Introduction
The reflection on the practicum experience is an essential element when it comes to assessing patients and providing health care services. The application of nursing theories to the process of a patient’s examination and treatment allows for ensuring high quality care. This journal entry defines the theory of Dorothea Orem, determines the achievement of goals set initially, and explains the use of seven domains of practice in the context of personal nursing practice.
Defining the Nursing Theory by Orem
Dorothea Orem’s theory of self-care was used to guide the practice. It was selected due to its focus on enhancing care quality and assisting patients in becoming more self-reliant (Alligood, 2018). At the same time, Smith and Parker (2015) claim that the mentioned theory implies that nursing should provide the link between patients and care professionals, which is expected to promote self-care behaviors in the former. Orem’s theory emphasizes that a socio-cultural context needs to be taken into account while helping patients, which can be regarded as great contribution to practicing multicultural care provision (Smith & Parker, 2015; Younas, 2017). The identified theory was proved to be effective as it allowed for understanding that a patient’s self-care should be promoted by nurses, and its accomplishment means that the goals of care are reached.
Goals, Objectives, and Timeline
All goals and objectives set in the initial journal entry were achieved. In particular, it may be noted that appropriate management and clinical process were established in terms of management of patients’ health status, a professional role of a nurse, and negotiation of healthcare delivery systems. More to the point, proper communication was provided to patients to meet such domains of practice as nursing-practitioner-patient relationship and ensuring health care quality. As stated by Ambrose, Lin, and Chun (2013), cultural competence is a significant skill that prepares nurse practitioners to meet the needs of patients with diverse backgrounds. It should be stressed that precise attention to patients’ cultural background was based on implementing the domains of cultural competence as well as a teaching-coaching function. The latter was perfectly aligned with Orem’s concept of self-care necessity. Thus, all seven domains were considered while developing and achieving personal practice goals and objectives.
While examining patients and considering their health concerns, evidence-based solutions were applied. Based on the recent literature, only relevant ideas and concepts were introduced to practice. With the aim of supporting nursing knowledge, valuable concepts of Orem’s self-care theory were regarded as the main theoretical underpinnings. This theory was beneficial to understand that self-care helps patients in their daily activities to maintain health and the overall well-being. The patients’ motivation to obtain knowledge and skills necessary for self-care seem to be increased with the use of Orem’s theory. Speaking of the timeframe, it is important to state that it was met. All the activities offered by the course were completed on time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Dorothea Orem’s theory was utilized as the basis for nursing practice. Its key implications guided through the course and allowed for focusing on communication with patients, provision of high-quality services, and paying attention to their cultural peculiarities. In other words, Orem’s theory was considered as the focal underpinning of the practice, which was supplemented with the implementation of seven domains related to nursing competence. Thus, all the goals, objectives, and learning activities were accomplished in a timely manner.
References
Alligood, M. R. (2018). Nursing theorists and their work (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Ambrose, A. J. H., Lin, S. Y., & Chun, M. B. (2013). Cultural competency training requirements in graduate medical education. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 5(2), 227-231. Web.
Smith, M. C., & Parker, M. E. (2015). Nursing theories and nursing practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: FA Davis.
Younas, A. (2017). A foundational analysis of Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory and evaluation of its significance for nursing practice and research. Creative Nursing, 23(1), 13-23. Web.