Application of a Borrowed Theory to Problem

Document Type:Coursework

Subject Area:Nursing

Document 1

Learning theories, both middle range nursing theories and borrowed theories are inherent since they each provide nursing practitioners with new and diverse information that they use to develop and advance their practice. These theories then end up contributing either directly or indirectly to the field of nursing by providing nursing practitioners with a theoretical basis that acts as a guideline in nursing practice. Borrowed theories are thereby essential in the development of the field of nursing, particularly because they extensively explain phenomena related to nursing practice. A borrowed theory is hence, a conceptual or theoretical basis which is obtained from a different subject and applied in the field of nursing to try and explain a specific idea that is closely related to nursing practice (Villarruel et al, 2001).

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These borrowed theories closely impact on nursing practice and greatly contribute to the development of nursing theories. There are no regulations limiting the number hours that nurses should work. Application of a Middle Range Theory to Solve Long Working Hours Several middle range nursing theories can be applied to resolve the problem of long working hours. Importantly, due to the problem of under staffing, Larrabee’s theory is essential as it will ensure for the efficiency of the nursing profession by guaranteeing that nursing practitioners maintain quality services and perform their duties diligently. Quality of Nursing Care by Larrabee Larrabee provided for a middle range nursing theory that provides for a theoretical basis of the quality of nursing care that should be provided.

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She uses a world view perspective to understand the ideas of providing for quality of nursing care. Compassion can basically be described as the feeling of concern, empathy, understanding, care and being sensitive to others. However, according to Gilbert compassion entails more than feeling traits such as warmth, gentleness and kindness. Gilbert integrates a more scientific approach to the definition of a compassionate mind. According to the theory, individuals develop compassion for the same reasons that primates developed affiliative relationships that enable group survival (Cole-King & Gilbert, 2014). Actually, most mammalian species show distress when they sense pain in their infants. Compassionate care then acts as a fix for the problem of neglect brought about by nurses working long shifts. One of the major aspects of compassionate care is empathy.

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Empathy is the ability to comprehend and share the emotions of others. It allows nurses to feel what the patient is going through, to be specific comprehending the importance of a patient’s dignity. This in turn ensures that nurses carry out their duties to elderly patients in a respectful manner even when they are fatigued which improves their recovery or contributes to a peaceful death of the patients. An important aspect is the Schwartz rounds that provide nursing practitioners with a structured forum to discuss and share the challenges that come due the challenging nature of the nursing profession (Cole-King & Gilbert, 2014). These rounds are convenient since they enable nurses to deal with the emotional fatigue experienced because of providing compassionate care and working long shifts.

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As nurses share their challenging experiences they are able to identify their similarities and can then support each other in their daily routines thereby reducing levels of fatigue accompanied with the problem of long working hours thus ensuring for a quality healthcare system. Application of the quality of nursing care theory by Larrabee and compassionate care theory ensures for a quality nursing system that is more efficient as employment of either of the theories results to positive patient outcomes which is a clear indicator of an effective and competent health care system. Therefore, integration of both of these theories is inherent due to the fact that they both directly tackle the problem of long working hours by providing solutions to the issues that are brought about by this problem.

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