Dignity In Nursing Essay
Dignity is derived from the Latin word Dignitas (merit) or Dignus (worthy). The Oxford English Dictionary defines dignity as “the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect”. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2007) The idea of dignity is a more multi-faceted concept, relating to an individual’s feelings, control, self, confidentiality and the behaviours of others in their environment. Every individual is worthy of respect regardless of their physical, emotional, cognitive/educational and spiritual differences. (Current Nursing, 2012)
In nursing, dignity is a very important component of the holistic care of each individual patient. Maintaining the dignity of a patient shows respect and should be promoted throughout their stay in the healthcare …show more content…
setting in order to allow the patient to feel self worth and importance, hopefully encouraging their recovery. Demonstrating respect and showing somebody that you value their dignity can help them to be more open and trusting of you as a person and as a nurse. Dignified care includes things like drawing the curtains during procedures, speaking to patients and families in an appropriate manner, respecting individuals and their own lifestyle choices as each unique case.
On placement there were many times when patients’ dignity was preserved. The nature of the ward setting in hospital can lack privacy and personal space which can make someone who is usually accostomed to their own space and home feel out of sorts. Sometimes nurses themselves can become forgetful in their fast paced workplace and omit simple steps which would lead to respect of the patient’s dignity. For example, a nurse who has numerous patients on her medication round may think it more efficient to get in and out of each cubicle as quickly as possible in order to carry out the task in short time. She may forget to gain consent from the patient for what she is doing, or forget to draw the curtains when needed, or forget to engage with the patient in a friendly manner. On the ward I worked on I witnessed a nurse performing her nursing procedureswhile maintaining the indvidual’s dignity. While executing an intramuscular injection on a patient’s abdomine, the nurse made sure to gain consent and explain the procedure to them even though they may have already had one before. She also ensured that she pulled the curtain in a full bay so that the patient’s privacy was upheld. She spoke to the elderly patient in an appropriate manner and when the patient expressed his worries about death and “getting into heaven” the nurse engaged with him and provided reassurance regardless of whether she had the same beliefs or not. An Bord Ailtrainas Code of Conduct and Ethics states that every nurse/widwife should
“respect people equally without discriminating on the grounds of age, gender, race, religion, civil status, sexual orientation, disability (physical, mental or intellectual) or membership of the Traveller community.” (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, 2014)
In this situation I believe that that nurse adhered to this standard whether conciously or otherwise and I thought that she handled the situation in a professional yet friendly and compassionate manner.
An Bord Altranais new Code of Conduct and Ethics states that patient’s confientiality and privacy is a core professional value and is to be respected at all times and that honesty, integrity and trustworthiness are key factors which should underpin nursing care. It tells us that conserving a patient’s confidentility forms a trusting relationship between them and their nurse. The patient should feel confident that their information will be kept private. The information belongs to them and should not be shared unless this is expressed by the patient themselves regarding certain friends and family members or unless the patient has some cognitive impairment or loss of consiousness. If a nurse were to share a patient’s information the patient may feel embarrassed, isolated and will no longer have any trust in the nurse which may have an impact on the ease of carrying out nursing care. (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, …show more content…
2014)
In conclusion, dignity is a basic human right which every individual is entitled to. As nurses we must respect this right and treat each patient as an individual with their own different wants and needs. As previously mentioned, mainatining a patient’s dignity promotes self-worth and independence and creates a patient-nurse relationship with honesty and trust which allows for a safe and healthy environment for the patient to recover.
Part B
A nursing paradigm is a model, which shows the connections between science, philosophy and theory of the nursing practice.
The four main meta-paradigm concepts for nursing include (a) The Person (patient), (b) The Environment, (c) Health and (d) Nursing (goals, roles, and functions). (Current Nursing, 2012) A nursing theory is a set of nursing concepts, ideas and their interconnecting relationships. A model is sometimes seen as a representation of something real – an idea by which you can establish a basic understanding and concept of the reality. A theoretical nursing model is a tool used to help understand and carry out a particular nursing theory in reality. (Current Nursing 2012) A model is a structured framework that shows the relationship between concepts in a particular theory and helps to establish a theory to clinical practice bridge. (Mason, 2003) A model can be used by nurses to gain a theoretical understanding of a particular nursing concept, which they can then use as a base to apply the knowledge in the clinical setting. Student nurses can think back to related theory learnt during her time in college or during reflection and can develop her theoretical framework and then use this knowledge as a basis for her practical learning in clinical placement on the
ward.
