Essay Examples

The Role of Nursing Theory and Communication Compliance in Healthcare

Nursing theory is a framework that helps to explain phenomena and systematize knowledge. Besides, it reflects the body of knowledge that supports clinical practice. Nursing theory provides principles that lead and guide practice and help generate knowledge. By providing caregivers with a sense of identity, a theory can help patients, nursing leaders, and managers to contribute uniquely to the field and ensure the timely provision of all necessary services to the vulnerable population. Communication compliance denotes adherence to all rules, norms, and standards intending to ensure the effectiveness of communication between providers, patients, and their families and the smoothness of the caregiving process.

Theory and the Purpose of Theory in Nursing

A nursing theory is a set of propositions, assumptions, definitions, and concepts that medical specialists derive from other disciplines and nursing models. It helps to project a view of phenomena by establishing a direct relationship between the concepts to describe and explain a particular health- and nursing-related aspect. Nursing theory provides the foundation of nursing practice, generates knowledge, and indicates further direction of nursing development. The theory is crucial as it helps to decide what nurses know now and what they should know in the future to fit health-related trends. Each nursing theory is characterized by interrelated concepts that allow specialists to treat a particular event differently. By their nature, theories are logical and serve as a basis for hypotheses that healthcare providers test in their daily clinical practice. Theories also have the potential to broaden the knowledge within the discipline through research and studies. The purposes of theory in nursing are to describe, explain, and predict health-related phenomena and assist nurses in clarifying goals, values, and beliefs.

Metaparadigm Concepts in Nursing

Distinguishing health and nursing concepts provide limitations and boundaries of a nursing discipline. The main meta paradigms are nursing, health, environment, and person. Each plays a critical role in the nursing process and is essential for providing timely and top-quality services. Person as a meta paradigm focuses on clients as recipients of care. It encompasses socio-economic status, friends, family, culture, and spirituality. Environment as a meta paradigm incorporates external and internal factors related to the patient and his/ her conditions. It includes interaction with patients and their family members. Health as a meta paradigm pinpoints patients’ wellness and quality of life. Nursing is the last meta paradigm, which refers to nurse specialists and how they apply skills and knowledge when caring for vulnerable populations in their professional clinical practice. Nursing as a meta paradigm also refers to the attributes of caregivers who provide care. To succeed in the challenging, ever-changing, and competitive healthcare environment, nurses and other parties responsible for the nursing process and its outcome should properly and effectively apply the meta paradigms when providing healthcare services to the most vulnerable population categories. Patients’ basic healthcare needs will be precisely met if nurse specialists approach them holistically.

The Chosen Concept

Communication compliance is an important concept that healthcare providers pay significant attention to in their professional clinical practice. It means that nurses and other specialists are responsible (obliged) to follow all rules, standards, and norms when communicating with patients and their family members regarding various healthcare issues and concerns. Effective communication is about changing clinical behavior in case it requires amendments. While rules, standards, and norms are external requirements, they may vary depending on the purposes set by organizations. Compliance also includes following internal procedures and policies according to ethical practices.

The Use of the Concept

The concept of communication compliance is widely used in clinical practice, particularly when communicating with patients and their family members in intensive, acute, and chronic care units. This concept is widely applied in education and training as well. Communication is formed so that it meets clients’ basic needs, sets accurate diagnoses, and prescribes relevant treatment.

Attributes of the Concept

The upper management of a medical facility establishes rules, standards, and norms related to communication compliance. The concept is embedded in the clinical activity and reinforced by incentive systems. It is also integral to the information systems and advanced technologies nurses widely use in communication. Communication compliance is inseparable from the organization’s management style, structure, and processes. Other attributes are dynamics, logic, and transaction.

Antecedents and Consequences

Communication readiness and contextual factors are antecedents of communication compliance. The major consequences are the continuity of care and good health.

Example of the Significance of the Concept to Nursing Practice

Communication compliance is particularly important in intensive care units, where patients cannot adequately speak because of assisted ventilation and artificial airways. Here, the main goal of nurses is to ensure that patients understand messages sent to them and get the necessary assistance. Therefore, to improve communication with these clients, it is necessary to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the communication process and then precisely comply with all rules, standards, and norms. It will help to properly deal with patients and increase their ability to communicate and provide feedback.

Conclusion

Communication is critical in providing top-quality care that increases patients’ health and satisfaction. Nurse specialists should get effective training and education to properly apply all relevant skills. Managers and leaders, in turn, should constantly monitor communication compliance and make sure that all obtained skills are properly used. Communication compliance ensures that nurses precisely comply with all rules, standards, and norms and guarantees the smoothness of the caregiving process and high quality of health care.

📎 References:

1. Abdolrahimi, M., Ghiyasvandian, S., Zakerimoghadam, M., & Ebadi, A. (2017). Antecedents and consequences of therapeutic communication in Iranian nursing students: A qualitative research. Nursing Research and Practice, 2017, 4823723. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4823723.
2. Kearney-Nunnery, R. (2016). Advancing your career: Concepts in professional nursing. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis Company.
3. Norouzinia, R., Aghabarari, M., Shiri, M., Karimi, M., & Samami, E. (2016). Communication barriers perceived by nurses and patients. Global Journal of Health Science, 8(6), 65-74. https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v8n6p65.