Imogene King Theory of Goal Attainment - Assignment Example

Imogene King Theory of Goal Attainment Abstract Nursing profession focuses on helping individuals deal with health problems. In order to do this effectively, there are theories that have proven successful in this field. One such theory is the goal attainment theory by Imogene King. This paper critically analyses the theory, providing in depth information about its concepts, paradigms, systems and processes. It has also provided an application of the theory for nurse administrators. 1.0 Introduction Imogene King is one of the widely known pioneers of the development of nursing theories. Her success comes from her nursing conceptual system and the goal attainment goal. King developed this theory while trying to summarize a new graduate program content. Its basic purpose is to aid patients achieve, maintain or regain their health. Her theory assumes that the focus in nursing is caring for human beings, while its goal is individual and group healthcare. According to this theory, human beings continuously interact with their environment, basically because humans are open systems (George, 2008). She links the theory to goal attainment, which assumes that communication between a nurse and a client results into information gathering, which helps them set mutual goals and aids in acting on the goals. She argues that everyone recognizes the world as a total person in formulating transactions between the environment and the individual. The transaction in this theory refers to the interaction between the “perceiver” and the object perceived. In this transaction, the “person” gets into the position as an active participant, after which each is transformed from the experiences. Nurse-client interaction leads to certain assumptions. The first assumption is that the interaction between the two is influenced by their respective perceptions. The client and nurse’ goals and values influence the interaction process, clients have a right to information concerning them, clients should participate in decisions that have an impact on their lives, community and health, and finally, that it is normal for clients and nurses’ goals to be incongruent. Human beings have three crucial health needs; need for health information, care services to prevent illness and care services when they are unable to help themselves. This theory has two major concepts; the Interacting and the concepts provided for each system. The interacting systems include personal systems, interpersonal systems and the social system (Wills and McEwen, 2002). 2.0 Point by point Critical analysis of the theory 2.1 Major concepts Concepts for personal systems include perception, self, growth and development, body image, space and time. Interpersonal system concepts include interaction, communication, transaction, role and stress. Finally, the social system concept includes organization, authority, power, status and decision making. King defines perception as a concept, which influences the over all behavior of a human being. Ultimately, it id the concept upon which all other relate to. Perception is also a process where an individual obtains personal data through his or her senses, and from which, the individual organizes his or her memory interprets it and transforms the obtained data. The “self” characteristics refer to the dynamic individual, whose is motivated to achieve their goals by several open systems. The self includes feelings and thoughts that are linked to the individual’s awareness of being an independent person. The thoughts and feelings also influence the individual’s perception of him/herself. The characteristics of body image are subjective, dynamic, learned and very personal. The body image characteristics usually change over time in relation to the individual’s redefinition of the self. Space, on the other hand, is a universal concept, whose definition depends on the individual. It is difficult to define space because culture influences an individual understands of space. Another universal concept is time. Time is an inherent life process. It is the interval between events that a person experiences differently. 2.2 Interpersonal systems As human beings interact with each other and the environment, they form interpersonal systems. Between human beings, their can be several interpersonal systems; for example dyads, triads, small and large groups. Interpersonal systems include several concepts such as transaction, role and stress. Interaction is discernible behaviors that exist between two people in mutual presence, while communication explains how two interacting individuals exchange information. An individual derives his or her transactions from their perceptions and cognition. A transaction refers to a series of relations among individuals and the environment, which includes observable behaviors that focus on the individual’s goal attainment. Distinctiveness of role is that roles are interchangeable and reciprocating. At one point, an individual may act as a giver in an interaction process, and at other times, they become receivers. Roles contain three key elements; roles include sets of predictable behaviors of people occupying social system positions. Roles include procedures that help in the definition of rights and obligations of an individual, in relation to heir positions in an organization. Lastly, roles are relationships between people whose interaction is driven by a specific purpose and situation. In this respect, Imogene defines a nurse’s role as interacting with others in a nursing situation. In this situation, the nurse is a professional who their skills, values and knowledge to aid others obtain their goals. Stress is a universal and dynamic concept that occurs due to a continuous exchange between open systems. Stress is a changing condition in which an individual seeks to obtain and maintain equilibrium through interaction. The equilibrium is necessary for the individual to sustain activities of growth and development. 