Career Plan free essay sample

Nursing theory is the bases of professional nursing practice. Chinn and Jacobs explain that nursing theory â€Å"aims to describe, explain, and predict the phenomenon of nursing† (Colley, 2003, p. 33). Nursing theory is important because it provides the foundation that defines how nurses should act toward their patients, their colleagues, and toward their profession. For instance, understanding the â€Å"Needs Theories† provides the rationale for nurses to enhance their skills in assessing patient needs. Thus, nurses would be able to act upon that knowledge and formulate appropriate nursing interventions accordingly. In the same manner, Colley (2003) states that nursing theory helps to distinguish the concepts that can be used as a basis for practice by explicitly describing nursing. It allows nurses to practice their skills based on a body of knowledge that is distinct from all other health-related professions. In effect, nursing theory provides nurses with a sense of identity apart from other members of the health care team. We will write a custom essay sample on Career Plan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In doing so, nursing theory emphasizes the unique value of nursing contributions to the delivery of health care services to patients in all settings. Furthermore, Nolan enumerates the benefits of establishing a concrete body of nursing theories to include improved patient care, enhanced professional status for nurses, guidance for research and education, and improved communication among nurses (Colley, 2003). Similarly, evidence-based practice originates from nursing theory. It allows the advancement of the status of nurses because it determines and clarifies the factors, which can affect critical decisions that nurses make daily. Evidence-based practice, according to Pipe, Wellik, Buchda, Hanson, â€Å"provides a way to frame and address questions about how to provide the best patient care† (n. d. , para. 1). It revolves around data that can affect decision-making and nursing interventions. It can advance nursing practice further because it provides concrete evidence to support why nurses act on a situation in a particular way. Evidence-based practice also bridges the gap between research and nursing practice because it allows nurses to question current practices and if perceived ineffective, modify the practice based on more recent and accurate evidence.  Thus, constant revision and modification of knowledge and skills are necessary to better suit the needs of patients. As part of the health care practice, nurses deal with patient and role transitions constantly. In this case, I will be transitioning from being a Registered Nurse with an associate in science degree to a Registered Nurse with a bach elor’s degree in nursing, which will be a challenging task. However, considering that nursing long ago expanded to include the field of psychiatry, which is my specialty, it will not be impossible to accomplish. To facilitate a smooth transition, I will continue my new nursing career initially in psychiatric mental health nursing. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) explains that psychiatric mental health nursing focuses on the identification of mental health issues, prevention of mental health problems, and the care and treatment of persons with psychiatric disorders (n. d. , para. 1). Possessing years of experience in the field of psychiatry, applying nursing theory, and continuing a higher degree of education in nursing will help me fulfill this concept of psychiatric nursing. Acquiring a strong understanding of psychiatric concepts also provides a solid foundation for nursing practice, which will allow me to apply nursing interventions based on accurate information. Once I have gained expertise on the necessary nursing responsibilities, leadership, and mastering of concepts and skills, such as the nursing process and therapeutic relationships, I can proceed to other fields of nursing to provide opportunities to discover my niche. This will be a more daunting challenge, but I believe that practicing in the field of psychiatric nursing can lighten some of the difficulties entailed in transitioning. I mention earlier that evidence-based practice advances the nursing discipline. Better services and techniques are developing as researchers churn out new and more accurate information related to nursing. According to Haynes (2001), the need for these resources springs from the demands for higher quality of services at lower costs (2001, p. 37). Unfortunately, this demand also leads to the development of ineffective services and practices that may seem to have a base on sound nursing theory. For this reason, nurses must strive to recognize the best evidence-based practices to improve nursing care. This can be applied to my professional career as well. I understand the value and importance of evidence-based practice; therefore I will implement nursing actions based on current information relevant to the practice of psychiatric nursing. Some of the more common independent nursing practices are counseling interventions, structured interventions, which foster patient autonomy, use of a therapeutic environment, and dissemination of health-related information. I intend to implement these practices and modify them according to the needs of my patients. My interventions will also be dependent on current trends in the health care industry. Shives (2007) claims that some trends affecting the current delivery of health care are case management, prospective payment system, managed care, and the Mental Health Parity Act (2007, p. 91). As a practicing psychiatric nurse, I will focus on managed care as one of the more important roles that nurses must play. Case management is an integral part of mental health services and Shives defines it as the method used to achieve managed care by using nurses to coordinate the different services from members of the health care team (Shives, 2007, p. 91). The nurse case manager facilitates transition for clients to ensure the continuum of care whether the patient is receiving care in a hospital, a sub-acute care unit, or within assisted-living facilities. A nurse case manager needs to be well-endowed with communication skills to deal with interaction with other health professionals. More important, the nurse case manager needs to have excellent assessment skills to determine the needs of patients accurately. I find this trend noteworthy because it embodies what nurses strive to provide, which is patient-centered care. Fullerton, McGuire, Feng, Grabowski (2009), report on another trend, which highlights the mental health status of incoming patients. According to the researchers, admissions to nursing homes of individuals with dementia decreased, and the admission of individuals with mental illnesses aside from dementia, mainly depression, increased between 1995 and 2005 (2009, p.968). I believe that this trend in mental health needs a further study because of its implications on the holistic well-being of the public. Nurses must learn to respond to these trends and develop or enhance their skills appropriately. Furthermore, these two trends are both closely related to psychiatry, a field that is very familiar to me. Examining these two trends will not only improve my practice of nursing skills, but will also support the concept of evidence-based practice, which will help advance my nursing career and the nursing discipline.