Approaches In Nursing Practice

Introduction

The nurses are required to take care of the patient in an effective manner to meet their emotional needs and to resolve their physical ailments for offering them a healthy life to live. The nurses are required to remain effectively communicated with the patients and other health professionals for providing a quality care. It is the duty of the nurses to act professionally by abiding with the set standards by NMC along with showing compassion and valued care towards the patients to ensure their well-being. Thus, in this assignment, the NMC Codes of practices is to be explained and the aspect of “Practice effectively” is to be discussed in detail to help the nurses understand the way the aspect of the codes could assist them in providing quality care. The Egan’s SOLER model of communication is to be explained and one aspect is to be explained in detail to help the nurses understand the way they are to built communication with the patients to offer them proper care. Lastly, understanding regarding the value-based approach in nursing is to be explained to assist the nurses to understand the importance of value and compassion in nursing practice for the patient.

Explaining the NMC code

The NMC Codes informs to the nurses, midwives and nursing associates regarding the professional standards to be met for upholding their registration to practice in the UK. There are four key aspects related to the code which are “Prioritise People”, “Practice Effectively”, Preserve Safety” and “Promote Professionalism and Trust”. The aspect of “Prioritise People” informs nurses to put the best interests of the patients at the first while offering services to them for upholding the safety and dignity of the patients by meeting all their needs and interests (NMC, 2015). This is important for the nurses to assist them to offer satisfactory care services to the patients and to have cooperation from the patients while providing care. In case the nurses do not abided by the aspect of “prioritise people”, they fail to ensure dignity as well as become unable to meet the needs and interests of the patients. This led the nurses experience lack of collaboration and support from the patients while caring for them.

The aspect of “Practise Effectively” advice nurses on the way to offer treatment to the patients without delay with the best of their ability on the basis of evidence-based practice (NMC, 2015). This is important for the nurses to consider for offering immediate and quality treatment to the patients based on their individual health condition to successfully resolve their health ailments. The nurses if avoid this aspect are going to offer hindered and wrong treatment to the patients resulting them to fail in resolving the ailments and needs of the patients. This is going to lead the nurses to be responsible for fatal consequences and deteriorated health condition of the patient creating a negative image of them in the nursing field.

The aspect of “Preserve Safety” notify nurses to make sure that the safety of the patients while receiving care from them is not affected in any way (NMC, 2015). This is an important guidance because lack of safety makes the patients vulnerable to abuse or harm which results in their deteriorated health condition. The nurses not being able to preserve safety of the patients would face legal actions against them and resentment of the patients and their families to take services from them. The aspect of “Promote Professionalism and Trust” informs nurses to uphold their reputation and professional code at all times and show personal commitment to abide by the standards of behaviour and practise set by the code (NMC, 2015). This is an important guidance because it would help the nurses to maintain professional integrity and develop the trust of the employer and the patients regarding their efficiency to deliver services. The nurses who avoid abiding the aspect would experience professional misconduct that results the employer to lose trust over their efficiency to deliver quality services to the patients.

Explaining one aspect of NMC Code

The word “Practice” means executing something in order to become able to execute the task in a better way. The nurses need to “Practise Effectively” to ensure quality care services is being provided to the patients. According to the NMC Code (2015), the nurses are guided to “Practise Effectively” by remaining informed and updated about the best available evidence regarding the treatment or specific care which is provided by them to the patient. They are to achieve this by developing their skills and knowledge and executing services based on evidence. As mentioned by Melnyk et al. (2014), evidence-based practice in nursing helps the nurses to develop better patient outcome with increased patient safety along with improved quality care. This allows the nurses to practice in an effective way which impacts to deliver improved treatment as demanded and need by the patients. This allows the patients to have improved health condition. As argued by Melnyk et al. (2016), lack of evidence-based practice results nurses to face hindrance in maintaining proper standards of their practice. This results nurses to experience failure to deliver predictable patient outcome which impacts on the patients to face deteriorated health condition.

