Nursing Care Models

Nursing Care Models

Nursing, as a fundamental segment of the healthcare system, encompasses collaborative and autonomous care of people of all ages, communities, groups, families, well, or sick and in all settings. It entails the promotion of health, prevention of sickness, and taking care of the ill, physically disabled and dying individuals (Lewis, Stacey, Squires, & Carroll, 2016). Nursing care models are approaches or techniques which are employed by nurses to plan, investigate clinical practice-related issues and come up with solutions which work best for both patients and nurses.

Nursing care models used nowadays are based on a variety of factors like economic issues, the ability of the healthcare company to hire and retain its workers, and the leadership of the organization. It is worth to remember that different healthcare organizations have different needs, and this means that they will apply different nursing care models. At the organizational levels, the theories differ from one department to another. Nursing Care Models

Interprofessional Practice Model

Interprofessional practice model is one of the nursing care models which is widely applied in my nursing practicing environment. The schedule of the head nurse is usually very tight. As floor nurses, we work in partnership with case management, dietary unit, and rehab department. According to Finkelman (2016), “The interprofessional practice model is emphasized in the IOM reports on quality improvement by identifying the importance of all health professions meeting the interdisciplinary or interprofessional competency and underlining the need to work in interprofessional teams to co-operate, collaborate, communicate, and integrate care in groups to make sure that care is reliable and continuous” The group usually includes various nurses from different expertise and occupations meant to meets the health care needs of the patient. Nursing Care Models

Its ability to encompass different experts from different levels of health care setting has made the model be among the widely used theories in tackling complex patient needs. Members of the team are supposed to exercise teamwork to ensure that patient needs and objectives met.  Nursing Care Models As floor nurses, our typical day starts by meeting as a group. After meeting as a team, we then proceed to the case management department to make sure that patients’ needs are met before being discharged. for those patients who cannot be able to walk on their own without support, we usually ensure that they are given either cane or wheelchair to ease their movement. Aside from the case management department, we work hand in hand with other departments such as the rehab unit. Nursing Care Models

Nursing Care Models

Having a close working relationship with the rehab department enables us to receive real-time information on the progress of patients under the unit. I chose to use this model because we usually apply its concepts on a daily basis in the nursing working environment. The theory operates on the assumption that if the healthcare providers and patients will have a collaborative relationship, various issues which affect communities, individuals, and groups will be able to be solved. Having a collaborative working relationship between nurses and patients will enable the nurses to get correct information about patients’ needs. With accurate information, healthcare providers will be able to gather and apply appropriate resources in tackling the patient need. Nursing Care Models

Team Nursing Model – Nursing Care Models

Team nursing model is a nursing care approach which uses a group of individuals directed by a competent nurse. The method was first introduced in the 1950s. It is a delivery model which provides care to a section of patients by coordinating a group of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), Registered Nurse (RNs), and aides. All the personnel are under the supervision of the team leader. Nursing Care Models

Team nursing basically entails the allocation of a group of patients to a small team of staff under the control of the team leader.  Nursing Care Models In my nursing practicing environment, we also use team nursing based on the situation. In the team nursing, the registered nurse acts a team leader and organize a small group, not more than five, of auxiliary personnel to offer care to a small section of patients (Fairbrother, Chiarella, & Braithwaite, 2015). The team leader has a duty to create a collaborative environment and ensuring that there is clear communication among the team members. Nursing Care Models

Nursing Care Models

Apart from creating a collaborative environment, the nurse leader’s duty includes assigning duties, planning, assisting team members, directing, teaching, coordinating patent activities, and giving direct patient care. The team leader allocates each team member specific duties dependent on the role. The members report directly to nurse leader who in turn reports to the unit manager or the nurse in charge. Communication is strengthened through the application of the written patent assignments, development of nursing care programs, and use of team conferences which are regularly scheduled. Nursing Care Models

For the theory to be useful, the team leader needs to possess excellent communication skills, strong clinical skills, delegation ability, ability to create a collaborative environment, and decision-making ability. Compared to the functional nursing model, team nursing model has a variety of benefits. One of the advantages is that the team members are not much fatigued and stressed compared functional nursing theory. The second benefit is that it equips less experienced members with more knowledge because they will be learning from the experts. Nursing Care Models

On the other hand, the approach has its drawbacks, especially in communication. Having a team of members doesn’t mean that each will operate as a team. The team leader will require more time to ensure that each member works within the objective framework. Having a group made up professional and non-professional members may affect communication, and in turn affect care delivery. Nursing Care Models

Primary Nursing – Nursing Care Models

Primary nursing is a comprehensive, personalized care which is provided by the same health care provider for the period of care. The model focuses on continuity of care having one health care provider offering complete care for a section of inpatients within the nursing unit (Payne & Steakley, 2015). This kind of nursing enables the nurse to provide direct patient care. Under this model, the nurse is supposed to communicate with team members concerning the health care of the patient. The theory operates under the assumption that assigning a small number of patients to a nurse will foster a proper relationship between the nurse and the patient. Nursing Care Models

Having a good relationship between the two parties will enhance the efforts of providing quality care. The primary stresses on 24-hour care whereby the nurse is supposed to monitor the patient(s) assigned to them on continuous basis. The model is suitable for patients suffering from chronic illnesses such as cancer, Asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis among others. Most healthcare institutions rejected this theory despite its effectiveness in providing quality care because it is expensive.

Functional Nursing Model – Nursing Care Models

Functional nursing model is a task and activity theory which focuses on the jobs to be done. It was first introduced during the Second World War. This was the period when the health care providers were needed to offer care for the wounded individuals. The head nurse allocated the tasks to different nurses. The tasks were ranging from dressing, beds, medical administration, vital signs among others.  For instance, one health care provider could administer drugs to some or all the patients while another nurse took vital symptoms for all patients. The tasks were allocated to the assignees based on their level of experience and the nature of the job. Nursing Care Models

One of the benefits of this theory is that it gets things done. Secondly, it is cost effective and makes sure that all the available resources are utilized adequately.

Nursing Care Models

On the other hand, the theory also has its disadvantages. According to Finkelman (2016), “a disadvantage of this model is the risk of fragmented care. Nursing Care Models” Additionally, this approach also results in higher job dissatisfaction. The employees usually feel like they’re just grinding out jobs. Doing similar task may lead to boredom which in turn may adversely affect the job performance. The other drawback is that sometimes the health care of the patient may be comprised mainly in a circumstance where different nurses provide care without considering other patient needs and care offered by others. In most cases, the staff usually concentrates more on the efforts and less on the outcome, and this may lead to poor delivery of care. (Lyons, 2014). Nursing Care Models

Conclusion

After thoroughly going through the nursing care theories or models, I came to realize that each approach has a direct impact on both the healthcare institution and patient care. I understood that each method was formulated to achieve specific objectives. I came to realize that nowadays most healthcare institutions are trying to merge the models with the intention of providing quality health care. Nursing Care Models