Nursing Critical Thinking and Patient Care Delivery (Essay Sample)

Nursing Critical Thinking and Patient Care Delivery
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Nursing Critical Thinking and Patient Care Delivery
In the current case study, it is evident that other healthcare workers can have a negative effect on the delivery of patient care. According to the philosophy and caring model engineered by Jean Watson, caring can not only be demonstrated but also practiced (Alligood, 2002). Caring can be seen to encompass caring factors, and at the same time, promotes growth. In that case, a caring environment accepts the patients as he or she is and looks at the bigger picture of helping that person become better in terms of health. It provides the patient with a development potential. The model proposed by Jean Watson is anchored on a number of principles such as the development of help-trusting relationships, championship of a supportive environment, promoting the feeling of hope, and cementing a value system that is humanistic-altruistic in nature (Alligood, 2002).
Looking at the case study at hand, the outgoing nurse is showing a non-caring attitude. In fact, she thinks that the patient is to blame for his condition; he is questioning why the patient had to indulge in excessive drinking to the point of damaging his liver. This attitude does not promote a caring environment as outlined by Watson. Additionally, the outgoing nurse has not accepted the patient as he is, and does not look at the bigger picture of helping that patient become better in terms of health. This negative thinking is likely to have an effect on the incoming nurse. It can make the incoming nurse have a don’t-care attitude simply because the patient’s predicaments are self-inflicted.
A Registered Nurse (RN), owing to their educational attainments and experience can handle such negative impacts in a smart way without necessarily compromising the care of the patient at hand. RNs are highly trained personnel with decent decision-making skills, and this is where their higher education and experience comes into play. A RN should focus on evidenced-based and prioritize the core values of nursing (Ballard, 2003). In such a scenario, A RN must realize that whether or not the patient’s predicaments are self-inflicted, it is their duty to provide sufficient care and support. It is unethical and illegal to sabotage care simply because the patient is to blame for their predicaments.
In the present day healthcare system, the delivery of care is a combination of different interfaces, as well as patient handoffs among a host of healthcare practitioners that possess different training and educational levels (Ballard, 2003). As these practitioners interact in the course of providing care, their decisions and actions are intertwined. A given nurs...