NR 501 Discussion 2 Week 2, Significance of Nursing Concepts within the Profession

Week 2: Significance of Nursing Concepts within the Profession In the nursing profession, nurses probably do not realize that they are implementing the metaparadigm of nursing. After reading the lesson and chapters, I realized that I utilize the metaparadigm of nursing on a daily basis. Metaparadigm refers to concepts or structure developed for the nursing profession (McEwen & Wills, 2014). There are four concepts which fall under the metaparadigm; they are health, person, nursing profession, and environment (McEwen & Wills, 2014). The Advanced practice nurse will continue to utilize the metaparadigm when caring for and seeing patients. Advanced practice nurses work independently to help or empower patients within a safe, caring, and healing environment. As advanced practice nurses, it is important to utilize the nursing process and gain the trust of the patients, which allows the patient to be more receptive towards their care and the healing process. Another important factor is being able to educate patients and making sure the patients are able to verbalize back what was discussed as well as assessing the environment surrounding the patient and if it is optimal living conditions or not. The patient’s usually want to preserve independence and do this through making their own decisions regarding their healthcare or bodily care to feel that things may be going as usual (Lindber, Fagerstrom, Sivberg, & Willman, 2014). An example on how the concepts are used, I am going to share a recent and personal experience with my dad. My dad has Parkinson’s and one day he was out in the yard cutting trees with a circular saw (nuts). He ended up sawing through his fourth and fifth toe to the base of the foot. I took him to the hospital for emergency surgery. Bringing dad back home, I needed to assess how he would be able to move around with the walker as well as assess the wound for infection. I was able to educate him and my mom on what is acceptable and not while I was at work. Elevate the leg while sitting, keeping dressings dry and intact until it’s for change, and not putting any pressure on the foot while walking from one area to the other. All four concepts were utilized in the caring of my dad. Person would refer to dad; Nursing profession refers to (me) being committed to care for dad as well as being able to make decisions in my dad’s care; Environment refers to the surroundings at the house and if it is optimal for dad; Health refers to dad’s recovery for getting better and guiding dad through the healing process.