Nursing in Perspectives

Nursing is a profound profession which requires professional skills and knowledge, high level of expertise and managerial skills. Following Parker & Clare (2006): â€Å"Critical thinking is a vital skill to have as a nurse. Nurses are engaged in providing care to people who have a right to high quality professional conduct and health services (p296).Applied to nursing profession, critical thinking aims to improve healthcare services through new methods and self-developed professional skills of nurses. Critical thinking combines the ability to meet the requirement of a new age and respond effectively to technological innovations and scientific discoveries. Changing economic environment and globalization process has a great impact on the nursing science, and compel to specify concepts of management and its fields. During the last decades, the definitions of critical thinking in nursing have been changes. For instance, Ennis & Milman in 1985 defined critical thinking in nursing as â€Å"reasonable, reflective thinking focused on what to believe or do† (Critical Thinking in Nursing 2007). In five years, McPeck, (1990) defined it as: â€Å"the propensity to engage in an activity with reflective skepticism† (Critical Thinking in Nursing 2007). Monitoring was an important method that helped to search for new trends in nursing. Today, nurses take into account internal and external factors that influence a patient. The most recent explanation of critical thinking is proposed by the University of New Mexico (2007): â€Å"nursing utilizes critical thinking as diagnostic reasoning and professional or clinical judgment. Critical thinking in nursing is based on a triggering event or situation, a starting point, scaffolds, processes, and outcomes that make up a continuous or iterative feedback loop† (Critical Thinking in Nursing 2007). In modern world, critical thinking in nursing is a broad concept with include advanced knowledge and discovering, creativity and passion, authenticity and ability to foresee coming changes. Critical thinking in nursing aims to extend traditional nursing roles in order to keep abreast of time and rapidly changing technology. Daniels (2004) underlines that it may be exercised as an attribute of position or because of personal knowledge or wisdom. Modern nurses see themselves more as conservators and regulators of the exist ­ing order of affairs with which they identify, and from which they gain rewards. Critical thinking helps to create a sense of identity which does not depend upon membership or work roles. On the one hand, nursing gendered identity and cultural identity has a great impact on their skills and ability to deliver high quality service. Many problems associated with the relationships between people of different cultures stem from variations in norms and values. Modern society is marked by cultural diversity problems which influence healthcare services and service delivery. Critical thinking is crucial for culturally competent nurse because it helps to communicate with diverse clients and meet their needs. For instance, Hindus and Asians share specific beliefs as for parts of the body and health, and in this case a nurse should take into account cultural and religious practices of these patients. Following Dreher and Macnaughton (2002): â€Å"the health care system has nested the accountability for cultural competency with the clinician who provides direct services to individuals, where the application of cultural information is likely to be least useful† (p181). For a nurse, the key advantages of convergence are that ideas and techniques developed in one cultural or national setting may be transferred to another and used effectively. These variables shape the values and hence the behavior of people (Potter & Perry, 2005). Critical thinking determines the quality of decisions and actions of a nurse. A higher level of professional autonomy and shared governance should be seen as the main features of critical thinking. Critical thinking is exercised through greater knowledge and exper ­tise. It may also be based on the per ­sonal qualities of the nurse and the manner in which authority is exercised. In contrast to traditional theories of nursing leadership, nursing expert power is based on new knowledge about technology and critical thinking used in nursing profession. Critical thinking is based on credibility and clear evidence of knowledge or expertise; for example, the expert knowledge of ‘functional' specialists. Stone (2000) states that if the information is satisfactorily ascertained from secondary sources, the nurse opts to complete this component of the assessment by relying on past records. Documentary data obtained from patients' records is often termed ‘secondary' because the information has originally been collected by other people and for other purposes. Thus, critical thinking determines further actions and behavior patterns which support