Instructions Scenario: You are working as a Registered Nurse at a local hospital that has recently changed ownership. The new hospital owners are committed to a culture that embraces evidence-based practice (EBP) and utilizes EBP as a guide for their policies and procedures. The focus on evidence-based practice can be seen as part of the hospital’s mission statement and local advertising campaign, which states, “Evidence-based practice: The key to advancing quality and safety in healthcare.” The hospital’s mission includes the statement: “…to be the healthcare center of choice, through superior clinical outcomes, evidence-based practice-driven protocols, and the advancement of practice utilizing formal and continuing education.”The hospital leadership team has shared that they are beginning the process of applying for Magnet status as a healthcare facility. They have asked for volunteers to serve on a sub-committee to select a nursing theorist as a framework that will be used to guide
Theories Guiding Nursing Practice
Introduction
In its ideal definition, a theory refers to a view, guiding principle, or guideline recommended or adhered to as the base of a given action. As such, nursing models and theories are integral in shaping the parameters of individualized-centered care delivery. Without these theories in place, the nursing practice would fail to have a linear focus, i.e., an organic emphasis placed on patients and the treatment of health-related needs. This means that healthcare facilities that want to be accredited to Magnet status ought to recognize that nursing theories provide a framework for evidence-based practice. The following proposal aims to present valuable insights from various theories and how they can aid in advancing the mission of the facility as a leading provider of evidence-based practice.
Health Promotion Model
Postulated by Dr. Nola Pender in 1983, the health promotion model emphasizes three major facets: patient experiences and features, behavior-aligned thoughts and affect, and behavioral outcomes. The initial facet analyzes the notion that every person possesses their individual set of features, experiences, and expectations that aid in shaping the actions of the nurses. Pender suggested that an individual’s past actions have a direct association with their ability to engage in future health-promotion behaviors. Individual traits alongside behaviors may also act as barriers to behaviors that facilitate health promotion (Butts & Rich, 2018, p.48).
The second facet encompasses the thoughts and effects linked to behavior that has implications on the motivation of an individual to change. Thus, the theorist postulated that nursing interventions ought to be personalized to these elements to help in fostering positive behavioral changes. Some of the elements that should be taken into consideration include observed merits alongside hindrances of self-confidence among individuals. Ultimately, the last facet entails behavioral outcomes. The realization of the outcomes commences with an individual pledging to implement the necessary steps to initiate a change. In such instances, nurses must address the barriers to support the individual in realizing positive outcomes. Essentially, the goal of this theory is to inspire a behavioral change that initiates a positive outcome in health (Dyrstad, 2021).
Theory of Human Caring
Watson postulates that human caring consists of curative factors. As such, some of the curative factors listed by the theorists included the formation of a humanistic-altruistic value system, faith-hope installation, and cultivation of sensitivity. Other curative factors suggested by Watson include the development of a provider-patient relationship anchored on trust, promotion of expression of feeling, decision-making based on problem-solving and critical thinking, teaching-learning promotion within a clinical setting, the facilitation of a supportive environment, and assisting with human needs gratification. The first three curative factors offer the framework for the art and science of caring (Butts & Rich, 2018, p.103).
Watson’s theory is based on four major concepts: the individual, health, the environment, and nursing. Watson defines an individual as a respected entity that should be taken care of, appreciated, supported, understood, and aided; the philosophical perception of an individual as a fully useful unified self. Hence, individuals are perceived as being bigger than the sum of their parts. The well-being of an individual encompasses a significant level of physical well-being, mental well-being, and social purpose. Essentially, this absence of illness or the processes culminates in the absence of illness (Watson, 2018).
Ultimately, Watson affirmed that the nursing process resonates with the scientific process, whereby the initial phase involves assessment. The assessment stage entails making observations to identify the existence of a given problem and, as such, the construction of a hypothesis. The subsequent process is the formulation of a care plan to conclude how elements are to be analyzed alongside how data ought to be collected. The last step is the intervention, i.e., the execution of an established plan as well as the evaluation of the outcome (Watson, 2018).
Recommendation
As an organization, it is paramount that we move away from the one-size-fits-all approach of care to holistic and individualized-centered care. Holistic nursing is the practice of nursing that emphasizes healing the whole individual. This practice recognizes the fact that an individual is not simply his or her illness. As such, holism addresses the interlink of the body, mind, spirit, society, emotions, relationships, an