NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion
NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion
NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion – Karen, a registered nurse, decided that she wants to become a CNP. She applied and was accepted to the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Chamberlain College of Nursing. She received a course curriculum that outlined the courses necessary to complete her degree. One of the early courses in the program curriculum is NR501 Theoretical Basis for Advanced Nursing Practice. NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion.
You are a student colleague of Karen’s enrolled in the same class. On the course Q & A Forum, Karen posted, “Nursing theory is outdated and is too broad and isn’t useful for Advance Practice Nurses.” NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion Question
Is Karen right? Is theory important to APN practice? Why, or why not?
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NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion SAMPLE
According to Karnick (2014), nursing theory provides the ethics and beliefs that guide practice and help generate nursing knowledge. When nurses purposefully form their care around a particular theory, clinical practice takes place (Karnick, 2014). Karen should learn nursing theories because she will need the information to guide her care of the patient. Nursing theory is very important to APN practice because it provides nurses with the foundation and principles of the profession. The four main paradigms— person, health, environment, and nursing—that drive nursing theory aim to promote patient wellness. Also, learning nursing theory encourages critical thinking and suggests ways to relate the fundamentals of nursing to the actual practice of nursing (Karnick, 2014). NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion. Nursing theory is useful in many areas of nursing to include clinical, community health, legislative, administrative, educational, legal, etc. These theories provide invaluable knowledge that Karen can use to construct new knowledge. Nursing theory will teach Karen about the importance of evidence-based practice and how it relates to the decision-making process for patient care and patient values. NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion.
Karen’s concerns about the nursing theory being too broad should be addressed. While she is right, let’s put the reason why into context. As a new graduate nursing student, Karen will learn the theories are broad because there is more than one way to explain how to administer patient care or how to communicate with colleagues. There are multiple ways to display leadership and to educate oneself about new health processes, diseases, patient concerns, and all things dealing with nursing. Nursing theory is confusing at times because there are so many theories to learn. However, this should be viewed as a positive because it inspires a sharing of ideas and nursing practices. NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion. There is no singular way to provide the best patient care, and Karen can use many of the theories to enhance her clinical expertise. She can also compare nursing theories with current external clinical evidence and research to extract the most useful information to provide better patient care. The lack of agreement in the professional literature on nursing theory does not diminish the value of the theories nor does it make the theories irrelevant to practice. What the lack of agreement does is create dialogue and promote more evidence-based research. Karnick (2014) states eliminating nursing theory in the classroom will “degrade nursing as a viable profession.” The discipline of nursing needs these theories to guide effective patient care, or nursing will be just another set of actions or tasks that is not valued or needed by patients and their families (Karnick, 2014). NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion.
NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion Reference:
Karnick, P. M. (2014). A case for nursing theory in practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 27(2), 117. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0894318414522711
NR 510 Week 2: Theory and APN Role Discussion Part Two Discussion
NR 510 Week 2: Theory and APN Role Discussion Part Two Discussion
As a future CNP, Karen will establish relationships with patients and colleagues. She is a primary care provider who will deal with patients of all ages. Karen will be trained to individually assess health problems and risk factors and to develop treatment plans. She may decide to collaborate with other health providers and colleagues to identify patients’ health problems and implement the appropriate interventions. Karen’s overall goal is to improve the health of the individual and family. To foster a strong relationship between herself, her patients, and other healthcare providers on her patients’ healthcare teams, Karen must master the art of interpersonal communication. This is the process that allows people to exchange information and feelings through verbal and non-verbal messages (Lee & Doran, 2017). Interpersonal communication is face-to-face communication that determines how well patients and CNPs understand each other and work together to reach health goals (Lee & Doran, 2017). NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion.
Psychiatric nursing pioneer, Hildegard Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal Relations model points out four sequential phases, the primary areas of communication essential to the nurse/patient relationship: orientation, identification, exploitation, and resolution (Nursingtheory.org, 2016). These frameworks help nurses understand their behavior in relation to listening to patients describe their health problems and working with other health providers. Peplau describes nursing as a “therapeutic, healing art” that becomes an interpersonal process because of the interaction between the NP, patient, and other healthcare providers (Arora, 2015). Interpersonal communication guides the way NPs create treatment plans and set health goals for patients and their families. Positive, open, and respectful interpersonal communication help the nurse and patient work together to become mature, knowledgeable partners in the care process (Arora, 2015). In my experience, patients often feel nervous and anxious around medical personnel. Many patients become defensive, passive-aggressive, shy, or uncomfortable all because they do not want to be perceived as uneducated about their health or the diagnosis/treatment information being relayed. Patients feel nurses and doctors talk at them instead of with them. I have heard patients complain that nurses are rude just because the patient did not understand what the nurse said about a diagnosis or treatment. Karen can use Peplau’s theory to engage in better ways to communicate with patients and help them feel valued. Undergraduate nursing school taught me best practices in creating a solid patient-nurse relationship. In Peplau’s model, this begins with the orientation stage. First, I should introduce myself to the patient then state my credentials and the role I will play. I should ask the patient his or her preferred name. NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion. I want to relieve the patient’s anxiety, so I ask the patient if there are any recent health changes he or she would like to discuss with me. I want to normalize the situation, so I may even ask about family life, hobbies, talk about the news, etc. There are so many ways for me to help the patient feel comfortable talking to me. The point is to let the patient know through verbal and non-verbal communication that I am here to help.
NR 510 Week 2: Theory and APN Role Discussion Part Two Discussion References
Arora, S. (2015). Integration of nursing theories in practice. International Journal of Nursing Science Practice and Research, 1(1), 8-12. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283319003_Integration_of_Nursing_Theories_in_Practice
Lee, C. T., & Doran, D. M. (2017). The role of interpersonal relations in healthcare team communication and patient safety: A proposed model of interpersonal process in teamwork. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 49(2), 75-93. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/0844562117699349
Nursingtheory.org. (2016). Hildegard Peplau Theory. Retrieved from http://www.nursing-theory.org/theories-and-models/peplau-theory-of-interpersonal-relations.php. NR 510 Week 2: Theory and the APN Role Discussion.