Nursing or interprofessional theories

Full Answer Section

         

2. Relevance of the Theory to My Intended Practice Specialty: Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (AGNP) in Primary Care

  As an Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (AGNP) in primary care, Orem's SCDNT is profoundly relevant and foundational to my practice. My role involves managing chronic conditions, promoting health, and preventing disease across the adult and older adult lifespan. Many of my patients will present with complex, multi-morbid conditions that significantly impact their ability to perform daily self-care activities and manage their health.

• Holistic Assessment: SCDNT provides a structured framework for assessing not just the patient's medical diagnoses but their actual self-care abilities and the specific deficits they face in meeting their health needs.
• Patient Empowerment: The theory inherently promotes patient empowerment by emphasizing the patient's agency and potential for self-care. My goal as an AGNP is to enable patients to be active participants in their health management, not just passive recipients of care.
• Chronic Disease Management: A large part of AGNP practice involves chronic disease management (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, heart failure). These conditions demand significant self-care (medication adherence, dietary changes, exercise, monitoring). Orem's theory directly addresses how nurses can support patients in meeting these ongoing self-care requisites.
• Health Promotion and Prevention: By understanding individuals' self-care capabilities, I can tailor health promotion and disease prevention strategies, focusing on building self-care knowledge and skills rather than simply prescribing interventions.
• Tailored Interventions: The concept of different nursing systems (wholly, partly, supportive-educative) allows me to customize my interventions based on the patient's specific level of self-care deficit, ranging from providing complete care for a severely ill patient to educating and supporting a highly independent individual.

 

3. Current Healthcare Issue/Societal Need/Practice Problem: Poor Adherence to Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management in Older Adults

  A significant current healthcare issue and practice problem in Adult-Gerontology Primary Care is poor adherence to self-management regimens among older adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). This includes challenges with medication adherence (oral agents or insulin), dietary modifications, regular physical activity, blood glucose monitoring, and foot care.

Sample Answer

         

Nursing Theory in Advanced Practice: Applying Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory

   

1. Identified Nursing Theory: Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory (SCDNT)

  Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory (SCDNT), developed by Dorothea Orem, is a grand nursing theory that focuses on the individual's ability to perform self-care and the role of nursing when that ability is compromised. The theory posits that individuals have self-care requisites (universal, developmental, and health deviation requisites) that must be met to maintain life, health, development, and well-being. When individuals are unable to meet these requisites, they experience a self-care deficit. Nursing intervenes through various nursing systems (wholly compensatory, partly compensatory, or supportive-educative) to assist the individual in overcoming these deficits and achieve optimal self-care.