Psychosocial nursing has often been perceived to be a different part of self-assessment in routine physical examinations. However, I do not think this is the case. I perceive psychosocial nursing to be linked to the physical wellbeing of a person because it focuses on obtaining information about a person’s physiological, psychological, sociological and spiritual welfare (Day 2003). A lot of factors are normally assessed under the above categories because a person’s physiological, psychological, sociological or spiritual welfare is normally hinged on a lot of factors such as self-esteem, energy levels, lifestyle choices, family-esteem (among other factors). Comprehensively, I see psychosocial nursing as hinged on assessing the physiological wellbeing of a person and assessing a patient’s moods or emotional stability, which may often be described as happy, sad or euphoric (among other representations of human emotional wellbeing). Psychosocial nursing is also aimed at assessing the influence of one’s culture on the mental health and lifestyle choices of a patient (Doran 2010, p. 286). Such factors may range from assessing one’s diet to determining the influence of religious preferences on one’s health. Other factors which are normally assessed under psychosocial nursing include the examination of a patient’s interest, needs and goals (which affect the overall psychosocial wellbeing of a person) (Day 2003).
From the above understanding, I think the importance of psychosocial nursing cannot be underestimated in the overall improvement of nursing care. It is also from this standpoint that the concept of psychosocial nursing stands out to me as a crucial factor in the nursing profession because it is pivotal in nursing planning. The level of outreach that psychosocial nursing provides in understanding patient conditions and illnesses is extensive because through psychosocial nursing, I can easily understand patient patterns, family diseases, interpersonal communication styles and other factors that would help in the overall improvement of nursing care. This understanding drives me to believe that the best way to empower nurses to achieve optimum success in the development of the best nursing care, is to assess almost all elements of a patient’s wellbeing (and most importantly, the assessment of a patient’s culture to provide a clearer understanding of the right type of nursing care to be given to the patient) (Rogers-Clark 2005, p. 1).
The importance of psychosocial nursing and the need to integrate it into the nursing practice is especially exemplified by the comprehensive nature of the concept in improving nursing care. For instance, as evidenced in earlier sections of this paper, I perceive psychosocial nursing as an assessment of various dynamics of a person’s wellbeing, including a person’s spirituality, culture, occupation, relationships, coping skills and other factors. These components of a person’s wellbeing are central to the provision of an effective nursing care plan because if such factors are considered, I can easily determine a patient’s recovery outcome, viz-a-viz the input of nursing care components (Day 2003). I perceive this fact as a crucial part of developing the best nursing care plan because a correct integration of psychosocial nursing components into the nursing profession goes a long way in eliminating the structural or functional anomalies evident in ineffective nursing plans. As a nurse, I can therefore be able to integrate properly effective components of the nursing plan to suit a patient’s psychosocial wellbeing. This is one way of ensuring the nursing care plan is tailored to suit the patient’s psychosocial needs. Ultimately, this is also one way of ensuring the nursing care plan is effective for all patients, because a uniform nursing care plan cannot have the same level of efficacy for all patients (Videbeck 2010, p. 7).
I therefore perceive psychosocial assessment as central in predicting a patient’s response to nursing initiatives because it evaluates a patient’s emotional and intellectual wellbeing. These factors directly have an influence on a patient’s response to nursing initiatives because they predict a patient’s stability and reaction to nursing care. For instance, a patient with an unstable intellectual and emotional wellbeing is likely to exhibit a negative response towards a fair nursing care plan. A patient who has a relatively fair emotional and intellectual health is likely to express a positive reception to the same nursing care plan. In this regard, I deem it crucial to evaluate a patient’s intellectual and emotional wellbeing as part of having a better understanding of a patient’s psychosocial wellbeing. This is also another way of integrating psychosocial nursing into the profession (Day 2003).
Considering the fact that psychosocial nursing is a crucial component of the nursing care plan, I believe it is of grave importance for all nurses to be educated about the importance of integrating the concept into their nursing care plans. The importance of this practice is fixed on the fact that, psychosocial nursing is one way of providing excellent nursing care from a patient’s point of view, as opposed to a nurse’s point of view. Most traditional nursing plans have been developed from a one-sided point of view where patient needs and preferences have been neglected. There has therefore been a consistent attempt to downplay the importance of integrating patient dynamics into the nursing plan (Day 2003). Traditional nursing plans have also been highly rigid and they have equally failed to accommodate the dynamism of different patient needs. As a result, I believe nurses have often administered a uniform nursing care plan for decades, without considering the characteristics or uniqueness of patient groups. In my view, psychosocial nursing seems to change this paradigm, thereby improving the effectiveness for nursing care plans. From this point of view, psychosocial nursing should be deeply integrated into the general nursing practice (Simpson 2007, p. 78).
References
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