrating the services provided to the client, rather than on the integration of service organizations.

I t is important that end of life care is delivered in respect of patients Autonomy, Beneficence, and in a Truthful way. In what follows I argue that we as nurses need to fulfill obligation to support and assist the dying patient and his family’s right to self-determination as it relates to end of life care. I believe that we have made headway but still have much to achieve. Education and research in these areas by and for health care workers and the general population would do much to improve the quality of end of life care.

Without nursing history, nursing would not be the same. For example, Nightingale’s thirteen tenets set the basis of nursing. All these tenets become apparent while promoting health, preventing illness, and while providing care for clients. Additionally, Carper’s four fundamental ways of knowing allows us, as nurses, to think critically, provide holistic care (also apart of Waton’s theory), build therapeutic relationships, follow the code of ethics, and also encourage us to extrapolate data effectively. Nonetheless, Paterson and Zderad, as well as Leininger, set the foundation for nurses to care for each client as their own, using a humanistic, existentialistic, and culturally sensitive approach. Generally, each of these theories allow nurses to acquire new knowledge and skills, altering thoughts and emotions, ultimately enabling us to apply our newfound knowledge into real life situations, which will prove useful in clinical placements next

This paper explores my personal nursing philosophy that I will convey in my career of nursing. It is my belief that nursing is a commitment to public service and a desire to help those in need. Nursing is a discipline of knowledge acquired both through formal education and through life experiences. The sum of these parts continues to refine my nursing practice. Nursing is focused on the delivery of quality individualized patient care, that meets each patient needs holistically as opposed to treating an illness. My nursing philosophy incorporates the knowledge of medicine as well as compassionate care that respects each patient dignity and values. I believe that the collaboration among healthcare professionals promotes quality patient care and is a crucial aspect of nursing. I also believe in nursing that strives to maintain a healthy community through health promotion.

The image of contemporary nursing has shifted drastically from simply providing bedside care to wounded patients; today’s highly complex nursing practice involves nurses rushing around the hospital floor, writing reports, and focusing more on technical skills. These changes in nursing practice reflect a shift in the context and demands of healthcare (Doane & Varcoe, 2007). Moreover, since nurses are often so busy administering medications, doing injections, and charting, they forget about the caring side of nursing. Therefore, it is crucial for nurses to use inquiry lenses to focus on the ethics, effectiveness, and multidimensional aspects of nursing (Doane & Varcoe, 2007). These elements

Nurses are expected to provide physicians with quality assessments and needs of their patients to ensure when a change from curative care to palliative care is needed and to ensure good death. Death has always caused an ethical

This paper brings up my personal nursing philosophy I am planning to deliver in my nursing career. I believe that nursing is more than merely as a profession but also involving my medical knowledge combining it with a commitment to quality nursing care with compassion, respect, dignity, advocacy of each patient. I believe that the interdisciplinary care and collaboration in the medical field are crucial that leads to a healthy relationship among healthcare professionals in promoting quality patient care that is individualized to each patient’s needs.

Ethical issues in nursing will always be an ongoing learning process. Nurses are taught in nursing school what should be done and how. Scenarios are given on tests with one right answer. However, there are situations that nurses may encounter that may have multiple answers and it is hard to choose one. “Ethical directives are not always clearly evident and people sometimes disagree about what is right and wrong” (Butts & Rich, 2016). When an ethical decision is made by a nurse, there must be a logical justification and not just emotions.

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).