Evaluating nursing practice through theories and models Essay

Evaluating nursing practice through theories and models - Essay Example Models become necessary when representations of various interactions among different concepts needs to be shown and patterns established. Theories should be able to give nursing practice the foundation it needs in order to develop more knowledge in the area and provide the direction such a nursing professional practice needs to take (Alligood & Tomey, 2002, pp.56-78). The paper looks at these nursing models and theories and in particular addresses the Florence Nightingales Legacy of Caring; Orem Theory and Paplau's Theory and points out their underlying theoretical and evidence base for each of them. The strengths and weakness of each of these theories are also discussed. A case study will be carried out on one of these models and theories to help illustrate its application further. This case study involves how to take care of peripherally inserted central catheter paediatric patients for chemo therapy purpose long term care. The peripheral IV devises are those cannula that are inser ted into a peripheral vein that is small for purposes of therapy in cases where medications, blood products or fluids need to be administered to patients. The peripherally inserted central catheter devices or PICC are usually inserted into brachial veins or basilica or cephalic veins and do get into the large vein or superior vena cava. Little is however known regarding the risk of complications in applying these devices to paediatric patients with cancer who are under chemotherapy (Callaghan, et al., 2002, pp.256-64). This will be further illustrated by taking into account the metaparadigms in nursing application such as infection Control of this condition, relevant education that is needed, health situation, the environmental setting, and the kind of nursing required. A... The objective of this research is to acquire a better insight of nursing models and theories. There are various models that have been put forward in the nursing profession to help in the evidence based practices. Some of these models and theories include, but not limited to, Florence Nightingales Legacy of Caring, Orem’s Theory, Paplau's Theory, Neumans’s Health Care System Model, Myra Estrin Levine’s: The conservation model, and Patricia Benner’s Primacy of caring, among others. Indeed the importance of models and theories in nursing profession cannot be overemphasized because they hold a critical point in the evidence-based nursing practice which cannot be ignored if professional practice is to be upheld. These concepts are very useful in the success of any nursing professional in providing healthcare to his or her patients. The theoretical models discussed above have been used in various medical settings in assisting patients cope and deal with their co nditions. Paediatric patients on chemotherapy need special care. PICCs are a choice for patients who need long-term IV access and many practitioners would choose PICCs due to the fact that they are durable and pose fewer problems when it comes to insertion and their removal after use. There is however a high rate of complication with cancer patients when PICCs are used, especially during chemotherapy. But that aside, the fact that these PICCs do not require a surgical procedure, less pain experienced during insertion, and ease of removing them after use, make PICCs preferred for patients especially paediatric patients under chemotherapy.