Responses to at least two classmates’ postings should be approximately 200 words and should be thoughtful, substantial, polite and more extensive than a simple “well done” phrase or “I agree.” Consider points of agreement, disagreement, assumptions, and value judgments. You will be able to respond to others after you submit your initial post. Your grade will be affected by how thoughtful your replies and initial questions are answered.

The purpose of this assignment is to stimulate reflection about an experience, rather than just documenting the experience.

First, complete the questionnaire portion of “What Is Your Role in Communicating Research Information? Part I Questionnaire and Scoring Guide” resource.

Score the questionnaire using the same resource.

One way to keep from simply documenting the event is to begin your answer to the above questions with one of the following phrases:

1. During my experience, I felt…
2. I learned… about myself.
3. The significance or meaning of my learning is…
4. I discovered I …

Refer to the “Feeling Words” resource. The list of feeling words may serve as an aid to identify feelings that may occur during health care professional-patient interactions.

Based on the questionnaire results, as well as the insights gained from the Topic 1 readings, write a 250- to 500-word reflection, addressing the following questions:

• How would you describe your success with communicating?
• What did you learn about your communication style that enables you to communicate effectively?
• How will you work to increase your communication ability with compassion and care for others?
• How will you use this research process to communicate what you have learned about your communication skills that will help you as a health care professional?

 Mrs. Smith was a 73-year-old widow who lived alone with no significant social support. She had been suffering from emphysema for several years and had had frequent hospitalizations for respiratory problems. On the last hospital admission, her pneumonia quickly progressed to organ failure. Death appeared to be imminent, and she went in and out of consciousness, alone in her hospital room. The medical-surgical nursing staff and the nurse manager focused on making Mrs. Smith’s end-of-life period as comfortable as possible. Upon consultation with the vice president for nursing, the nurse manager and the unit staff nurses decided against moving Mrs. Smith to the palliative care unit, although considered more economical, because of the need to protect and nurture her because she was already experiencing signs and symptoms of the dying process. Nurses were prompted by an article they read on human caring as the “language of nursing practice” (Turkel, Ray, & Kornblatt, 2012) in their weekly caring practice meetings.

The nurse manager reorganized patient assignments. She felt that the newly assigned clinical nurse leader who was working between both the medical and surgical units could provide direct nurse caring and coordination at the point of care (Sherman, 2012). Over the next few hours, the clinical nurse leader and a staff member who had volunteered her assistance provided personal care for Mrs. Smith. The clinical nurse leader asked the nurse manager whether there was a possibility that Mrs. Smith had any close friends who could “be there” for her in her final moments. One friend was discovered and came to say goodbye to Mrs. Smith. With help from her team, the clinical nurse leader turned, bathed, and suctioned Mrs. Smith. She spoke quietly, prayed, and sang hymns softly in Mrs. Smith’s room, creating a peaceful environment that expressed compassion and a deep sense of caring for her. The nurse manager and nursing unit staff were calmed and their “hearts awakened” by the personal caring that the clinical nurse leader and the volunteer nurse provided. Mrs. Smith died with caring persons at her bedside, and all members of the unit staff felt comforted that she had not died alone.

Davidson, Ray, and Turkel (2011) note that caring is complex, and caring science includes the art of practice, “an aesthetic which illuminates the beauty of the dynamic nurse-patient relationship, that makes possible authentic spiritual-ethical choices for transformation—healing, health, well-being, and a peaceful death” (p. xxiv). As the clinical nurse leader and the nursing staff in this situation engaged in caring practice that focused on the well-being of the patient, they simultaneously created a caring-healing environment that contributed to the well-being of the whole—the emotional atmosphere of the unit, the ability of the clinical nurse leader and staff nurses to practice caringly and competently, and the quality of care the staff were able to provide to other patients. The bureaucratic nature of the hospital included leadership and management systems that conferred power, authority, and control to the nurse manager, the clinical nurse leader, and the nursing staff in partnership with the vice president for nursing. The actions of the nursing administration, clinical nurse leader, and staff reflected values and beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors about the nursing care they would provide, how they would use technology, and how they would deal with human relationships. The ethical and spiritual choice making of the whole staff and the way they communicated their values both reflected and created a caring community in the workplace culture of the hospital unit.

Critical thinking activities

Based on this case study, consider the following questions.

1. What caring behaviors prompted the nurse manager to assign the clinical nurse leader to engage in direct caring for Mrs. Smith? Describe the clinical nurse leader role established by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in 2004.
2. What issues (ethical, spiritual, legal, social-cultural, economic, and physical) from the structure of the theory of bureaucratic caring influenced this situation? Discuss end-of-life issues in relation to the theory.
3. How did the nurse manager balance these issues? What considerations went into her decision making? Discuss the role and the value of the clinical nurse leader on nursing units. What is the difference between the nurse manager and the clinical nurse leader in terms of caring practice in complex hospital care settings? How does a clinical nurse leader fit into the theory of bureaucratic caring for implementation of a caring practice?
4. What interrelationships are evident between persons in this environment—that is, how were the vice president for nursing, nurse manager, clinical nurse leader, staff, and patient connected in this situation? Compare and contrast the traditional nursing process with Turkel, Ray, and Kornblatt’s (2012) language of caring practice within the theory of bureaucratic caring

Discussion week2

Choose a theory from your undergraduate education in any discipline.  It should be a commonly used theory for the general public.  Provide the theory in your response.  Identify the two concepts and the proposition between them.  Explain the concepts. How might the terms used differ from general use of the term.  How might the term be confused or misinterpreted?

Expectations

Initial Post:

· Length: A minimum of 250 words, not including references

Citations: At least one high-level scholarly reference in APA format from within the last 5 years

Discussion  week 5

Use the theory that you developed in week two.  Improve it by using the information you have obtained in the intervening weeks.  Use the Conceptual – Theoretical – Empirical Model (CTE) to link the operational definitions with the empirical indicators with the theoretical concepts and the conceptual model components.  Post your revised theory and explain how you would measure the concepts and proposition in a research study.

Expectations

Initial Post:

· Length: A minimum of 250 words, not including references

Citations: At least one high-level scholarly reference in APA from within the last 5 years

Discussion week6

Link the theory you developed in Weeks 2 and 5 with the Metaparadigm of Nursing.  Each of the elements of the Metaparadigm should be represented in your theory. Revise your theory if necessary, to include each of the components of the Metaparadigm.

Expectations

Initial Post:

· Length: A minimum of 250 words, not including references

· Citations: At least one high-level scholarly reference in APA from within the last 5 years

Discussion 6-2

Take one component in the Metaparadigm of Nursing and identify the concept or concepts of Watson’s Theory of Caring that support that Watson wrote a theory of nursing.

Expectations

Initial Post:

• Due: Saturday, 11:59 pm PT
• Length: A minimum of 250 words, not including references
• Citations: At least one high-level scholarly reference in APA from within the last 5 years