Also, Henderson’s conceptualization of care can be applied to advance practice nursing by continuing to care for our patients and helping them achieve their basic needs through their recovery. The way we can do this as an advanced practice nurse is by decreasing anxiety levels in our patients. For example, in today’s practice I have witnessed many patients who experience anxiety due to them not being clear on what is happening while they are at the hospital, or also because they did not understand what a doctor or another professional explained to them. However, as an advanced practice nurse we can apply one of Henderson’s 14 components “communicate with others in expressing emotions, needs, fears, or opinions” (Smith, M., & Parker, M. 2015, p. 58) when we speak to our patients. Instead of explaining a procedure or anything we are trying to communicate to our patients and not verifying if they understood or how they feel, we should take the time to make sure our patients are understanding what we are saying in order for them to be aware of what is happening with their case every time, therefore decreasing their anxiety levels.
One MSN Essential that most relates to this topic would be essential II Organizational and Systems Leadership. According to Henderson “the nurse is, and should be legally, an independent practitioner and able to make independent judgments...” (p.62). Even though Henderson is referring to nurses in this statement it still applies to the advanced practice nurse since it supports the idea of us being leaders of our patients care. Once we have a master’s in nursing, we are expected to think in a leadership role to initiate and make our plan of every patient we work with to practice.
References
Smith, M., & Parker, M. (2015). NURSING THEORIES AND NURSING PRACTICE. Place of publication not identified: F A DAVIS.
The Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing [Pdf]. (2011, March 21). American Association of Colleges of Nursing.