Free «Case Study: The Clothesline» Essay

1. In this simple vignette, identify the concepts that are of importance to nursing. How many can you find?

Given this situation, several key elements are needed to be included to the nurse behavior. First, the attentiveness plays an important role in patient care. The nurse must always perceive and analyze the occurring situation. It is always necessary to notice where the patient is, what he or she does, how he or she behaves and feels. Second, the nurse must have such quality as responsiveness and should always be ready to help the patient, regardless of whether he needs treatment, physical assistance, or just moral support. In addition, the responsibility is one of the most important elements in the nursing service. The nurse must understand that his or her acts or omissions affect the health and life of people (Alano, 2002). The moral condition of the patient is important in the process of recovery and return to normal life. Therefore, nurses should feel respect and understanding to the patient in order to maintain his or her normal psychological state. Respect implies determining of patient's personal boundaries that should not be violated as well as understanding of the necessity to give the patient greater leniency because people after an illness may not always behave correctly due to certain physical and mental discomfort.

The next element is communication. The health worker needs to find a contact with patients and apply an individual approach to each of them. It is important because the patient must trust the people who deal with his health and feel their positive and friendly attitude. In addition, a nurse must be competent and professional staff. They must be frank with all patients while providing their diagnosis, treatment and recovery processes, potential risks or complications. The patient is not reliable enough to understand the process of the treatment, so the nurse must thoroughly remember all the statements about it and take the necessary measures immediately in the event of an emergency. After all, when something unexpected happens, a nurse does not have any time to look in the records of the list of drugs which may cause an allergic for the patient to apply the treatment. A nurse should minutely remember how and what can be used for the patient and what cannot. One more element that is used in the treatment of patients is a principle of loyalty. The patient voluntarily and on their own can make all the decisions about their recovery (American Nursing Association, 2001). In addition, nurses' task is to persuade him or her to listen to the experts, without prejudice to his or her rights and without imposing not desired services. Moreover, even in the course of treatment it is necessary to understand that the patient may have unusual religious or political views, or position in life, and all of these aspects should not affect the attitude and quality of service. Certainly, the discipline of the employees is also important as well as in any business.

2. Choose three or four of these concepts and interrelate them to form relationships and structure.

The basic concepts for nurses are competence, responsibility, empathy or understanding and respect. There is a direct link between competence and responsibility. A nurse should clearly know the algorithm of actions in any possible situation because every action will follow a certain result which she or he is responsible for. Understanding and respect form a less strong relationship with other concepts. However, failing to adhere to these concepts may lead to misunderstanding between a doctor and a patient which can result in a false diagnosis. Therefore, mutual respect allows to build a friendly attitude and establish a contact, which is very important in the treatment process (Hilton, P.A., 2004).

Define the concepts that you have interrelated

Competence is the existence of the knowledge and experience required to operate effectively in a given subject area. Competence is also the ability to implement a real action and a qualifying characteristic of an individual, taken at the time of activities. Every action has two aspects – the resource and the productivity, so the development of competence means the conversion of the resource into a product (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2014).

Responsibility is a special relationship between the actions of a person or his/her intentions, as well as assessments of the actions of other people or society. Responsibility is reliability and honesty in relation to themselves and others; it is an awareness and a willingness to admit that the result is the consequence of one’s actions. Responsibility is not a fault, it is confidence. Responsibility includes personal accountability and the ability to act within the framework of ethical standards for the benefit of others.

Respect is the position of one person towards another, recognition of personal dignity. Respect is one of the most important ethical requirements that implies no harm to another person, either physical or moral. The moral consciousness of the society requires respect for justice, equality of rights, attention to the interests of each person, his or her beliefs (Akerjordet & Severinsson, 2008).

Understanding is a universal thinking operation associated with the assimilation of the new information and apllying it to the established ideas and concepts. In this case, the meaning of a word is close to empathy – a conscious feeling of the current emotional state of another person without losing the sense of an external origin of this experience.

What assumptions have you made?

I believe that nurses need to develop interpersonal communication skills in order to build a proper and pleasant relationship with patients. In addition, an important process that young nurses must pass after graduating and before starting to work is the development of their competence. Thus, it is necessary to turn on their theoretical knowledge and practical skills, gain experience and confidence in themselves and their actions, learn how to make quick decisions (Burns & Grove 2003). Understanding that life and human health, for which the nurse is responsible, depend on the decisions and actions he or she makes should encourage nurses’ accuracy, preciseness, thoroughness, and care.

5. What is the purpose of the “theory” that you have developed?

All the concepts described above provide the whole system, which allows providing a comfortable environment for the patient and at the same time ensuring the quality of nursing work and diligent performance of the duties. Such a set of qualities will not allow the patient to feel indifferent, but at the same time will maintain patient’s safety while not causing his feelings of inferiority or infirmity. Furthermore, some of these qualities can help the nurse in work. For example, attentiveness, responsibility, and pedantry can help to cope with all tasks correctly without making mistakes, which can be fatal to the life and health of the patient. In addition, a nurse will be able to make the right decisions quickly in emergencies. All of these factors will help to avoid the negative consequences associated with work, reputation, and professional suitability. The nurse profession is quite important in our world, and each person one way or another is faced with the necessity of medical care. Therefore, professional and personal characteristics of a nurse can significantly improve all areas of health care, and in particular the work of doctors and patients’ feelings.