NR 390 Week 2 Discussion

NR 390 Week 2 Discussion

NR 390 Week 2 Discussion

Week 2 Practices from the Past

Catherine McAuley’s philosophy of careful nursing was applicable in pre-Nightingale times and is applicable today. Select one of the 10 key concepts of the philosophy of careful nursing and describe how it might have been applied in McAuley’s time and how it might be applied in your professional nursing practice today

After reading about Florence Nightingale, I have to admit that I did not know the extensive contributions she made to nursing, such as with being a researcher, statistician, teacher, opening a school, paving the way for women to be recognized in a profession, an advocate, initiating nursing practices, and professing the attributes that a nurse should possess.

One of Florence Nightingale’s areas of leadership that I did not expect to read about, is in being a statistician.  I read about her being from an upper-class family, and that she was good in math in writing, so maybe I should not be so surprised, as she did receive an education.  Being the first nurse to accomplish many firsts, Nightingale collected data and statistically analyzed it.  This way she could vindicate treatment and policy changes to improve the outcome of patients.  (Judd & Sitzman, 2014).  There were no nursing rules and procedures to follow before Florence Nightingale’s time, so with Nightingale’s statistical analysis expertise, she was paving the way for effective patient care.  Today, with the nursing process, we implement and evaluate treatment, in hopes of improving patient outcomes with evidence-based practices.  Although Florence Nightingale did not know it, she was using a form of evidence-based practices with her medical statistical analyses.   

Nightingale also used statistical analysis with the building of her hospital, modernization of nursing, sanitary improvements, surgical operations, and in advising governments on Army health reform.  (Aravind & Chung, 2010).  With the building of her hospital, illnesses, ages, and the set up of wards were analyzed, to name some.  Florence Nightingale was always concerned with cleanliness and sanitation, and her statistical analysis justified the importance.  In surgical operations, Nightingale was looking at outcomes and hospital expenditures.  These factors are still important today.  Today, in building a hospital, units are set up and even rooms are designed for ergonomics and efficiency.  Cleanliness and sanitation are still priorities that are provided in patient care.  Hospital expenditures are always under scrutiny.  And of course, positive surgical outcomes are always a goal.

I never knew of all the contributions that Florence Nightingale contributed to the nursing profession.  I have respect for all that she did in paving the way for nurses then and today.  Nightingale proved her dedication to nursing with being involved in all aspects of nursing.  I am glad she investigated patient data and used statistics to evaluate what improves patient’s outcomes (what we now call today, evidence-based practices).  Using statistical analyses proves that she was a forward thinker.    Florence Nightingale made sure that she covered everything involved with nursing, such as in providing nursing care, improving patient outcomes, and making nursing a respectable profession. 

Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our Verified MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS NR 390 Week 2 Discussion:

References

Aravind, M., & Chung, K. C. (2010). Evidence-based medicine and hospital reform: tracing origins back to Florence Nightingale. Plastic and reconstructive surgery, 125(1), 403–409. https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181c2bb89Links to an external site.

Judd, D., & Sitzman, K.  (2014).  A history of American nursing.  Trends and eras.  Second Edition. 

One big thing that is focused heavily on at my SNF’s is the prevention of bedsores, as well as prevention of constipation. As the nursing supervisor, one of the things that I have to get out to all my nurses is a list of residents who haven’t had a bowel movement in 2-3 days, and the nurses are responsible to turn into me, by the end of their shift, what they did or didn’t do, the rationale, and if the resident had a bowel movement during their shift. While I thought, why is this so critically important to my daily tasks, we have had residents pass away from preventable disease process from not having bowel movements! It is something that is easily missed, and residents can go 5-6, even more, days without having an adequate bowel movement. This is truly important as many residents are on g-tube feedings, and any back up in the intestines can lead to pressure on the stomach, regurgitation of formula or food, aspiration, and complications such as bowel obstruction and bowel rupture. We have seen huge improvements in general wellbeing, appetites, as well as ensuring our residents are having bowel movements since we started this process. Being able to evaluate the charts before and after starting this task for the nursing supervisor, we have seen huge improvements with many factors in our residents. Honestly, if I have to take a few moments in my first 30 minutes of being at work to get this paperwork to my nurses, but am seeing less illness, less hospital trips and stays, as well as overall wellbeing for my residents, it’s well worth my time!