Nursing Practice Approach - Essay Example

Nursing Practice Approach
The dispute that encompasses the application of theories and evidence-based practice in nursing has occupied and polarized the profession for decades now. Both approaches share the common objective of making the right medical decision and finding an effective solution to the perceived problem. Their differences revolve on philosophical concerns. Their core values vary and can date back to the ancient division of philosophy and science: empiricism and rationalism (Taylor & Renpenning, 2011). Theory-guided practice adapts a rationalist approach that aligns with extreme rationalist beliefs that human senses are limited and rely on reason. Evidence-based practice follows the empirical knowledge, from empiricist belief that human experiences are the primary source of knowledge and concepts.
Theory-guided nursing practices have foundation on three categories of theories. Grand nursing theories that provide general guidelines of nursing, like the benefits of stress reduction to the patient. Midrange nursing theories provide specific guidelines for patient care, for instance, a specific set of rules to manage patients’ stress. Nursing practice theories specifically detail the ideal response management to situations, for example, details concerning the number of tasks that the nurse should perform to manage patients stress. Benefits of theory-guided nursing practice are the level of autonomy in management practices, as long as there is adherence to the acceptable standard of care.
The evidence-based practice is the best approach to nursing practices. This practice applies tested nursing techniques in the care of patients. These techniques specify the nurses’ reaction to specific situations with exact guidelines (Taylor & Renpenning, 2011). The techniques have support from research findings. The practice provides reliable and efficient care techniques for patients. Benefits of the evidence-based practice include reliability resulting from research data and the limited liability of nurses to patients’ management and complications.
Despite the variation in their core values, theory-guided nursing practice and evidence-based nursing practices are compatible. Literature on theory-guided evidence-based nursing practice exists, with the strong conviction that the best nurses incorporate both practices to manage their patients. Both the practices have the objective presenting the ideal patient management by nurses. Consequently, there exists a relation between the two practices. For the optimum application of evidence-based nursing practices, the nurse must have adequate knowledge on the theory-guided practice, or nursing theories in general (Basford & Slevin, 2003). Without medical expertise and nursing theories, the nursing profession risks making evidence a dictator in the management of patients. This has the obvious complications that even the excellent evidence-based nursing practices may not be applicable to some individuals, or may be inappropriate to others. Alternatively, without current tested nursing techniques, patient management risks running out of date with serious implication to the patients.
Recently, much emphasis has been on the evidence-based nursing practices. This practice is a new move to improve the cost-effectiveness and quality of health care globally. The major focus in the evidence-based approach is the appropriate measure of effectiveness of nursing practices. On the other hand, theories illuminate the nature of problem and provide the basis for development and implementation of management strategies. Theories also provide a judgmental base for the elements of ideal patient management practices.
Nevertheless, empirical evidence is limited to patient management without the reference to general principles that have a wider patient application (Basford & Slevin, 2003). The lack of inference to theoretical principles renders the evidence-based nursing theory prone to submission by post-modern morass that provides little guidance to management.
References
Basford, L. & Slevin, O. (2003). Theory and Practice of Nursing: An Integrated Approach to Caring Practice. Cheltenham, UK: Nelson Thornes.
Taylor, S. G. & Renpenning, K. (2011). Self-Care Science, Nursing Theory, and Evidence-Based Practice. New York: Springer Publishing Company, LLC. Read More