Environment, health, nursing, and person interconnect to comprise the metaparadigm of the nursing discipline

Environment, health, nursing, and person interconnect to comprise the metaparadigm of the nursing discipline (Francis, 2017). As nursing is a profession based upon caring for people, I believe the phenomena of person is most relevant to my clinical practice as an OR nurse. Patients undergoing surgery are unable to observe what occurs during their procedure as they are sedated or receive general anesthesia. Consequently, they rely on their OR nurses to advocate for dignity and safety while in an altered level of consciousness. Patient-centered care is a foundational aspect of my nursing career. I also believe that keeping the person as the focal point when providing nursing care enables nurses to be cognizant of treating patients holistically versus only focusing on diagnoses, symptom management, or pharmacological intervention. Occasionally, I encounter anesthesia providers that do not want to allow a few minutes for the nursing staff to properly clean patients after surgery and I remind them that a clean surgical dressing and gown is essential to patient’s hygiene and well-being.

Virginia Henderson was an established author, educator of nursing, and co-creator of a patient-centered curriculum utilized by the National League of Nursing (McEwen & Ellis, 2014). Henderson developed the nursing need theory, which is divided into 14 components that emphasized improving patient independence to promote recovery after hospitalization (Ahtisham & Jacoline, 2015). The elements of the nursing need theory provide a holistic nursing approach that encompasses the mental, physical, social, and spiritual aspects of patients.

Faye Abdellah was a nursing theorist that presented a patient-focused approach that also integrated using nursing diagnoses into the nursing discipline. Abdellah along with colleagues, created a listing of 21 nursing problems that are equally divided into patient problems and nursing skills during a period were nursing diagnoses were not considered appropriate for nurses (McEwen & Ellis, 2014). Abdellah’s 21 nursing problems are subcategorized into emotional, physiological, social needs of patients along with nurse-patient relationships and patient care.

Carmetrice Brock

References

Ahtisham, Y., & Jacoline, S. (2015). Integrating nursing theory and process into practice;

Virginia’s Henderson need theory. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 8(2), 443

-450. Retrieved from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.prx

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Francis, I. (2017). Nursing informatics and the metaparadigms of nursing. Online Journal of

Nursing Informatics, 21(1). Retrieved from https://www.himss.org/library/nursing

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McEwen, M., & Wills, E. (2014). Grand nursing theories based on human needs. In Theoretical

basis for nursing [VitalSource version] (4th ed., p. 134).