Nursing is a comprehensive healthcare profession that requires the application of various aspects, including knowledge of practice and nursing perspectives guided by the standards and theories of practice. The nursing knowledge for nursing practices is an essential component that determines various aspects related to the most critical stakeholders and components: the nurses, clients, environment, and the practice itself. The advanced level sub-competencies of the knowledge of nursing practice help guide the practice and allow the nurses to make informed decisions and actions.
Some sub-competencies in the domain include applying nursing theories in practice, incorporating evidence-based knowledge, and incorporating other disciplines. Another sub-competency is demonstrating clinical judgment based on broader nursing knowledge. Lastly, it includes understanding and incorporating integrated perspectives of nursing and those integrated from other disciplines (American Associations of Colleges of Nursing, 2024). My experience in training, courses, and clinical practice integrates these aspects, emphasizing their application to promote effective practice and quality care
The course has consistently applied the domain by providing a curriculum curtailed to integrate these aspects. I have interacted with and extensively researched nursing theories from renowned theorists such as Florence Nightingale. I have also integrated other frameworks used for decision-making and guiding the practice, including Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. When addressing patients’ needs, I apply these theories by addressing every aspect of patients’ needs and promoting a safe environment for the patients. Additionally, I use evidence-based practice, which has been proven or approved by nursing organizations or literature to be effective. For instance, recently, I interacted with an elderly patient with fractures associated with falls. Following Nightingale’s theory, I understood the essence of providing patients with a conducive environment that promotes recovery. I also practiced integrative care by ensuring that all patients’ psychological, spiritual, and social needs were met. I thought that these approaches would promote positive patient outcomes. I expected that the patient could have a quicker recovery and reduced hospital stay if the aspects above were duly exercised. As expected, the patient had a reduced stay at the hospital, meaning these aspects help promote quality and effective care.
Clinical judgment in nursing requires various practices that I have applied to understand the patients before making any decisions. This includes comprehensive patient assessment and analysis of the data to understand the recommended approaches that could improve patient care. These processes require integrating all the aspects of nursing knowledge. Also, I understand and integrate the values and principles (Rafii et al., 2021). These include confidentiality, integrity, respect, advocacy, empathy, collaboration, competency, and accountability.
In applying these sub-level competencies and the associated actions, I felt that integrating these aspects is exciting and necessary to improve healthcare outcomes. If these aspects are fully integrated into the learning curriculum and the nursing practice, I think adverse healthcare outcomes could be reduced. I have learned the importance of integrating or using evidence-based practices and theories and integrating values and perspectives to promote justice and equality for all (Rafii et al., 2021). Therefore, I will apply them in future practice.
Often, patients are vulnerable populations, with the physical, mental, and spiritual, among other aspects of health and wellness affected. Understanding this aspect promotes awareness of the need to practice according to the standards and regulations of the practice. I will use appropriate theories and perspectives in healthcare while addressing pertinent patient issues.
The experience above has been of significant importance, especially for future professions. All the actions and the resulting outcomes have instilled in me excellent knowledge of practice, and I have understood how they can be harmonized to promote health and wellness in the population. Grasping these aspects instills in me the confidence to practice as a nurse practitioner. It also emphasizes the importance and the need for continuous research and education while in practice to promote evidence-based practice.
American Associations of Colleges of Nursing. (2024). Home. AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/essentials/tool-kit/domains-concepts/knowledge-for-nursing-practice
Rafii, F., Nasrabadi, A. N., & Tehrani, F. J. (2021). How Nurses Apply Patterns of Knowing in Clinical Practice: A Grounded Theory Study. Ethiopian journal of health sciences, 31(1), 139–146. https://doi.org/10.4314/ejhs.v31i1.16