Introduction
A theory refers to a provisional statement that addresses key issues in human life and plays a vital role in shaping their behaviour. Nursing theories are claims that explain the principles of this practice and originate from deductive or inductive interpretations. They enable nurses to predict and describe facts and guide them through the process of knowledge generation on future nursing projects (Meleis 2011). These theories enable nurses to identify what they know and what needs to be known to enhance their performance.
Objectives
There are four objectives that guide this profession namely person, environment, health and nursing. These objectives form concepts that guide nurses during service delivery and interactions with patients and their environment.
When people fall sick, they seek immediate medical attention from their preferred health facilities. Nurses must attend to patients’ needs that originate from their cultures, religions, psychologies, physiologies or social units of life (Watson 2008). They must identify the relationship between their patients and other members of society. Moreover, it is essential to identify their patients’ positions to provide reliable medical care without interfering with their lives. Therefore, these theories enable nurses to examine their role in providing patients’ needs and assess their future demands (Masters 2011). They prioritise their services according to urgency and importance while providing quality services to their patients. For instance, an expectant woman qualifies to be a patient since she needs medical care. She must seek essential health services to ensure she delivers a healthy and normal baby and remain healthy before, during and after delivery.
Nursing theories ensure patients access healthcare services without interfering with their social, political or economic beliefs. This forms a crucial element that promotes a healthy environment for nurses and patients (Meleis 2011). These theories ensure nurses observe factors (external and internal) that affect the provision of quality services. At the same time, these theories ensure nurses work in a favourable environment free from destructors. A positive environment will ensure a patient is healthy and gives nurses an opportunity to utilise their potentials fully (George 2010). A nurse in the labour and delivery section must ensure an expectant woman avoids strenuous activities, confrontations and drugs without medical prescriptions.
Health refers to the well-being of an individual in terms of mental, social and physical stability. Nursing plays a key role in ensuring people are healthy by educating them on ways of improving their hygiene and taking care of their environment. In addition, nurses provide vital information on the likelihood of infections caused by genes, lifestyle and environment and how to reduce infection risks (Watson 2008). People have two health stages that involve normalcy and sickness. Nurses working in the labour and maternity section must ensure their clients attend regular medical check-ups during and after pregnancy. This will enable nurses to monitor the development of the foetus and mother’s health.
Nursing is an essential concept that guides the provision of health services. This is a unique profession that not only involves patients but also their communities. Even though, most people think that nursing takes place within the confines of healthcare facilities the practice goes beyond these facilities. In fact, nursing is an extremely wide profession that involves the treatment, care and education on health issues. Nursing integrates patients’ needs with those of their communities to ensure steady healing, prevention of diseases and reduce pain in terminally ill patients (Masters 2011). Therefore, this profession involves more than what society believes it does. An expectant woman and her family members must know the demands and expectations of pregnancy. Therefore, nurses must ensure they guide expectant women in accordance with pregnancy practises outlined in the nursing portfolio. This will ensure they get quality services and go through pregnancy without complications.
Conclusion
Nursing theories guide nurses and patients towards achieving a healthy environment without straining the existing resources. There is a need for coordination amongst nurses, patients, family members and governments to ensure people access quality medical services.
References
George, J. (2010). Nursing Theories: The Base for Professional Nursing Practice (6th Edition). New Jersey: Prentice hall.
Masters, K. (2011). Nursing Theories: A Framework for Professional Practice (Masters, Nursing Theories). Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Meleis, A. (2011). Theoretical Nursing: Development and Progress. New York: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Watson, J. (2008). Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring, Revised Edition. Colorado: University Press of Colorado.