Orem’s “Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing” states that every person has the right and responsibility to care for themselves and some have the right and responsibility to care for other dependents. She saw that there was a need for balancing the maintenance of self-care and self-care abilities of the person and that when a person is no longer able to meet their own self-care needs (physical, spiritual, psychological, and sociocultural) that a self-care deficit exists. In nursing, a self-care deficit is a state, which exists when a persons therapeutic (recovery) self-care demand is greater than their self-care abilities and therefore there is a need for medical assistance (i.e. nursing care). For example, a patient is admitted for elective surgery. On admission to the ward the person may be independently self-caring and does not require much nursing assistance. However, post-operatively this same patient may now be seen to have a self-care deficit because their self-care demand is now greater than her self-care abilities (e.g. due to restricted mobility/consciousness) and is now in need of dependent care from the nurse. The nurse will always allow the dependent patient to care for themselves as much as is possible in order to promote their self-care and recovery to previous health. (Orem, 1991)(Taylor & McLaughlin, 2011)
Using this model it is a clear way for nurses to assess the capabilities of a patient/client in order to establish a way to maintain the standard of self-care during and after their stay in hospital. On admission the nurse can find out how independently/dependently self-caring an individual is by asking questions about their health and lifestyle so they can plan their care appropriately with this knowledge. A patient will be asked about their physical, spiritual, psychological and sociocultural needs and a care plan can be thought out supporting these. By creating a baseline understanding of the patients needs on admission the nurse can judge the progression or regression of their self-care abilities during their time on the ward.
This model can be helpful to guide nurses in providing appropriate care for individuals. It allows the nurse to plan the patient’s care for their activities of daily living along with their specific illness. The nurse will be able to judge how much help the individual needs with things like nutrition, elimination and personal hygiene so as not to allow the patient to become too dependent on assistance when it may not be needed. However, having an understanding of the person’s normal standard of independent living also gives the nurse a goal or target to achieve in order for it to be preserved during their stay.
In conclusion, a nursing model is a framework by which a nurse can plan his/her care of individual clients/patients in order to achieve an appropriate standard of nursing care by linking his/her theoretical knowledge and experience to the practical care carried out in the clinical area.
In nursing, dignity is a very important component of the holistic care of each individual patient. Maintaining the dignity of a patient shows respect and should be promoted throughout their stay in the healthcare …show more content…
setting in order to allow the patient to feel self worth and importance, hopefully encouraging their recovery. Demonstrating respect and showing somebody that you value their dignity can help them to be more open and trusting of you as a person and as a nurse. Dignified care includes things like drawing the curtains during procedures, speaking to patients and families in an appropriate manner, respecting individuals and their own lifestyle choices as each unique case.
On placement there were many times when patients’ dignity was preserved. The nature of the ward setting in hospital can lack privacy and personal space which can make someone who is usually accostomed to their own space and home feel out of sorts. Sometimes nurses themselves can become forgetful in their fast paced workplace and omit simple steps which would lead to respect of the patient’s dignity. For example, a nurse who has numerous patients on her medication round may think it more efficient to get in and out of each cubicle as quickly as possible in order to carry out the task in short time. She may forget to gain consent from the patient for what she is doing, or forget to draw the curtains when needed, or forget to engage with the patient in a friendly manner. On the ward I worked on I witnessed a nurse performing her nursing procedureswhile maintaining the indvidual’s dignity. While executing an intramuscular injection on a patient’s abdomine, the nurse made sure to gain consent and explain the procedure to them even though they may have already had one before. She also ensured that she pulled the curtain in a full bay so that the patient’s privacy was upheld. She spoke to the elderly patient in an appropriate manner and when the patient expressed his worries about death and “getting into heaven” the nurse engaged with him and provided reassurance regardless of whether she had the same beliefs or not. An Bord Ailtrainas Code of Conduct and Ethics states that every nurse/widwife should
“respect people equally without discriminating on the grounds of age, gender, race, religion, civil status, sexual orientation, disability (physical, mental or intellectual) or membership of the Traveller community.” (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, 2014)
In this situation I believe that that nurse adhered to this standard whether conciously or otherwise and I thought that she handled the situation in a professional yet friendly and compassionate manner.
