Assignment: Contemporary Nursing Practice Essay

Assignment: Contemporary Nursing Practice Essay

Nursing practice has drastically changed from nurses having very little training, and nursing involved women taking care of the sick. When nursing began, it was not considered a profession, nor was it respected since nurses were women, and being a woman was not perceived as a respectable gender (Keeling, 2015). Nursing was more of an extension of the roles women played at home of taking care of their families, and skills were passed down from mother to daughter with no formal training. There have been radical changes in the nursing field that have significantly contributed to the efficient delivery of healthcare services. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the evolution of nursing and current nursing practice.

Evolution of Nursing Practice

Nursing training has evolved, and nurses today have in-depth training, and there are specific qualifications for one to become a nurse. There is currently a wide range of nursing training programs and specialties with nurses having trained up to the Doctor of Nursing program (Keeling, 2015). Besides, nurses are offered different practicing licenses depending on their level of education. The care setting for nurses was mostly in battlefields and homes, but the setting has now changed to consultation offices, hospitals, home-based care services, schools, and correctional facilities.

Nursing responsibilities in the past involved offering only basic care services such as dressing, cleaning patients, and nurses worked under doctors’ instructions (Masters, 2018). Nursing training programs have changed the scope of practice for nurses over time with their responsibilities now involving patient assessment, making diagnoses, prescribing treatment, performing complex procedures offering emergency care independently (Masters, 2018). Nursing is an independent profession, and education qualifications dictate the scope of practice.

Practice competencies of an associate vs. baccalaureate education in nursing

To become a registered nurse, one can pursue an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program or a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. Both programs include courses that train nursing students on the competencies of nursing and clinical practice to equip them with practical skills for healthcare settings (Ghaffari, 2017). However, the BSN curriculum has courses that are not offered in the ADN program. The courses include management, leadership, critical thinking and communication, public health, social sciences, nursing theories, nursing practice, and specialized courses (Ghaffari, 2017). The ADN program focuses on training clinical skills, while BSN focuses on management, leadership, nursing research, and also clinical skills.

ADN and BSN nurses have similar tasks in the healthcare setting, such as providing direct patient care, administering treatment, and monitoring patients (Ghaffari, 2017). However, the scope of practice is a bit different, and the ADN nurse is not qualified for some roles that t require one to have additional education such as nurse educator, hospital unit coordinator, and managerial position.

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An example of a patient care situation would be a patient with a history of hypertension and diabetes who present with a persistently high blood pressure despite taking antihypertensive medication. A physician then prescribes an intravenous antihypertensive, and the

ADN nurse will prescribe the medication to the patient since they are trained on clinical skills and may not provide health education, which is key in managing hypertension. On the other hand, a BSN nurse will take a comprehensive patient history to identify the current medication the patient is taking, previous history of hypertensive crises, family history of chronic illnesses, and social history. The history will help in understanding why the blood pressure is not controlled by medications and the patient’s behaviors that could be worsening the condition.  The BSN nurse will be able to take the role of the nurse educator and educate the patient on lifestyle modification to help lower blood pressure and prevent complications of hypertension (Ghaffari, 2017).  Furthermore, the BSN nurse will advocate for the patient to be initiated on lipid-lowering medications to avoid cardiac complications since the patient is at risk of atherosclerosis due to a history of diabetes.

The Significance of Applying Evidence-Based Practice to Nursing Care

Evidence-based practice (EBP) has developed over the years to be the gold standard of care and significantly influenced the BSN program. EBP involves taking into consideration the latest healthcare research when deciding the course of treatment and nursing care (Kalb et al., 2015). The adoption of EBP in nursing care has had an impact in promoting better health outcomes in patients. EBP has helped lower complications and morbidities associated with chronic illness, and in lowering healthcare costs (Kalb et al., 2015). The BSN program has incorporated EBP in the curriculum, and it supports the adoption of EBP by focusing on increasing students’ knowledge and professional accountability (Kalb et al., 2015). Besides, the program emphasizes scientific research to guide in deciding the best interventions for patient care. BSN students are trained in nursing research and are familiarized with research methodologies that equip students with EBP research skills.

Interdisciplinary Communication and Collaboration in Nursing Practice

Interdisciplinary teams in healthcare include physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals. The team works together in decision-making and problem-solving to prepare patients’ care plans (Gausvik et al., 2015). Nurses communicate with the interdisciplinary teams through several tools such as the situation, background, assessment, and recommendation (SBAR) and during Structured interdisciplinary bedside rounds (SIBR). The SBAR tool is used to briefly communicate a patient’s condition, assessment findings, the current plan of care, and recommendations (Gausvik et al., 2015). The SIBR is a validated structure that enhances interdisciplinary communication by bringing together health professionals at the patient’s bedside. The SIBR allows the health team to interact and provides the chance for members to give opinions on how to best improve patient outcomes (Gausvik et al., 2015). Interdisciplinary communication and collaboration help improve patient outcomes, reduce medication errors, lower healthcare costs, and improve interactions with members of other disciplines.

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Assessment Description

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Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to.

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Sincerely,

Contemporary Nursing Practice – Rubric