Therapeutic Approach In Nursing, CBT and Nursing - Coursework Example

The nursing profession is a science and an art, in which the primary aim is to promote quality of life. It includes a comprehensive set of activities and duties by which individuals and families are assisted in a range of human life experiences ranging from birth, sickness and end of life. Florence Nightingale is the first person to start modern nursing practices and New Zealand was the first country to regulate nurses nationally.

Nursing Practice can be defined as the practice which involves the use of clinical judgment in providing help to patients so that they can improve, maintain, recover health and also to cope with health problems and achieve the best possible quality of life no matter what their disease or disability is, until the point of death.

Nursing diagnosis is a statement of a patient problem, which has arisen out of unmet needs, whether these are physical, psychological, social (bio-psychosocial problems), economic and spiritual (Hunt et al 1986). The nursing practice is based on a set of characteristics that defined the practice.

Nursing serves a particular purpose: The purpose of nursing is to improve health, healing, growth and development. It includes all steps required to prevent disease, illness, injury, and disability. Nursing is not just about helping people who are ill or disabled to recover from their illness, it is also about helping them to understand the nature of their illness and learn how to cope with their disease or disability. Nursing involves educating a patient about the treatment required and its consequences. In the event of a patient-facing inevitable death, the purpose of nursing is to maintain the best possible quality of life until the very end. Thus, nursing involves adopting a therapeutic approach to the treatment of patients.

Nursing uses a particular mode of intervention: Nursing interventions are aimed at empowering people and helping them to achieve, maintain or recover independence from their illnesses. The nursing approach to treatment is a comprehensive one that is inclusive of intellectual, physical, emotional and moral processes. These processes include the identification of nursing needs, the therapeutic interventions and personal care required by the patient. It also includes making an assessment of the education, advice needed to be given to the patient along with the physical, emotional and spiritual support needed to help the patient to recover.

Nursing has a focus: The focus of nursing is on treating the person as a whole and the human response in the event of a difficult situation (illness), rather than a particular aspect of the person or a particular pathological condition.

Nursing has a set of ethical values: The nursing practice is governed by a set of ethical values. The values respect the dignity, autonomy and uniqueness of human beings (every patient should be well-treated). It places a role on the nurse-patient relationship and the acceptance of personal accountability on part of the nurse for the decisions and actions taken by them. These nursing codes of ethics are expressed in written form and supported by a system of professional regulation.