The building of effective communication is a must for the nurses to “Practise Effectively” (NMC, 2015). This is because proper communication helps the nurses to understand the specific needs and condition of the patients according to which they are to arrange special care services for resolving ailments of the patients. As commented by O'hagan et al. (2014), development of effective communication impact on the patients to inform the nurses the way the treatment and care being provided are benefiting or causes issues to their health. This is important as it helps the nurses to understand the changes in practice they are to make to help the patient have better health outcome. As argued by Kourkouta & Papathanasiou (2014), lack of communication between nurses and patients leads to hindered nursing practice. This is because without communication the nurses do not understand how effective their care practice is on the patient which impact on the patient to have deteriorated health condition. The nurses to “Practise Effectively” are to ensure proper delegation of their tasks and duties to others so that no patient remains unattended for their absence (NMC, 2015). The proper delegation of tasks by the nurses would impact on the patient to receive continuous care for timely mitigation of their health ailments.

The nurses to “Practise Effectively” are to work cooperatively with their colleagues and other health professionals (NMC, 2015). They are to execute this by maintaining effective communication with the colleagues and learning through supervision and discussion from the experienced nurses and health professionals regarding the way to deliver quality care to the patients. This is going to impact on the patients to receive quality care and right treatment helping to resolve their health ailment and receive proper emotional support. The nurses if do not practice through cooperation with others are going to deliver hindered or duplicated services which impact on the patients to receive hindered or wrong care or treatment. According to NMC (2015), the nurses to “Practise Effectively” are to keep accurate as well as clear records of their practices. The records are helpful for nurses to be used as evidence or reference in practising effective care services for the patients. This impacts the patients in receiving improved and satisfactory care from the nurses for their complex health issues resulting in their better health condition.

The nurses are to “Practise Effectively” by sharing their knowledge, skills and experiences with one another for providing benefit to the patients (NMC, 2015). As asserted by Tjoflåt et al. (2017), sharing of knowledge, experience and skills are important to help the nurses execute quality care with reduced problems and issues in executing their care practices. This is effective for the patients to receive satisfactory treatment and care as per their needs and demands of their health condition. Moreover, sharing of knowledge helps the nurses to identify ways to resolve their faults in practices to deliver quality care and “Practise Effectively”. As criticised by Malik, Dhar & Handa (2016), lack of sharing of knowledge, information and skills between the nurses results them to face barriers for resolving issues in providing care to the patients. This impact on the patients to receive hindered treatment or care which do not meet their health outcome required for the improved health condition.

Explaining Egan’s SOLER model of communication

The Egan’s SOLER model of communication informs that non-verbal communication is effective enough to improve the effectiveness of communication between people. The model also informs that non-verbal communication is able to make an individual experience security, feel comfortable and be understood. As mentioned by Squirrell & Hunt (2018), Egan’s SOLER communication model is effective in nursing to allow the nurses to develop proper non-verbal communication with the patient. This is because it informs the nurses about the aspects to be kept in mind while communicating non-verbally so that the patient feel comfortable and protected under their care. It also leads the nurses to execute their care practices effectively by delivering quality care to the patients. The Egan’s SOLER model of communication has five key aspects to be considered. These are Sit attentively (S), Open Posture (O), Lean forward (L), Eye Contact (E) and Relaxed body language (R) (Guest, 2016).

The open posture is referred to the positioning of the body by leaning towards the person with arms kept at one and the abdomen, chest and lower extremities are seen easily (Stonehouse, 2014). This posture indicates active listening and emotionally being available for the listener. The sit attentively in the posture in which the listener pays close attention to the listener by sitting straight and facing towards the communicator with attentive expression. The lean forward is referred to the posture in which the listener leans towards the communicator to listen closely with attention the information being shared. The eye contact means the listener need to look directly in the eye of the communicator to let the person understand that he is being attentively listened (Dean et al. 2016). The relaxed body language is required by the listener to maintain to help the communicator understand that their information is relevant and being properly listened to by the listener (Sale & Neale, 2014). These non-verbal communications are going to help nurses and health professionals communicate with different kinds of patients to understand their health issues and problems. However, the mentioned non-verbal communication may not be always used for communicating with people of all culture (Tomori, 2016). This is because certain gestures like direct eye contact may be regarded as rude for communication in certain culture resulting patients of those cultures to avoid properly communicate with the nurses or health professionals.

Explaining one aspect of Egan’s SOLER model of communication

In Egan’s SOLER model of communication, eye contact is regarded as an effective aspect of non-verbal communication. As mentioned by Giger (2016), eye contact with the patients by the health practitioners and nurses indicates that their concerns are being attentively listened. This is because eye contact is regarded as a social gesture that means the person is paying attention to the other individual. As argued by André et al. (2016), a rude direct eye contact may make the patient feel being uncomfortable which results them to avoid sharing their health issues with the nurses or health practitioners. It results in lack of information for the nurses or health practitioners to offer proper nature of care or treatment to resolve the health issues of the patient. Thus, the nurses and health practitioners are to make direct contact with the patients that indicate attentive expression and not being rude.