clinical and service development. In several decades ago, nurses were limited by strict rules and tasks which prevented them to respond effectively to changing environment (Potter & Perry 2005). Today, technology and information technology demands critical thinking and decision making in nursing (Sharp, 2000). Also, there is a great shift in organizational values and personal traits of the nurses. Changing social environment influences human values and conflicts with human dignity and importance (Sullivan & Decker, 2005). The balance of power has undoubtedly shifted to nurses who have more choice over how to conducts relationships with their administration, colleagues and patients. Critical thinking in nursing is aimed to improve influences on the environment and determine perspectives of further development on the macro- and micro- level. In this situation, to be an effective and professional nurse, it is necessary to exercise the role of critical thinker based on advanced knowledge and expertise (Durgahee, 2003). A common view is that the job of the nurse requires the ability of critical thinking and that leadership is in effect a sub-set of management. In terms of critical thinking, there is a need to be flexible and be ready to innovate and to adopt new technologies as they come along. The way in which healthcare organization has to employ the latest technology can be an important determinant of its competitive advantage. For instance, increased role of computers and technological solutions require new skills and decision making practices in medicine. For instance, if technology does not work properly and it threatens life of a patient, a nurse should react accordingly to the situation and replace it with alternative solution (Kozier et al 2004). Critics (Sullivan & Decker, 2005) admit that three decades ago nurses were not ready and prepared to apply critical thinking to their work and this led to high death rates caused by technology failure. Healthcare is one of the main industries responsible for exceptional service quality and interpersonal communication. Service quality is determined by technological processes and innovations in its field. Critical thinking has speeded up health delivery processes, transformed working practices and increased the efficiency of healthcare services. Interestingly, it is in the technological environment that it is some ­times possible for large healthcare organizations to actually exert influence rather than be the recipients of it. Respect and personal worth of every patient are the core human-related factors employed by the nurses (Garrison 2004). Nursing staff is responsible for communication and interaction with the patients. For this reason, nurses should be flexible to respond effectively to changing environment and customers groups. As a result, high degree of autonomy cannot be effectively used by all nursing staff. Healthcare organizations start to apply ‘critical thinking’ into practice seeing it as a high level of specialist practice and competitive advantage in healthcare services. Also, critical thinking in nursing is concerned with those activities involved in recruiting of professional staff, training, and development within the healthcare infrastructure, namely the systems of planning, finance, medical service control, etc. which are crucially important to an strategic capability in all healthcare activities (Potter & Perry, 2005). Today, a special attention is given to proper function of medical staff and empowerment which helps to improve efficiency of medical practice. Critical thinking is one of the main requirements in modern service learning. In learning, â€Å"critical thinking [is] a reasoning process reflecting on ideas, actions, and decisions in clinical experience by the nursing student and others (Anaya et al 2003, p99). The advantages of critical thinking in nursing are fast response to changing conditions and environment and ability to apply recent technologies into practice. It increases confidence of nurses and level of healthcare services. Using critical thinking approach, nurses are able to shift the situation using these new creative approaches based on advanced relationships and inquiry. Also, it is strongly influenced by resources outside the healthcare organization which are an integral part of the chain of activities between the healthcare service design and the level of medial treatment (Sharp, 2000). Change is a threat to routine and their role in healthcare management. It is also true that many nurses do not know what their role is, and in recent years attempts have been made to clarify individual roles. Critical thinking is ‘a vital skill’ for nurses because it determines the style of management and leadership. Critical thinking can be interpreted as a response to the need to meet heightened customer expectations and face intensi ­fied technology solutions. Critical thinking encourages nurses to adopt a positive attitude and have personal involvement in service delivery. Also, it allows healthcare organization to expose nursing staff to new forms of service and management. Critical thinking is constructed on a rational basis and allows nurses respond to patients’ needs in an appropriate manner. For a modern nurse, it is crucial to be accountable to patients' families, and close friends who come to visit them. References 1.   