An Bord Altranais new Code of Conduct and Ethics states that patient’s confientiality and privacy is a core professional value and is to be respected at all times and that honesty, integrity and trustworthiness are key factors which should underpin nursing care. It tells us that conserving a patient’s confidentility forms a trusting relationship between them and their nurse. The patient should feel confident that their information will be kept private. The information belongs to them and should not be shared unless this is expressed by the patient themselves regarding certain friends and family members or unless the patient has some cognitive impairment or loss of consiousness. If a nurse were to share a patient’s information the patient may feel embarrassed, isolated and will no longer have any trust in the nurse which may have an impact on the ease of carrying out nursing care. (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, …show more content…
2014)
In conclusion, dignity is a basic human right which every individual is entitled to. As nurses we must respect this right and treat each patient as an individual with their own different wants and needs. As previously mentioned, mainatining a patient’s dignity promotes self-worth and independence and creates a patient-nurse relationship with honesty and trust which allows for a safe and healthy environment for the patient to recover.
Part B
A nursing paradigm is a model, which shows the connections between science, philosophy and theory of the nursing practice.
The four main meta-paradigm concepts for nursing include (a) The Person (patient), (b) The Environment, (c) Health and (d) Nursing (goals, roles, and functions). (Current Nursing, 2012) A nursing theory is a set of nursing concepts, ideas and their interconnecting relationships. A model is sometimes seen as a representation of something real – an idea by which you can establish a basic understanding and concept of the reality. A theoretical nursing model is a tool used to help understand and carry out a particular nursing theory in reality. (Current Nursing 2012) A model is a structured framework that shows the relationship between concepts in a particular theory and helps to establish a theory to clinical practice bridge. (Mason, 2003) A model can be used by nurses to gain a theoretical understanding of a particular nursing concept, which they can then use as a base to apply the knowledge in the clinical setting. Student nurses can think back to related theory learnt during her time in college or during reflection and can develop her theoretical framework and then use this knowledge as a basis for her practical learning in clinical placement on the
ward.
Orem’s “Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing” states that every person has the right and responsibility to care for themselves and some have the right and responsibility to care for other dependents. She saw that there was a need for balancing the maintenance of self-care and self-care abilities of the person and that when a person is no longer able to meet their own self-care needs (physical, spiritual, psychological, and sociocultural) that a self-care deficit exists. In nursing, a self-care deficit is a state, which exists when a persons therapeutic (recovery) self-care demand is greater than their self-care abilities and therefore there is a need for medical assistance (i.e. nursing care). For example, a patient is admitted for elective surgery. On admission to the ward the person may be independently self-caring and does not require much nursing assistance. However, post-operatively this same patient may now be seen to have a self-care deficit because their self-care demand is now greater than her self-care abilities (e.g. due to restricted mobility/consciousness) and is now in need of dependent care from the nurse. The nurse will always allow the dependent patient to care for themselves as much as is possible in order to promote their self-care and recovery to previous health. (Orem, 1991)(Taylor & McLaughlin, 2011)
Using this model it is a clear way for nurses to assess the capabilities of a patient/client in order to establish a way to maintain the standard of self-care during and after their stay in hospital. On admission the nurse can find out how independently/dependently self-caring an individual is by asking questions about their health and lifestyle so they can plan their care appropriately with this knowledge. A patient will be asked about their physical, spiritual, psychological and sociocultural needs and a care plan can be thought out supporting these. By creating a baseline understanding of the patients needs on admission the nurse can judge the progression or regression of their self-care abilities during their time on the ward.
This model can be helpful to guide nurses in providing appropriate care for individuals. It allows the nurse to plan the patient’s care for their activities of daily living along with their specific illness. The nurse will be able to judge how much help the individual needs with things like nutrition, elimination and personal hygiene so as not to allow the patient to become too dependent on assistance when it may not be needed. However, having an understanding of the person’s normal standard of independent living also gives the nurse a goal or target to achieve in order for it to be preserved during their stay.
In conclusion, a nursing model is a framework by which a nurse can plan his/her care of individual clients/patients in order to achieve an appropriate standard of nursing care by linking his/her theoretical knowledge and experience to the practical care carried out in the clinical area.