Section I
Choosing nursing as an area of study and a career is one of the most important decisions I have ever made in my life. Committing myself to a career of caring for patients and less fortunate people in the society is something I did with utmost pride and also to fulfil my unending dream. Throughout my education so far, I have been able to meet and interact with many people in their best moments. I have also been unlucky to interact with people in their worst hours and at points where they desperately need care. In most cases, I have had the desire and the urge to help people at public places whenever they need care from a nurse. Unfortunately, the lack of nursing knowledge has constantly barred me from helping, with the desire to do so constantly growing.
My friends, relatives, close family members, as well as strangers in public places, have all been in need of nursing care yet I am always unable to assist. Specifically, I have watched people get injured while others have fainted yet I was unable to offer relevant nursing assistance. Unfortunately, the best assistance I have been able to provide is calling for help and even failed to get that help sometimes. At medical facilities, I always admired the work of nurses and the fact that all patients and their family members always look up to them to assist in the recovery of a patient. The fact that they outstandingly feature at almost all points in medical facilities made my admiration for their job rise constantly.
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I once witnessed a gentleman quickly get the first aid box to assist another man who had been cut by a sharp object. The man chose not to alight at his bus stop to care for the fresh wounds sustained by the injured man. I admired the level of sacrifice that the nurse, the fact that he nodded to the call of duty at such a place. I was moved by the job he did at that particular time . That instance made me understand even further, the huge responsibility that nurses have in the society. Moreover, his selflessness and sacrifice are a pair of attributes that made me constantly wish to assist people in society with such a service. Having been a lover of sport, I have seen footballers and athletes in other sports bow out of games due to injuries.
Growing up as a young lover of the sport made me interact with potential talented young players who missed great opportunities because of injuries, others had their injuries worsen because of lack of adequate care. For these reasons, I have had the drive and the desire to sign up to nursing and to assist people with care services, and specifically improve their healing processes. The desire to make inflict a difference in people’s lives even if I did not know them, took over me over from a very young age. This is the main reason I signed up to nursing so that I can help people out whenever they are in need of care My desire to assist the community is the main reason behind me settling for nursing. Nursing gives me the best opportunity to give back to the community that brought me up. Section II
The theory of interpersonal relations is one that has been used to guide the work of nurses since the start of the 20 th century and has since only been changed a little to make nurses’ work even better in the society. This theory guides communication between nurses and their patients and thus improves the quality of care offered by nurses to patients (Deane & Fain, 2016). Having been developed by Hildegard Peplau, the theory expands nurses’ understanding of themselves and their patients before administering communication (Deane & Fain, 2016). Understanding oneself enables a nurse get to know how to balance their personal issues with work and how to prevent those personal issues from hindering work.
Nurses have a responsibility to help other people identify their own issues such as illnesses and subsequently make a move to assist them through those issues. Nurses ought to study patients’ way of life before getting to administer care in the best way to help them through their issues (Peplau, Travelbee & Orlando, 2015). Moreover, nurses ought to guide patients through self-care after their respective treatments to improve their recovery speeds. The interpersonal theory presents the need for a good working relationship between nurses and their patients and helps eradicate any hindrances that reduce the impact of nurses on their patients.
Creating a stable interpersonal relationship with patients goes through a process before the relationship is good and healthy and is guided by understanding the patient. Student nurses go through the study of the various phases which include orientation, identification, exploitation and finally, resolution. According to Peplau, the need to set up an interpersonal relationship with patients is triggered by the need to help the patients with an issue, probably offer care services. Subsequently, the existence of a good working relationship inspires a good healing process of the patient on whatever problem that they suffer from.
Both the nurse and the patient have a goal to achieve a goal. While a patient has a problem that ought to be solved, the nurse is under obligation to help the patient out, having signed up for the responsibility to help a patient out in whatever circumstance. Creating a working relationship with a patient is a process that takes time before it matures (Hagerty, Samuels, Norcini-Pala & Gigliotti, 2017). A nurse must patiently work on the relationship because the quality of care offered by nurses depends on the relationship. The various stages must occur before a patient gets to acknowledge the nurse fully. In certain cases, such as nursing for children or persons with disabilities, a nurse must understand the various concepts that guide the making of a working relationship with them to enable their work.
Section III
Understanding the interpersonal theory of nursing has greatly inspired my nursing career so far and shaped my personal attributes in the field of nursing, I am now able to effectively deliver service. As a student nurse, I have been able to handle a couple of patients in my clinical work and got the opportunity to apply the knowledge to realize my dream of becoming the good nurse that I always wanted to be. In a couple of instances, I have had to offer care to elderly patients, persons with little understanding of English and persons with various disabilities, among others. In all instances, I have learned through the knowledge of interpersonal theory to create a conducive environment where patients understood their conditions and their respective state of health. Above all, I have strived to build trust with my patients because trust is very much important in creating a communication relationship with them and offering them quality care (Arnold & Boggs, 2019). Trust has enabled my patients to open up to me, share their problems and key information that has subsequently guided my delivery for care.
Moreover, I have an attribute that seeks to prioritize the care provision for a patient over and above anything that is personal. In which case, I always strive to sacrifice my personal commitments to serve my patients at all times. This particular attribute has substantially contributed to the growth of my nursing career so far. I have been able to offer care services to people at home and in a couple of public instances, something that has sealed my commitment to saving a life. Similarly, this has widened my nursing experience, specifically giving me the ability to work effectively with lesser facilities than are always available at the hospital. This is the kind of experience that has substantially increased my ability to save a life, something that I committed to at the beginning of the nursing course. I can confidently affirm that my selfless attribute, as well as the desire to make a difference in the society, have both played a crucial part in my nursing career so far. These pair of attributes have built my commitment and triggered my urge to satisfy my patients at all times.
My long-time interaction with sports personalities, especially soccer players, made me understand the common injuries that befall them. At the same time, I learned more about the types of care that ought to be accorded to them prior to and after games and workouts. This past knowledge has also improved my nursing care service delivery and improved my work greatly. I have been able to effectively offer nursing care to sports personalities because of the experience I had with them. I am quite certain that I will build myself a successful career with my lessons and attributes. I understand the importance of a good nurse-to-patient relationship. I am equally certain that interpersonal understanding theory will guide me through perfecting such relationships whenever I practice. Subsequently, I will be in a way better position to effectively offer care to patients even in the future.
References
Arnold, E. C., & Boggs, K. U. (2019). Interpersonal Relationships E-Book: Professional Communication Skills for Nurses . Elsevier Health Sciences.
Deane, W. H., & Fain, J. A. (2016). Incorporating Peplau’s theory of interpersonal relations to promote holistic communication between older adults and nursing students. Journal of Holistic Nursing , 34 (1), 35-41.
Hagerty, T. A., Samuels, W., Norcini-Pala, A., & Gigliotti, E. (2017). Peplau ’s Theory of Interpersonal Relations: An Alternate Factor Structure for Patient Experience Data?. Nursing science quarterly , 30 (2), 160-167.
Peplau, H., Travelbee, J., & Orlando, I. J. (2015). Nurse –Patient Relationship Theories. Nursing Theories and Nursing Practice , 67 .