2.3 Social systems Social systems refer to systems in large groups that are structured to include practice, behaviors and roles. The social systems define these elements in order to maintain desirable attributes. They are also useful in creating and maintaining the system’s rules and practices. Social systems examples include families, religious groups, community groups, families, organizations and government systems. A unique characteristic of organization is that its structure that demands activities and positions include both formal and informal provisions of people to obtain both organizational and personal goals (Alligood and Tomey, 2002). An organization consists of individuals who have stipulated roles and position and who utilize resources to achieve both personal and organizational goals. All organizations depend on authority, which is a reciprocal, active transaction process, where an actor’s understanding of value and experience influences the legitimacy, meaning and acceptance of people in organizational positions related to authority. Authority and power goes hand in hand as they compliment each other, especially in an organization. Power refers to an organizational or individual’s capacity to utilize resources to achieve goals. Organizational concepts include status and decision making. Status refers to the relationship of an individual’s place in a group, in comparison to other people’s positions in the group. 3.0 Goal attainment theory Imogene’s goal attainment theory assumes that nurses and patients exchange information, set mutual goals and act together to achieve the goals. The nursing process includes steps that define a system of actions that are interrelated. The system also identifies concepts and provides nursing theoretical basis. During the interaction between the client and the nurse, there must be an assessment, which is a paralleling action. The nurse contributes special skills and knowledge regarding the problem while the client brings self and perception knowledge that concern the problem. The skills that the nurse will need include the ability to asses, interview and communicate in order to utilize science knowledge to help the client. In addition to that, the nurse should be able to collect client data regarding their growth and development, perception of the self and health status, as well as socializations and communication patterns. A clients’ perception is influenced by several factors including their sensory system functioning, development, age, sex, understanding of the situation and history of drug and diet. On the other hand, the nurse’s perception is influenced by their age, client diagnosis, socio-economic background and cultural background. During the assessment, the nurse derives a diagnosis of the client suing the information they obtain. A diagnosis refers to a statement that identifies a client’s difficulties, distress or worries, for which they seek help. The diagnosis helps he nurse identify outcomes and plan outcomes. These outcomes equate the goals that both the client and nurse seek to achieve. After the nurse and client plan for the outcomes, they focus on implementing the activities that aid in achieving the goals. Finally, there is evaluation, which includes outcomes descriptions. Evaluation is important as it provides information about the quality and effectiveness of the nursing services (Alligood and Tomey, 2002). In the goal attainment theory, every concept is important and applicable to the attainment of goals. However, the vital concepts are transactions, interaction and communication with perception. Imogene emphasizes the significance of mutual participation during the process. 4.0 Application As a nurse administrator, this concept provides me with necessary knowledge on how to evaluate outcomes and ensure effectiveness from subordinate nurses. By providing a step by step analysis, the theory makes it easy to identify areas where there was an inadequate effort from nurses, in their attempt to solve client’s problems. Therefore, correcting this inadequacy becomes easy, time saving and effective in achieving the outcomes. Additionally, the communication concept of this theory is important to my practice, especially the knowledge about client development. Nursing is all about helping a client deal with a particular problem. Nurses recognize that a client’s problem may stem from his/her wider interaction system, which includes the social system as well as their environment (Taylor and Lillis, 2001). In order to be effective in solving their problem, a nurse must gather all the relevant information from the client. Information gathering requires excellent communication skills from the nurse. Communication is central in every aspect of the nursing practice. It improves relationships between colleagues, nurses and the management, and finally, between the nurse and the client. The theory also helps me understand the organizational aspect of this practice, by highlighting the importance of having a positive self concept, values, and attitudes. 5.0 Conclusion The research paper focused on the goal attainment theory by Imogene King. The basic concern of this theory is to understand the nursing paradigm; highlighting its concerns, systems, processes and concepts. It assumes that the central focus of nursing is to offer care for human beings. To do this, the theory relates a human being to his or her environment, analyzing their interaction amongst themselves, others and their environment. The major interacting systems include personal, interpersonal and social systems. In addition to these, the paper has also identified the nursing paradigms in the theory. They first one being a human being, health, environment and nursing as a service. Because the focus of this theory is to help the client and the nurse to attain certain goals, it provides processes that are necessary for this. They include assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation. References George, Julia B., (2008). Nursing Theories: The Base for Professional Nursing Practice. New York : Prentice Hall Wills, M.E. and McEwen, Melanie. (2002). Theoretical Basis for Nursing Philadelphia, New York: Lippincott Williams& wilkins Alligood, M.R. and Tomey, A.M. (2002). Nursing theory utilization and application. Mosby:Philadelphia Taylor, C. and Lillis, C. (2001).The Art & Science of Nursing Care. Philadelphia:  Lippincott. Read More