Gone are the days when people took any point as being true as was told. Nowadays, people question how a given statement can be true. This is due the fact that people have learnt that under different conditions, even scientifically proven truth can change. People have embraced the idea that nothing is static, not even the truth.
There are many perspectives from which an idea can be looked at. There is a lot of information found nowadays. Technology has also advanced and has led to many discoveries. Due to this, it has come to the knowledge of people that there exist multiple levels of reasoning in any area.
More importantly, is the discovery that there are limits to everything including science inquiry. This wave of post modernism has swept through all areas of humanity including the nursing science. It is important to note that post modernism is both a benefit and a deterrence of nursing as a science.
Post modernism has brought to the view the idea of holistic therapies where people believe that medication has to go beyond diseases. Health should be more of the patient that it is about the disease.
It is the belief of holistic therapies that healing should begin with the individual first setting his or her mind that he or she needs healing. With this in mind, post modernism has helped in fostering the theoretical view of nursing that treatment is within the power of an individual.
Nursing science takes it that nurses are just supposed to give psychological, physical and to some extent spiritual support which will evoke the inner force within the patient.
It is important to note that just like post modernism, nursing science has come to the view that there is some inner force that helps to heal patients. In this regard, post modernism has actually helped nursing.
On the same note, post modernism places a lot of emphasis on the patient and safety. The two are the pillars of nursing. In nursing, the patient is the core and safety of the patient is the main focus. Similarly, post modernism looks at the patient as the epicenter of healthcare.
Consequently, patients have been lately included in the recording of events regarding adverse drugs thus enhancing credibility of the information. Moreover, post modernism has enabled nurses to approach issues objectively knowing that truth is not fixed.
This has helped in solving many problems which were quite different from classical ones. It is important to note that every case in nursing is unique thus no laid down principle or precedence applies. This is the same principle that post modernism brings to the board.
On the other hand, post modernism has also hindered the prospects of nursing. To begin with, the idea that truth can be challenged brings about great problems because people challenge every step the nurses take. Moreover, due to the availability of almost any information on the internet, patients are becoming risk averse.
Patients are unwilling to use various medicines due to the negative information about the medicine. It is important to note that some of the information is actually contradicting and also wrong.
This makes the work of nurses difficult because they have to start by changing the minds of the patients who have very low confidence in nurses.
Post modernism has led to increased cultural interactions which have come with a lot of complications. This has complicated the nursing science which now has to take into consideration the cultural diversity in its approach to healing.
On the same note, holistic approach to healing becomes problematic when diseases involved require express medication. Similarly, healing is not all about some improvable force from inside the patient. It sometimes has to involve immediate and active medication.
Nursing also needs the application of pragmatism. It is important to note that though truth exists in the world, being certain when it is found is difficult. Consequently, pragmatism requires that nurses should constantly be searching for the truth.
Pragmatism has led to a lot of improvements in the nursing sector by leading to new ways of taking care of patients.
Arguably, geriatric nursing has highly benefited from pragmatic approach. To begin with, the idea that there is no perfect way of containing pain that old people go through has led to new improved ways of managing pain.
On the same note, it is important to point that geriatric nursing has been left behind technologically and requires research to come up with quality services to the old. Moreover, the elderly exhibit unique symptoms which are distinct from one another.
Therefore, geriatric nurses especially in home settings have learnt to approach each case objectively leading to discovery of new ways of taking care of various conditions. It is important to note that in home settings, geriatric nurses have minimal access to most hospital equipment.
As a result, pragmatic approach is very crucial since these nurses need to devise methods of handling different and sometimes new conditions.