Health Care Delivery and Nursing Practice. Like other sectors of American society, the healthcare industry has undergone significant transformations in recent decades. Shifts in the healthcare business substantially impact nursing as a healthcare profession and a vital component of the healthcare delivery system. In addition, nursing has been and will continue to be a significant influence on the healthcare system’s future.
The Health Care Industry and the Nursing Profession
Despite the fact that changes in the healthcare system have had an impact on nursing care delivery, the definition of nursing has persisted to distinguish nursing care and highlight the major aspects of nursing care.
Nursing Defined
Nursing has been regarded as both an art and science by nursing leaders since Florence Nightingale wrote in 1858 that the purpose of nursing was “to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him.” The definition of nursing, on the other hand, has changed over time. The American Nurses Association (ANA) described nursing as “the diagnosis and treatment of human reactions to health and illness” in its Social Policy Statement (ANA, 1995), and gave the following list of phenomena that are the focus of nursing care and research:
- Self-care processes
- Rest, sleep, breathing, circulation, reproduction, activity, nourishment, excretion, skin, sexuality, and communication are all physiologic and pathophysiologic processes.
- Comfort, pain, and discomfort
- Emotions triggered by health and sickness experiences
- Health and sickness have different meanings.
- Decision-making and decision-making capacity
- Self-image and control over one’s body and surroundings are examples of perceptual orientations.
- Major life transitions, such as birth, growth, development, and death
- Relationships with others, especially freedom from oppression and abuse.
- Environmental systems
THE PATIENT and CLIENT: CONSUMER OF NURSING AND HEALTH CARE
The patient, of course, is the central figure in health-care services. Patients have long been referred to as “patients,” a term derived from a Latin verb that means “to suffer.” The word’s most common connotation is one of dependency. As a result, many nurses prefer to refer to their patients as clients, which is derived from a Latin verb that means “to lean,” and connotes cooperation and interdependence. The term patient will be used throughout this book for the purposes of this book, but either phrase is acceptable.
A patient seeking treatment for a health problem or problems (an increasing number of people have many health problems) is a person, a family member, and a member of the community. Patients’ needs vary depending on their problem, the environment, and previous experiences. Identifying the patient’s urgent requirements and taking action to address them is one of the most critical duties of the nurse in health care.
The Patients Basic Needs
Certain wants are universal and must be met in order to be fulfilled. Prioritization is used to handle such needs, which means that some are more urgent than others. When a person’s basic needs are met, they have a higher level of need. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is reflected in how needs are approached in terms of priority.
Maslow’s Hierarchy
Physiologic needs, safety and security, belongingness and affection, esteem and self-respect, and self-actualization, which encompasses self-fulfillment, drive to know and comprehend, and aesthetic wants, were all ranked by Maslow. Lower-level needs will always exist, but the ability to pursue higher-level needs indicates that a person is progressing toward psychological health and well-being. A hierarchy of needs is a valuable organizational framework that can be used to assess a patient’s strengths, limitations, and need for nursing interventions in various nursing models.
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