FUNDAMENTALS OF NURSING PRACTICE

• Definition of Nursing:

  • Florence Nightingale (1860): "the act of utilizing the environment of the patient to assist him in his recovery"
  • Virginia Henderson (1966): "The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of activities contributing to health or its recovery, and to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible"
• Common themes to the Definition of Nursing:

  • Nursing is caring
  • Nursing is an art
  • Nursing is a science
  • Nursing is client-centered
  • Nursing is holistic
  • Nursing is adaptive
  • Nursing is concerned with health promotion, health maintenance, and health restoration
  • Nursing is a helping profession
• Nursing as an art:

  • Refers to the dynamic skills and methods in assisting sick and well individuals in their recovery and in the promotion and maintenance of health
  • Involves the creative application of knowledge in the service of people
• Nursing as a science:

  • Involves the "body of abstract knowledge" arrived through scientific research and logical analysis
  • Focuses on scientific knowledge and skills in assisting individuals to achieve optimal health, including the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual or potential problems
• Recipients of Nursing:

  • Consumer: an individual, a group, or a community that uses a service or commodity
  • Patient: a person undergoing medical treatment and care, implying passive acceptance of decisions and care
  • Client: engages the advice or services of another qualified to provide this service, presenting receivers of health care as collaborators in care
• Scope of Nursing:

  • Involves promoting health and wellness, preventing illness, restoring health, and caring for the dying
  • Three types of clients: individuals, families, and communities
• Roles and Functions of the Nurse:

  • Caregiver: physically and psychologically assisting clients while preserving dignity
  • Communicator: identifying client problems and communicating them to the healthcare team
  • Teacher: helping clients learn about their health and healthcare procedures for health restoration and maintenance
  • Client Advocate: protecting the client's interests
  • Counselor: helping clients cope with psychological or social problems
  • Change Agent: assisting clients in making behavior modifications
  • Leader: influencing others to work together towards specific goals
  • Manager: managing nursing care and delegating tasks
  • Case Manager: working with the healthcare team to measure effectiveness of care plans
  • Research Consumer: using research to improve client care
• Expanded Career Roles in Nursing:

  • Nurse Practitioner
  • Clinical Nurse Specialist
  • Nurse Anesthetist
  • Nurse Midwife
  • Nurse Researcher
  • Nurse Administrators
  • Nurse Educators
  • Nurse Entrepreneur
  • Forensic Nurse
• Criteria of a Profession:

  • Requires extensive education or special knowledge, skill, and preparation
  • Professionalism implies responsibility and commitment
  • Professionalization is the process of acquiring characteristics considered professional
  • Criteria include prolonged, specialized training, service orientation, ongoing research, a code of ethics, autonomy, and a professional organization
• Qualifications & Abilities of a Professional Nurse:

  • Completed basic nursing education program and licensed
  • Holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing
  • Physically and mentally fit
  • Possesses qualities like warmth, resourcefulness, creativity, cooperativeness, initiative, competence, decision-making skills, communication skills, research orientation
• Nursing involves various skills and qualities such as:

  • Physical activity and emotional balance
  • Capacity to work cooperatively with others
  • Initiative to improve self and service
  • Competence in performing work through the use of the nursing process
  • Skill in decision making, communicating, and relating with others, and being research-oriented
  • Active participation in issues confronting nurses and nursing
• International Nursing Organization:

  • International Honor Society: Sigma Theta Tau
  • Founded in 1922 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Greek letters stand for the words storga, tharos, and tima, meaning “love,” “courage,” and “honor”
  • Professional purpose, membership attained through academic achievement
• Fields of Nursing include:

  • Hospital or Institutional Nursing
  • Public Health Nursing or Community Health Nursing
  • Private Duty or Special Duty Nursing
  • Industrial or Occupational Health Nursing
  • Nursing Education
  • Military Nursing
  • School Nursing
  • Clinic Nursing
  • Independent Nursing Practice
• Nursing Symbols:

  • Nurses’ cap symbolizes respectability, cleanliness, responsibility, and servitude
  • The color white symbolizes morality
  • Lamp symbolizes light, peace, and Florence Nightingale's compassion and care
• Nightingale Pledge:

  • Composed by a committee chaired by Lystra Gretter
  • First used by the graduating class of Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan in 1893
• History of Nursing in the Philippines:

  • Various schools of nursing established in the early 1900s in different cities
  • Examples include Iloilo Mission Hospital School of Nursing, Saint Paul’s Hospital School of Nursing, Philippine General Hospital School of Nursing, and St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing
  • First Colleges of Nursing in the Philippines: University of Santo Tomas- College of Nursing (1946), Manila Central University- College of Nursing (1947), University of the Philippines Manila-College of Nursing (1948)
• The six dimensions of wellness are: emotional, environmental, intellectual, occupational, physical, and social

  
• These dimensions are interconnected and impact overall well-being
• For example, emotional well-being can be affected by physical health, social relationships, and environment
• Similarly, intellectual well-being can be affected by emotional well-being, occupational pursuits, and social relationships
• Taking a holistic approach to wellness can improve overall health and well-being
• The Wellness Wheel is a holistic model of health and well-being with seven dimensions: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, occupational, environmental, and spiritual

  
• Developed by Dr. Bill Hettler in the 1970s, the Wellness Wheel is a popular tool for assessing and promoting well-being
• The Wellness Wheel can be used to identify areas of strength and weakness in well-being, helping individuals, families, and communities develop plans for improving health and happiness
• Factors Affecting Health include internal variables like genetic factors and external variables such as the physical environment
• Illness is characterized by alterations in body function, with acute illness having severe symptoms and chronic illness lasting for an extended period
• Suchman's Stages of Illness Behavior include:

  • Symptom Experience
  • Assumption of the Sick Role
  • Medical Care Contract
  • Dependent Client Role
  • Rehabilitation
• DYCI-CHS Vision: to be recognized regionally, nationally, and internationally for developing high-quality healthcare practitioners who exhibit lifelong learning through research, leadership, and service
• DYCI-CHS Mission: to develop lifelong learners engaged in research, leadership, scholarship, and service within their communities, influential in the health and well-being of diverse populations
• H.E.A.R.T.S OF DYCI Nursing Education:

  • H: Humanistic rooted in social awareness
  • E: Excellent communicators and collaborators
  • A: Adaptive to evolving technological and entrepreneurial healthcare demands
  • R: Responsive to changes as lifelong learners grounded in scientific evidence
  • T: Transformational leaders
  • S: Skillful in nursing care with integrity, cultural sensitivity, legal, and ethical competence
• Definition of Nursing according to Nightingale (1860) and Henderson (1966):

  • Nursing is caring, an art, a science, client-centered, holistic, adaptive, concerned with health promotion, maintenance, and restoration, and a helping profession
• Nursing as an Art involves caring for sick and well individuals, applying dynamic skills and methods to assist in recovery, health promotion, and maintenance
• Nursing as a Science involves scientific knowledge and skills to assist individuals in achieving optimal health, diagnosing and treating human responses to problems
• Recipients of Nursing:

  • Consumer: individual, group, or community using a service or commodity
  • Patient: person undergoing medical treatment and care
  • Client: engages the advice or services of another qualified to provide service
• Scope of Nursing:

  • Types of clients: individuals, families, and communities
  • Nursing practice areas: promoting health, preventing illness, restoring health, caring for the dying
• Requirements to Practice Nursing according to the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 (R.A. 9173):

  • Need for licensure to establish minimum standards, discourage misrepresentation, control and enforce nursing practice, and gather statistical data
• Roles and Functions of the Nurse:

  • Caregiver: assist physically and psychologically while preserving dignity
  • Communicator: identify client problems and communicate to the healthcare team
  • Teacher: help clients learn about health and procedures for health restoration or maintenance
• Roles and Functions of the Nurse (cont.):

  • Client Advocate: protect the client
  • Counselor: help clients cope with psychological or social problems
  • Change Agent: assist clients in behavior modifications
• Roles and Functions of the Nurse (cont.):

  • Leader: influence others to accomplish goals
  • Manager: delegate nursing activities, supervise, and evaluate performance
  • Case Manager: work with the healthcare team to measure effectiveness of the management plan
• Roles and Functions of the Nurse (cont.):

  • Research Consumer: use research to improve client care