The direct eye contact is also important while communicating with the patients because it would help the nurses or health practitioners to get informed whether or not the patients are showing slump behaviour. It also leads the nurses to understand whether the patients are giving them a direct eye contact (Noome et al. 2016). This is because slump behaviour and lack of eye contact from the patient means that they are not able to understand the message being provided by the nurses or health practitioners. In such cases, the nurses are to identify the reason being not able to understand their message and can arrange for a suitable translator in this case. The lack of direct eye contact with the patients by the nurses and health practitioners makes the person feel that their information is irrelevant (Adams et al. 2014). This impact the patients to avoid sharing their information with the nurses and health practitioner as they no more feel comfortable and experience being ignored.

The nurses are required to make eye contact with the patients with attentive facial expression while listening to their health information to make them feel secure and comfortable to share information. This is because it would make the patient reveal many intricate details regarding their health as well as share their emotional feelings as they feel they are being listened attentively (Chard & Makary, 2015). It is going to help the nurses develop accurate treatment procedure and proper care practices for the patients for their easy health recovery. The eye contact while communicating with the patients by the nurses may make the patients comply with them in receiving care which they previously ignored. This is because eye contact from both sides while communicating with the patient by the nurse regarding certain care may make the patient feel that the service they are avoiding to get may be effective for them. However, in this case, the nurses are required to make eye contact in such a way that it indicates security and comfortable feeling to the patient.

The eye contact while communicating is regarded as effective non-verbal aspect in certain cultures but it may not be same for all. As stated by Lorié et al. (2017), in Western culture making direct eye contact while communicating is regarded as an indication towards attentive listening. This makes individuals feel their information is being attentively listened. As argued by Uono & Hietanen (2015), in Asian culture direct eye contact while communication with elders for a long time indicates sign of disrespect. The nurses or health practitioners in case maintain direct eye contact with elderly patients of Asian culture then they are regarded as rude and the patients would avoid sharing their health information. This impact on the patient to have negative health outcome as the nurses or health practitioners provides them care without knowing their details health complications or need of care. In this case, the nurses or health practitioner while communicating with Asian patients is not to make direct contact not for long and require to maintain eye contact with brief pause so that it does not make the patients feel disrespected. Moreover, the other non-verbal communication aspects of Egan's model can also be used.

Discussing value-based approach in nursing

The Value-based approach in nursing refers to the theory and capability for making effective clinical decision which provides skills and tools for eliciting individual values and creating negotiation with these with the best available evidence (Traynor et al. 2017). This practise encourages individuals to be mindful of the extent to which their own values they hold differ from those of others. The reflection of one’s practise in the value-based approach helps to raise awareness of how strong certain values of other influences another person’s work. In value-based approach, the decisions to be taken rest on two feet that is on values of the person as well as on the facts developed even including decision making about diagnosis (Boozaripour et al. 2018). This means that making decision about diagnosis for the patient is based both on the facts and the values showed by the person.

In a value-based approach, the awareness regarding values possessed by the patient can be developed through careful attention of the used language by the person (Hawksworth, 2016). In this approach, conflicts between values in healthcare are resolved not by rule but by a designed process of setting a legitimate balance between different perspectives. This is effective to deliver high quality care because the values of both the patients and the nurses or health practitioners are considered in making the decision to develop care practices for the patients. In this approach, no one person's values are given priority and rather both sides are heard and then collaborative decision about care practice is developed. In value-based approach, the health practitioners and nurses are paid based on the health outcomes of the patients and no on the extent of service provided by them (Tetley et al. 2016). This ensures quality healthcare practices for patients in nursing as the nurses focus more on to attain better health outcome of the patient rather than focusing on how much health care they are to provide so that they can be paid more.