Anaya, A., Doheny, M.O., Panthofer, N., Sedlak, C.A. (2003). Critical Thinking in Students' Service-Learning Experiences. College Teaching, 51 (3), 99-104. 2. Critical Thinking in Nursing The University of New Mexico (2007). Retrieved 31 May 2007, from   http://hsc.unm.edu/consg/conct/whatis.shtml 3.   Daniels, R. (2004). Nursing Fundamentals: Caring and Clinical Decision Making, Thomas Learning, Oregon. 4. Dreher, N., Macnaughton, N. (2002). Cultural competency in nursing: foundation or fallacy? Nursing Outlook, Sep-Oct; 50 (5):181-6. 5.   Durgahee, T. (2003). Higher level practice: degree of specialist practice? Nurse Education Today. Apr; 23 (3), 191-201. 6. Garrison, D.R., Morgan, D.H., Johnson, J.G. (2004). Thriving in chaos: Educating the nurse leaders of the future. Nursing Leadership Forum. Fall; 9 (1), 23-27. 7. Kozier B., Erb G., Berman A. & Snyder S. (2004). Fundamentals of Nursing: Concepts, Process and Practice, New Jersey, Pearson Education Inc. 8. Potter, P. & Perry, A. (2005). Fundamentals of Nursing. Elsevier PTE LTD, Singapore. 9.   Sharp, Nancy. (April 2000). The 21st century belongs to nurse practitioners. Nurse Practitioner, p. 56 10. Sullivan, E.J., Decker, Ph. J. (2005). Effective leadership & Management in Nursing 6th ed. Pearson Hall.   

Accountability of nursing professionals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accountability of nursing professionals - Essay Example In health care, professional accountability and responsibility go hand in hand.The two are related in the nursing profession and one must posses both to be an effective and reliable nurse.Thus both are very vital in the nursing profession. Both accountability and responsibility are concerned with taking care of a patient and his or her family.Thus both are very vital in the nursing profession. Accountability refers to the state of being liable to ones’ actions and willingness to accept the consequences of his or her own behaviour. In addition, they are also concerned with the code of conduct, behaviours and policies related to nursing profession. Thus both are very vital in the nursing profession. Accountability refers to the state of being liable to ones’ actions and willingness to accept the consequences of his or her own behaviour. It is a legal obligation and in nursing profession it entails ethical and moral responsibility. Nurses who are accountable treat their du ties with a lot of seriousness. It is the responsibility of a professional nurse to act within his or scope of care and call upon his or her knowledge and skills in making decisions that are in the best interest of the patient. According to the American Nursing Association code, a nurse is accountable for nursing judgments and actions. Professional accountability entails everything from the way nurses dress, to their values, ethics and moral beliefs (Fineout-Overholt et al 2005). According to Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt (2005),

Crime control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crime control - Essay Example Whenever such a crime takes place, first there is a process of justification for the action that was allegedly conducted. After that all the possibilities are analyzed that is related to particular crime. Therefore, the person is under a trial. Honesty is of the most important purpose of all the trials. (Pollock, 2007) If there will be no honesty then there will be no one who will get justice. All the judges have to be honest to give justice to everyone. All the witnesses have to be honest. Therefore honesty and justice goes together. Today justice occupies the part of morality that is identified with the good or someone getting justice. Without honesty there will be injustice, evil and wrongness everywhere. Today the current legal system works justice is usually equated with honesty. An honest justice system would give that justice to everyone. (Pollock, 2007) This paper will also discuss about the ethical consideration that are affecting the criminal justice system in many different ways. It explain in great detail about how these ethical issues are affecting our criminal justice system, complainants, the accused, the criminals, the complainants and the law enforcers . This paper also explains the due process model. The main purpose of the due process is to protect the rights of the accused and it provides a system of safeguard that will help in combating the abuse within the law enforcers and the crime control model which promotes the reduction and elimination