Nursing in the 21st Century As healthcare moves from the Industrial Age to the Information Age, a new role for nurses as knowledge workers comes in its wake (McGonigle & Mastrians, 2015). In his definition of a knowledge worker, O’Grady cited “that the knowledge worker is someone who synthesizes a broad array of information and knowledge from a wide variety of sources and brings that synthesis to bear on nursing work” (O’Grady & Malloch, 2003, para. 2). Thus, a knowledge worker is one who translates and integrates information that would eventually be applied in the context of patient care (O’Grady & Malloch, 2003). Nurses, as knowledge workers, therefore, have moved “from the process and function orientation to that of outcome and evidence-based direction” (O’Grady & Malloch, 2015, para. 1). Nurses Are Knowledge Workers. How Does Nursing Move From Measuring The Tasks Completed To Measuring The Final Outcome Of The Patient? As a knowledge worker, a nurse moves from the role of a “data gatherer, information user, knowledge user, and knowledge builder, respectively” (McGonigle & Mastrians, 2015, p. 114). It is in the role of a knowledge user that the nurse starts to take “notice of the trends in a patient’s clinical data and determines whether the clinical data fall within or outside the normal data range” (p. 114). In measuring the final outcome of the patient as suggested by O’Grady and Malloch (2003) Not only should we empower patients, but also we simply don’t
In today’s healthcare system, nursing is a challenging field as a result of rapid technological advances and changes in healthcare policies. As a dedicated nursing professional, with a great passion for learning, I strive to stay on top of these changes. I am determined to increase my knowledge to be an instrumental part of providing quality healthcare. The demands of nursing are high; however the rewards are even higher. Nursing requires both a supreme understanding of the science of health, and a caring bedside manner befitting only those who seek a position of such a personal involvement in the well-being of a patient. Academically, I will put forth all of
This paper will discuss various aspect of the future of health care focusing on the future of how nursing will play an ever-important role in the reformation of health care. Presentation regarding, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the future of nursing, at the Institute of Medicine report entitled, “Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” will help set the stage for this paper. Discussion will be had regarding the relationship of the Institute of Medicine to that of the nursing profession and the foreseeable changes to practice based on the Institute of Medicines recommendations. Further discussion will be had no the
There are different types of knowledge and different ways of knowing. Four fundamental concepts of knowing in nursing highlighted by Caper (1978) are empirical, personal, ethical and aesthetic. He divided knowledge into two forms which are tacit and explicit. Tacit is insights and based on experience and not easily visible and expressible, difficult to share and communicate with others which is highly personal. Empirical sources of knowledge depend upon an individual’s manner of observing and responding to events in the outside world (Higgs et al, 2004). Whereas explicit is formal and based on rationality and easily can be expressed, shared, communicate which are highly universal principles. Rationalism comes from within the individual and
The second step that I used in the nursing process was diagnosing. Based on my results from my assessment, I was able to use that information to come up with a couple nursing diagnoses. This step is used to offer effective nursing care because it helps me set an intervention and plan of care to help my patient’s health outcomes for the better.
With the postmodern turn of nursing a focus on science as a process instead of a product has emerged (Rodgers, B.L., 2015). Postmodernism rejects the idea of a single truth and instead interprets knowledge as more contextual and relative. The discipline of nursing includes components other than just a knowledge base. Emerging within the 21st century, nurses especially involve the human component. Judgments are made about what is acceptable science and current priorities (Rogers, 2015). Previously in nursing, procedures such as medications and dressing changes were priorities. Today, medication and health care is expensive. Consideration must be taken to follow the whole patient, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and
Nursing is a profession in which theories have been developed to help implement knowledge development into the practice since Florence Nightingale. Theories help to utilize research and what helps to guide our practice. According to Meleis (2018), theories can be examined through their levels of abstraction which include: grand theories, middle-range theories, and situation-specific theories. The purpose of this paper is to detail how middle-range theories are most applicable to clinical nursing practice in the 21st century.
The Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) will have a great effect on nursing. According to this article nursing will have to change it role in the ACA and the three main categories that need to be changed and redeveloped is transforming practice, education and leadership.
The data-information-knowledge-wisdom (DIKW) continuum is a concept of the transformation of data into wisdom through cognitive processes. DIKW was initially used to illustrate principles of information management for the designing of information systems (Davenport & Pursak, 1989)(Saltworks, 2009). DIKW models utilized by nursing such as the model by Englebart & Nelson (2002), incorporate principles of increasing complexity due to increasing interactions What is important and unique to nursing is the DIKW concepts and models also help describe the critical thinking processes that nurses use to transform knowledge into the delivery of patient care, into education and learning and
Patients, in any healthcare setting, deserve respect and care that is centered on their unique needs. Nurses and health care are required to assist them to achieve this goal. Changing the health care system will require us to reestablish our
One of the complexities of 21st century medicine is the evolution of nursing care theories in combination with a changing need and expectation of the stakeholder population. Nurses must be advocates and communicators, but must balance these along with an overall philosophy of ethics while still remaining mindful of budgets and the need for the medical institution to be profitable. It seems as if these issues comprise a three-part template for nursing: respect for patient value & individuality, education of patients, and cognition and respect for the realities of contemporary medicine. In many ways, too, modern technology has advanced further than societal wisdom, especially when confronting the issue of death. The modern nurse's role is to create a nurse-patient culture that encourages the individual to take responsibility for their healthcare and, in partnership with the nurse, to be involved in their recovery. The modern complexities of healthcare, then, when combined, focus us towards a multidimensional template (combining at least psychology, biology and philosophy) (Beckstead and Beckstead, 2004).
Being a registered nurse affords one the option of working in many diverse healthcare settings. In any practice setting the climate of health care change is evident. There are diverse entities involved in the implementation and recommendation of these practice changes. These are led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), nursing campaign for action initiatives, as well as individual state-based action coalitions. Nurses need to be prepared and cognizant of the transformations occurring in health care settings as well as the plans that put them at the forefront of the future.
Changes in the Health Care System and the Practice of Nursing have become complex. Technological changes, complicated client needs, short hospital length of stay, and departure from acute care to community based care, all these changes have underscore the need for professional nurses to think critically in order to provide safe and effective client care. A better educated nursing workforce can provide good health education to patients and their families. The affordable care of 2010 has required the need for nurses to expand their role of practice to meet complicated patient demands. This has prompted the Institute Of Medicine to review the “Future of Nursing, Leading change and Advancing Health”. {Creasia & Fribery,2011}
Patricia Benner described the first stage as the novice nurse who is taught general rules to perform tasks without any, or very few, clinical experience. This rule-governed behavior is limited and inflexible (“From Novice to Expert”, 2013). Most nursing students are in the novice stage while they are completing their educational requirements (Cherry & Jacob, 2014). Although they have some exposure to clinical experience, it is limited and under the guidance of a nursing instructor rather than in a “real world” setting. According to Cherry & Jacob (2014), once the nursing student graduates, he or she will begin the progression into the advanced beginner stage (second stage). The advanced beginner nurse is able to make some judgment calls based on having experience in actual situations and performance is adequate. During this stage, the nurse begins to formulate principles to guide actions (“From Novice
Ongoing development and changes in healthcare delivery enable nurses to maintain standards of nursing and develop their competence and performance. Through this the patients well-being is maintained, respecting them through accessing up to date knowledge and skills that are essential in an ever changing environment.
Upon considering the past and future of nursing, many changes have already taken place, and even larger changes are expected. With the recent rate of technological development, the heath care system is certain to follow in its advances at nearly the same pace. Many predictions for the future of medicine are based on computerized technology. The use of telemonitoring, video and “smart houses” are already being used by some companies today, and will be utilized more frequently in the future. This will enable one nurse to care for many more patients than he/she is capable of safely caring for currently. This is very important due to the baby-boomer generation growing older and the