In the contemporary society, many nurses experienced various types of problems at the workplace. One of the common problems that the nurses experience is staffing shortage which leads to overworking of the nurses and fatigue (Siela, Twibell, & Keller, 2008) . Consequently, this results in a lot of stress, more so, for those who work in high acuity units. Evidently, many hospitals in present times are more fixated on getting more profits as opposed to the quality of care they give to the patient. Therefore, this makes the staffing problem to be a concern to the nurses both professionally and personally. This is because; the nurse is personally concerned with the well-being of the client. That is, the life of the patient is in their hand. Subsequently, the nurse license is always on the line, therefore, in case they fail to deliver they may be discontinued form working and their licenses revoked. Staffing problem affects the nurse’s health as it often leads to tiredness, injuries as well as inability to care for the patients adequately. The purpose of this essay is to apply a middle range theory to help solve the issue of fatigue in nursing due to staffing shortages which might affect the quality of healthcare.
Notably, middle range theory is a theory which is organized, and unlike inclusive other nursing theories, it also has a limited scope (Liehr, & Smith, 2017). This theory mainly concentrates on the concept of pain hope, grief as well as the quality of life of all the patients. The main middle age theory that will be applied in dealing with the tiredness that nurses get due to inadequate staffing is the theory of Interpersonal relations by Peplau. Essentially, this theory best describes the values of a partnership between the nurses and their patients. As such, t automatically helps nurses as well as other caregivers to create a better therapeutic intervention for the patients within a clinical setting. The main objective is to create a shared experience for the clients and nurses and to ensure there is cohesion which then leads to delivering quality services to patients. Basically, when nurse listens to their clients, they are able to understand easily the underlying problem. As such they can easily confirm what the client is saying to ensure there is a peaceful agreement.
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The theory is made up of four main concepts. To begin with, there is the person seen as the developing organism that reduces the anxiety which is caused by needs (Peterson, & Bredow, 2009) . Secondly, there is the environment which is seen as the forces outside an organism within the context of culture. The third concept is health, noted as the “forward movement of personality” as well as other human processes which are in continuous motion in line with constructive, creative, productive community and personal living. Lastly, there is nursing which is considered as a fundamental therapeutic interpersonal process. It is seen as functioning with other human processes which are aimed at making health possible.
Thus the nurse is seen as laying various roles according to the theory. For instance, they are seen as counselors who help a client to understand the meaning of the circumstances in their life and also provide guidance and encouragement to these patients (Peterson, & Bredow, 2009) . Additionally, nurses are seen as leaders who help their patients to assume full responsibility for meeting the treatment objectives they have set in a mutually satisfying way. The nurse is also seen as a stranger who meets the patients and creates conducive environment for the patient based on trust and acceptance. Moreover, they are seen as resource people who provide information that is needed by the patient to understand the causes of their problems. In light of this, nurses are tasked with a lot of critical responsibilities which they have to carry out carefully to ensure that the patient receives quality health care (Liehr, & Smith, 2017) .
In achieving a proper interpersonal relationship the theory suggests four important phases which are sequential. The first phase is the orientation phase which basically deals with the identification of the type of service that is needed by the patient. In this phase, the patient explains to the nurse their condition and shares their preconception as well as expectations. They may also ask the nurse any question that they might have regarding the issue. Thus this phase mainly deals with the assessment of the patient’s situation by the nurse. The second stage is the identification stage which the nurses develop an appropriate intervention. This enables the client to feel hopeful and at ease. The third phase is the exploitation phase whereby there is the use of “professional assistance for problem-solving alternatives” (Peterson, & Bredow, 2009) . The nurses help the patients to exploit various avenues of help in order to get some progress as far as their health and well-being is concerned. The final phase is the resolution phase which deals with the termination of the professional relationship as the needs of the client are already met.
With regards to the above, provides an excellent way of addressing the issue of fatigue in nurses as there is a great coloration between them and their clients (Liehr, & Smith, 2017) . Rather than just the nurse being responsible for the well-being of the patient, the client is also involved in ensuring that their health improves. Also, the theory provides for different phases which enable the nurse to understand clearly what the problems of the patients are with ease. As such, the nurse spends considerably less time with the client and is able to attend to other people. This is because, by establishing a proper therapeutic relationship with the patients, this creates an environment which enables the patients to openly discuss their matter. By listening to the client’s properly, the nurse can easily identify the patient’s source of the problem.
By applying this theory to the practice nurses are able to apply the principle of human relations in solving the problems they encounter. The interpersonal process adopted enables the nurse and clients to work together by following a series of steps. As a result, there are only minor cases of clinical errors which are noted (Siela, Twibell, & Keller, 2008) . This fact can be attributed to the fact that even when there is a shortage of nurses, the patients are able to work hand in hand with the clients to identify the possible intervention for their situation.
The middle range theory comprises of several theories which are applied to nursing practice to deal with some of the challenges encountered by the health caregivers. As discussed above, the interpersonal relation theory by Peplau is one of the middle range theory that can best address the issue of nurse fatigue which is caused by a shortage of staff in health facilities. As such, the nurses get overworked which affects their ability to deliver quality services and puts their health at a risk. However, they can use the interpersonal relation theory to develop a therapeutic relationship with the patients. This encourages the clients to open up easily to the nurse concerning their situation which in turn enables the nurse to develop a proper intervention. This helps the nurse to take minimal time per patient thus they do not overwork.
References
Liehr, P., & Smith, M. J. (2017). Middle Range Theory: a perspective on development and use. Advances in Nursing Science , 40 (1), 51-63.
Peterson, S. J., & Bredow, T. S. (Eds.). (2009). Middle range theories: application to nursing research . Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Siela, D., Twibell, K. R., & Keller, V. (2008). The Shortage of Nurses and Nursing Faculty What Critical Care Nurses Can Do. AACN Advanced Critical Care , 19 (1), 66-77.