of crimes by the agents of law and the police. (Close, & Meier, 2004) When it comes to understanding the Criminal Justice System there is a question that everyone asks about, does honesty always help to get justice Justice is defined as a system of law or scheme law in which every person gets his or her due from this system, including natural and legal rights, while honesty is very important in telling the truth or freedom from fraud or deceit. Whenever there is crime committed around the world, with a possibility that it may be even every hour however, but not all of criminals who commit these crimes end up in jail for many different reasons. The first reason is that the criminals are not caught by the concerned authorities and even if they are caught by the police, they use top lawyers who will provide legal justification for the crime committed by a particular criminal. (Close, & Meier, 2004)But if the rationale for justice is ignored then the freedom from deceit will not necessarily lead to justice. Sometimes after detection of a certain crime, Jus tice and punishment are the most vital areas in international Justice and crime. If a common man is a victim of kidnapping, robbery, domestic violence, murder and any street abuse then the victims seek the guidance and assistance FBI and police personnel for bringing justice by implementing different legal actions and criminal procedures. Every country of the world has its own law or state law of policemen who possess authority and every right on the citizens of that country who are caught red-handed with solid evidence at the time of commitment of crime. (Poulin, & Nemeth, 2004)

Physical Education Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Physical Education - Assignment Example Time allocation is an issue that is generally complicated by localized control of curricula and practices of offering subject options or electives, which provide less opportunities and interest for additional engagement in physical education and/or school sport activity (Hardman, 2009). There are various survey findings which reveal variations in expected time allocated to physical education. Curriculum time allocated to other subjects deteriorates the situation where recent educational reforms have resulted in physical education teaching time reductions as observed in Taiwan (Hardman, 2009). †¢ Taiwan-Integrating PE with health education has led to the reduction in the teaching time of physical activities and the time allocated to PE is again affected by an increase in the teaching time of English and other subjects e.g. Mathematics, computer and dialects which are assigned more weight into the curriculum (Hardman, 2009). Physical education is also faced with the consequences o f the global financial and economic crisis. This is evidenced by the words of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who proposed trimming state money for physical education classes leaving athletic programs at the two-year schools in doubt (Krupnick, 2009). Another contentious issue is the actual status of physical education and its teachers. Data indicate that equal subject legal status is claimed in 69% of countries. Africa, where only 15% of countries indicate equal legal status of subjects, represents a marked contrast with Europe’s 88%. This is an indication that across all regions except Europe, in practice physical education is considered to have lower status than other subjects (Hardman, 2009). Other... The research highlights physical education influences and reflects the values of society, and the kind of society we desire to have. It is vital, therefore, to accept and recognize a set of common values and purposes in the school curriculum that is broad and balanced. This leads to a holistic development which has various orientations including individual, cultural and social orientations. As the papaper stresses pervasive factors contributing to varied notions on physical education in schools are depicted in the development of curriculum, the time allocation and priority assigned to other subjects. Inadequate resources, deficiencies in numbers of qualified physical education and poor attitudes of significant individuals such as head teachers, also contribute to the diverse perceptions. Time allocation is an issue that is generally complicated by localized control of curricula and practices of offering subject options or electives, which provide less opportunities and interest for additional engagement in physical education and/or school sport activity. Physical education is faced with the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis. This is evidenced by the words of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who proposed trimming state money for physical education classes leaving athletic programs at the two-year schools in doubt. The attitude of secondary school teacher s towards physical education depends on their experience in the field.

