Application of Nursing Theory

Introduction

Nursing theories are important when it comes to nursing practice. They have been used in education, staffing, leadership, advanced practice and information. One of the main concerns in nursing is nursing care and practice whereby leadership is involved. The nurses are required to establish a relationship with the patients in order to help them in the recovery process. One theory addressing this topic is the Hildegard Peplau’s Interpersonal Theory. Peplau defines that the relationship developed between the patient and the nurse as key to aid recovery process. The theory addresses the relationship from orientation, identification, exploitation and resolution. The nurses are seen as the leaders in the whole process and it’s their responsibility to ensure a favorable interpersonal relationship is developed. Failure to develop the relationship may affect the entire recovery process. Once the relationship has been developed, the nurse is free to engage the patient and the patient is also free to engage the nurse on issues affecting him. The patient feels free with the nurse and in turn nursing care is enhanced. The paper will address the issue of nursing care and how the theory can be applied to deal with it.

Nursing care

Nursing care has been a major concern when it comes to nursing practice. In the nursing profession, the aim is ensure that the patients are provided with the necessary care to aid their recovery process. Nursing care can be hospital based or home based. The nurses are required to take care of the patients and provide a regular check up. In case of an emergency, the nurse is the one to respond to it. Nursing care is important to patient recovery and it ensures that the patient is on the right track towards recovery. Failure to provide adequate care to the patient can have a negative impact. The issue has been addressed internationally as one of the major concerns in the health sector. Without proper nursing care, the entire healthcare system can be a failure. Nursing care provides a favorable environment for the patient to recover. It also helps the patients psychologically and emotionally. Psychological harm can hinder the recovery process and thus the nurses are required to help the patients overcome such issues. Nursing care is important to the nurses as it defines their role in the healthcare system. The issue has been listed as one of the major issues affecting healthcare delivery process. However, the main stakeholders affected by the issue are the patients and the nurses. It entirely involves the relationship between the patients and the nurses. Nurses are the leaders tasked to manage the entire relationship and ensure that it’s effective in aiding patient recovery. Failure of the nurses to address the issue may lead to failure of the entire healthcare delivery process.

Application of Peplau’s interpersonal theory in nursing care

This theory has four phases in which relations between a nurse and patient are involved. The first phase is referred to as orientation. It is characterized by the meeting of a patient and nurse as strangers during the time in which the patient is seeking for assistance. The nurse plays the role of helping the patient understand his/her problem and then determine the reason the patient is in need of help. The second phase is referred to as identification. In this stage, the patient takes part in the process of setting goals. He/she acquires a feeling of belonging which helps him/her to selectively respond to the ones in a position to address his/her demands. The second phase then transits to exploitation phase. In this stage, the patient makes attempts to gain full value from the benefits he/she gained from the relationship. The nurse then lays down new goals which will be achieved by a way of personal effort. At this stage, power is shifted to the patient as he/she works on a mechanism of achieving the newly set goals. The last stage of the relationship between a nurse and a patient is referred to as resolution. This only happens in the case where the first three phases have been completed in a successful manner. It is characterized by a patient putting aside old goals gradually and then adopts new ones. It is at this phase where the patient frees himself/herself from the nurse and hence the relationship comes to completion. All through the process, the nurse works together with the patient in administering the following roles:

1. The role of counseling- in the process of administering care, a nurse attains the role of a counselor by working to find a solution to the patient’s problems.
2. Leadership role- as a care giver, a nurse plays the role of a leader by working with the patient in a democrat way.

iii. [bookmark: _GoBack]Stranger- the nurse is viewed as a stranger in the way he accepts the patients objectively.

1. Teaching role- as a teacher, the nurse offers new information to the patient and hence helps him/her in the process of learning.

The phase of orientation is initiated during the time when a patient has a feeling that he/she is in need of care. It is from this point that assistance from a profession is sought. The main focus by the nurse is to gather more information about the patient. The patient’s mental status is one of the key areas in which the nurse is interested in. In the process of coming up with a plan, the educative requirements of the patient are put into consideration first. The power making the process a success lies in the hands of the patient and hence a good relationship between the nurse and a patient is very important. In the phase of working, a lot of attention is given to the efforts of the patient to attain and then employ knowledge on personal strengths, available resources, and the illness. In the process of administering nursing care, the relationship between a nurse and the patient is flexible in a way that the two can work in a interdependently, dependently or independently depending on patient’s level of anxiety, needs, self-awareness, and developmental capacity.

Conclusion

Nursing theories are important when it comes to nursing practice and delivery of effective healthcare. These theories have been developed to address issues arising in the nursing department. One of the issues of concern is the nursing care which involves the patient and the nurse. Concerning the issue, Hildegard Peplau developed the Interpersonal Theory which addressed the relationship between the patient and the nurse. The nurses are required to provide nursing care to the patients as well as ensuring there is a favorable relationship between the patient and the nurse.

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