Future of Nursing Example Paper
The future of nursing
The future of nursing is likely to experience an evolutionary shift from the current literature-based knowledge towards personalized learning frameworks. This is based on two reasons. Firstly, every individual has a subjective perspective of knowledge that is based on personal experiences both in the classroom and field as learning environments. This implies that knowledge needs may not necessarily be the same for two nurses even when they are at the same level. Secondly, learning and knowledge acquisition is a dynamic process that relies on personal reflection and interaction with the environment (Bonis, 2009).
In essence, nursing theory development is likely to shift towards allowing nurses to explore humanistic and individualized care approaches that not only exhibit a good understanding of nursing care needs, but also transform the definition of nursing care within the health care environment while allowing individual nurses to find meaning in the profession. Hupcey and Penrod (2005) present similar sentiments when noting that theory development in nursing must have both meaning and purpose, in addition to finding out the ‘truth’. The implication is that while previous nursing theories development focused on presenting the truth, future theory development is anticipated to focus on personalized frameworks that is linked to individualized care approaches. Risjord (2009) concurs with these sentiments when noting that theory development must move away from simply finding out the truth towards realistically addressing existing problems in nursing care. Given this awareness, I anticipate that nursing theory development in maternal health nursing will focus on the patients’ experiences as part of the care process and not as an incidental outcome. This knowledge has changed my personal definition of nursing from simply supporting other medical professions (particularly physicians) towards the provision of a unique and differentiated medical service that is essential to the curative process. To be more precise, nurses enrich the care process by adopting an individualized approach that considers each patient as a singular unit with unique needs. In this respect, the future of nursing is likely to entail an increased focus on individualized and personalized care.
References
Bonis, S. A. (2009). Knowing in nursing: a concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(6), 1328-1341. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04951.x
Hupcey, J. E., & Penrod, J. (2005). Concept analysis: examining the state of the science. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice: An International Journal, 19(2), 197-208.
Risjord, M. (2009). Rethinking concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(3), 684-691. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04903.x
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