Comparison between Jamaicans and Trinidadians Essay

Comparison between Jamaicans and Trinidadians - Essay Example So, it is a fact that people from both countries look similar because they have same influences to share from the world that changed their history and future. When we talk about the culture of Trinidadians and Jamaicans, we come to know that both posses a rich blend of cultures influenced by British and Spanish who ruled them for years. The language of both Jamaicans and Trinidadians is English that is because of the influence from English and United Kingdom. Trinidadians and Jamaicans mostly belong to the Christian faith but Hindu touch can be seen in the Trinidadians because of the Indians coming from far east countries (Culture of Trinidad and Tobago, 2012). The cultural traits do differ in some aspects from each other but mostly they are similar. Both have ethnic and religious effects from diverse groups that keep on invading the two islands for several years. The love for dance, music and theatre in Jamaicans and Trinidadians are the same although the way they perform these acti vities may differ. Both identities seem to have great influence from Europeans who came outside the island to attack. That’s why they are similar in their habits and day to day affairs. When we talk about the similarity of culture between Jamaican and Trinidadians, we come to know that both people celebrate different festivals not only those of Christian origin but of Hindus and Muslims too. Dance, theatre, literature and writing all have been important part of Jamaica and Trinidad. Folk dance has association for both countries from colonial times and has fame all over the world due to the unique styles. Theatre is growing in importance too in both countries and both cultures show great interests in performing arts. When one talks about the Trinidadian literary work, Nobel  laureates Sir  Vidia Naipaul and Michael Anthony are the known poets in Trinida history. Derek Walcott, a  Nobel prize  laureate born in St. Lucia and studied in Jamaica shows the great interest of both countries in the field of writing and prove that how both countries are so close to each other in literary terms and they share a lot of similarities in different fields (Culture of Jamaica, 2012). It is not the cultural values and tradition that make these two nationals similar to each other despite many differences but it is also the sports that bring them together for sharing a common identity. Sports have always been a national identity of every country and all nations have a national game to differentiate them from each others. Jamaicans and Trinidadians both do not own a national game as both has been under the influence or British, European and Spanish for a while and the sports they play are also influenced. The most common games in Trinidadian and Jamaican countries are cricket. It is most probably influenced by English people who ruled both islands for years (Sport in Jamaica, 2012). Football and Rugby are recently growing sports in both countries that they love to p lay. Trinidadians also play hockey, golf, marathon and volleyball (Trinidad Sports, 2012) while what makes Jamaica to differ in sports is its interest in netball and Olympics. Jamaicans have brought many medals home in Olympics and its athletes have great recognition all over the world. Sports played in both countries may differ from each other to some extent but it

Taking Risks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Taking Risks - Essay Example bullies, praying hard and asking for divine intervention so that I could pass the tests and achieve passing marks in classes that I knew I was going to fail due its difficulty, wishing that things would get better for my personal life and asking for the guidance of the spirit in order to see where my path truly lay... these were things that I was told should be left up to my faith to solve. Yet no solutions came my way. Life did not get better. It seemed to just continue to get worse. Until one day, I decided to take charge of my life and throw out my religious beliefs. I said â€Å"I am in charge of my destiny, I will create my own path†. Guess what? Life got better. I took charge of my future and chartered the path I wished to take. The improvements were remarkable. All leading me to question what exactly religious belief is for. All religion does is sell a person of bag of goods, then leaves you holding an empty bag. Life has nothing to do with religion. Religion has no influence over a persons life. That is how what I used to believe was finally changed into something that I continue to question to this very

Value Proposition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Value Proposition - Essay Example For the reason that no company or product was developing a Catalogue app, a Smart Interface Solutions has registered the Catalogue app, a cheap and easy in use and setup mobile Micro Enterprise Resource Planning, the product will be good idea for the small business. The product will be available on any smartphone as a powerful and smart inventory management tool. The interface will use the smartphone technologies such as camera, GPS, accelerometer and Bluetooth. The Catalogue app is a highly adaptable inventory management and tracking app, the primary target audience is the traders and small entrepreneurs focused on the stock management system with the easy interface. While, small enterprises do not have access to he significant finance for specialized hardware, the product will be a solution in this area. In terms of user interface and configurations, they are functionally identical with the larger desktop variants within the same software. The main benefits for the customer is the efficiency, ability to save user’s time, accuracy of the data received, ability to make an analysis of the data and reduction of task repetition processes. In terms of costs, the product will not cost much; customers will be able to train when using the app. It will allow customers to configure and manage their software on the computer of the usual size through the available software. An app will give a possibility to design that information which user wants. Such opportunity is one for the purpose to make Catalogue adaptable to all applications.