NURS1125 Principles And Practice Of Nursing 1

Answers:

Introduction

There are various theories that are used in the field of nursing. For the field of nursing to deliver quality and effective care to patients/clients, it is important that nurses work closely and in a harmonious manner with professions from other fields (Blais, 2015). While the nursing profession uses nursing theories, it would probably lead to better and wholesome care if theories from other disciplines such as sociological and behavioural sciences. This assignment will focus on family nursing to demonstrate how a theory can be borrowed from other disciplines and applied to nursing. A family nursing practitioner specializes in such areas as social determinants of health, chronic illnesses and the aging population. To do the demonstration a behavioural theory will be used. The theory will be operant conditioning. This theory was developed by an American psychologist B F Skinner and has made significant contribution in behavioural sciences (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). A description of the theory will be made followed by an explanation of how it can be applied in family nursing.

Operant conditioning is a behavioural theory that has brought a revolution in the understanding of behaviour patterns (Larsen, Buss, Wismeijer, Song and Berg, 2017). Skinner, the developer of the theory was determined to use science to explain behaviour. Before the theory, it was thought that behaviours only originate from mental processes (Reeves, Pelone, Harrison, Goldman and Zwarenstein, 2017). The theory of operant conditions argues that the consequences of a behaviour can be used either to motivate or discourage it. For instance, if a person gets a promotion and a salary increase at their places of work for exemplary performance, they are likely to continue with their exemplary performance due to the reward. Another example would be giving a child some chocolate bar for doing some house chores. Since the behaviour is rewarded, the child is likely to repeat the behaviour due to the promise of a chocolate. Punishing a behaviour on the other hand will lead to its decrease (McLeod, 2015). For instance, if someone visits a place two times and each time they are ambushed by a snake, they are unlikely to visit the place again. Another example would be pinching a child for not finishing their homework. They are likely to finish their homework in time the next time to avoid the pinch. According to the theory behaviours can be encouraged by two main ways: positive or negative reinforcement (Blackman, 2017). Positive reinforcement involves rewarding a behaviour to encourage it. Negative reinforcement on the other hand involves withdrawal of a stimuli to discourage behaviour (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2014).

This theory would be very useful in family nursing. Let us consider a situation where a family nurse is offering care to care to child suffering from type 1 diabetes in a certain household. Type 1 diabetes is metabolic disorder in which there is little or no insulin production by the pancreas. For this reason, it is necessary that the child use artificial insulin via injection. This should be combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle to promote overall health and wellbeing. By nature, human beings are attracted to sweet things. The children are more affected when it comes to this as it is hard for them to figure out that excessive intake of sugary foods and drinks could negatively affect health. Due to the nature of the disease condition (diabetes mellitus type 1), it would be important for the child to take a healthy diet rich in fibre and whole foods. Such foods are of low glycaemic index and would come in handy in regulating blood sugar levels. It would also be very important for the child to maintain regular exercises. Regular exercises have been associated with improved glucose control.

Since behaviours can be encouraged via positive or negative reinforcement, the nurse could work together with the care givers of the child to promote a positive lifestyle. It is probable that the child will want to take sugary foods. It is also unlikely that he will enjoy regular exercises. The child can be encouraged via positive reinforcement to engage in positive behaviours. For instance, he/she can be rewarded every time he completes some house chores or some other form of exercise. This can also be done every time the child accepts to have a healthy meal. Negative reinforcement can also be employed by ensuring that there is absence of foods that are loaded with calories in the house. This way, the child will consume healthier foods if they become hungry. These techniques can greatly influence behaviour. Educating the child about their condition and the importance of them having healthy diets and regular physical exercises is important. However, it might not be enough. It is necessary to involve a means of shaping behaviour. According to Neisser (2014), operant conditioning is one of the most important and effective theories to apply when aiming to achieve this.

In conclusion, for the field of nursing to succeed in its endeavour to offer quality and effective care, it is important that nurses work hand in hand with other health professionals. While there are various nursing theories that guide the operations of the nursing profession, it might benefit to employ theories from other professions. Such a move would help in improving the overall care and making it more effective. Family nursing practice focuses on areas such social determinants of health, the aging population and chronic illnesses. A theory from behavioural sciences can be used to improve nursing care. One such important theories is that of operant conditioning. it proposes that behaviours can be encouraged by rewarding them or discouraged by punishing them. An example would be when caring for a child with diabetes. They can be rewarded for engaging in healthy behaviours such as taking healthy meals and exercising. Rewarding such behaviour increases its likelihood of occurring in future. This theory comes in handy to promote positive health behaviours. This is a great demonstration of how theories from other professions can be applied in nursing.

References

Blackman, D. E. (2017). Operant conditioning: an experimental analysis of behaviour. Routledge.

Blais, K. (2015). Professional nursing practice: Concepts and perspectives. Pearson.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Toward a psychology of optimal experience. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 209-226). Springer Netherlands.

Larsen, R. J., Buss, D. M., Wismeijer, A., Song, J., & van den Berg, S. M. (2017). Personality psychology: Domains of knowledge about human nature. McGraw Hill Education.

McLeod, S. (2015). BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning, simplypsychology. org.

Neisser, U. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Classic edition. Psychology Press.

Reeves, S., Pelone, F., Harrison, R., Goldman, J., & Zwarenstein, M. (2017). Interprofessional collaboration to improve professional practice and healthcare outcomes. The Cochrane Library.

Seligman, M. E., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Positive psychology: An introduction. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 279-298). Springer Netherlands.