Discussing importance of compassionate care in nursing

The compassionate care in nursing requires the nurses to understand the patient’s suffering and pain as their own and be committed to resolve it to offer better health outcome to the patients (Stenhouse et al. 2016). The compassion is a construct of elements such as sympathy, empathy, sensitivity, motivation to relieve one from their suffering, non-judgemental and tolerance towards distress. As asserted by Beardsmore & McSherry (2017), empathy is the capacity to perceive as well as understand one’s feelings, emotions and circumstance. In nursing, empathy is a part of compassionate care according to which the nurses understand the circumstances of the patients which is leading to their hindered emotional state regarding their health condition. This is important in nursing as the nurses are able to understand the reason and situation behind the emotional turmoil of certain patients with deteriorated health. Thus, they accordingly provide care support to the patients by understanding their mental situation for improving their physical strength to fight against the disease.

The compassionate care is important for the patients in nursing because in this form of care the nurses are able to provide proper sympathy to the patients to mentally help them to cope with their deteriorated health condition (Tierney et al. 2016). It also leads the patients to understand that the nurses effectively understand their pain and distress which in turn helps them to properly comply with the nurses to receive complex but essential treatment which they may have previously avoided due to fear or uncertainty. As mentioned by Ion et al. (2016), in general care conditions the nurses may treat the patient as granted and act rudely towards their patients who showcase their health distress. This is because the nurses feel the patients are showing too many tantrums and perceived as a burden of care. It also negatively affects the patients as they feel the zeal to live and receive care as they feel being a burden on others. As argued by McKeown & White (2015), in compassionate care the nurses are non-judgemental and have tolerance towards distress of the patients. This is because in this form of care the nurses are emotionally attached to the patient and feel their pain as their own. Thus, it is important for the patients to feel the zeal to live as the nurses’ act compassionately with them by meeting all their demands and needs without any distress.

The compassionate care is also important in nursing because it helps the nurse to resolve communication gap between them and the patients and develop better information from the patients to offer them quality care. As mentioned by Adam, Osborne & Welch (2017), in compassionate care the nurses hear the patients without any form of judgement while interaction. This result to show value towards the patients which lead them to share intricate and detailed information about their health which they would not have share because of the fear of getting judged. Thus, compassionate care helps the nurses to deliver better health outcomes for the patients. As argued by Fajilan et al. (2018), lack of compassionate care makes the patient feel demotivated to get relieved from their suffering. This is because lack of compassion in care makes the patient lose value for their lives as they feel none understand their suffering which they are going through at the present. Thus, compassionate care is important in nursing to help the patients feel motivated to get relieved from their suffering. This is because through this form of care the nurses are able to make the patients feel that they are not alone and each of the nurses understand what they are going through and acting every possible way to resolve their distress. The compassionate care is important because it helps to build a close relationship between the patients and the nurses where the patients develop trust over the nurses easing the process of giving care. This is because the patients easily comply with various care services they would have feared previously to access.

Conclusion

The above discussion informs that the NMC Code is set for the nurses to provide quality care to the patients to resolve their health ailments and to offer them emotional support. The four aspects of the NMC Code are identified as "Prioritise People", "Practice Effectively", Preserve Safety" and "Promote Professionalism and Trust". The aspect of "Practice Effectively" is able to be fulfilled by the nurses by communicating clearly, working in line with evidence, working cooperatively and sharing information with colleagues, proper delegation of task and by keeping clear records of their practices. The fulfilment of this aspect is necessary for the nurses to offer proper treatment and care to the patients by assessing their individual health condition ensuring quality health outcomes.

Apart from abiding by the NMC Code, the nurses require to excel in communicating with patients to understand their needs and demands of care. According to the Egan’s SOLER model of communication, non-verbal communication by following certain aspects such as sit attentively, eye contact, lean forward, open posture and relaxed body language are able to make the patients feel comfortable, secured and understood. The eye contact is seen to be important that is to be made directly with the patients by the nurses to make the patients feel being attentively listened. However, in cultures where direct continuous eye contact is regarded as disrespect, the nurses are main certain pauses for eye contact with the patients for communicating. This is to make the patients feel that the nurses are attentively listening to their information and the issue of disrespect is also resolved.

The nurses apart from maintaining communication with the patients are to offer compassionate care. This is because compassionate care makes the patients feeling being emotionally supported by the nurses during their course of the disease. The compassionate care is also important as it helps the nurses to built personal relationship with the patients which assist the nurses to make the patients easily comply with treatment and care activities which they previously used to avoid getting due to certain fear. This form of care is also important because it helps the patients feel they are in good hands and being at home while receiving care from the nurses.

Continue your journey with our comprehensive guide to Applying the CASP Framework.

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