Nursing Practice and Palliative Care

This assignment delves into various aspects of nursing practice. It begins by examining cardiac rehabilitation, its key features, and the relationship between it and patient self-management. The focus then shifts to motivational interviewing (MI), exploring its applications in non-acute settings and how it impacts nurse-patient relationships and lifestyle management. Finally, the assignment discusses the role of palliative care nurses in general practice, utilizing a mobile app as a resource for understanding best practices and providing effective care.

INTEGRATED NURSING CONCEPTS 1
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Part 1: Rehabilitation for the individual and family
1. How is rehabilitation defined?
It is a goal oriented as well as a time-limited process that is aimed at enabling a person with the
disability to reach optimal mental, social and physical functioning levels, hence providing the
person with the necessary tools to change the person’s life. Rehabilitation can also be defined as
a healthy technique aimed at providing human functioning.
2. When does a nurse’s role in rehabilitation begin?
It commences at the persons first point of contact with health services, and therefore
rehabilitation informs every nursing decision-making thereafter. The process requires all
healthcare experts to posses, as well as acts upon awareness of how what does and does not
occur today affects an individual’s desired tomorrow.
3. What is the focus of rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation as a servicer or an intervention focuses on maintaining as well as restoring
functioning, promoting health plus the well-being and lastly preventing and minimising
disability.
4. What is valued by users of rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation users value promotion of health and well-being, prevention and minimising of
disability and restoring and maintenance of functioning, interactive participation with health
professionals in decision making and goal setting and lastly, emotional support.
5. Why would a model such as the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health (WHO 2001) be useful to the provision of rehabilitation?
The international classification of functioning facilitates teamwork by providing one language.
The framework also highlights how functioning, as well as the disability at an individual level
are created through the dynamic interaction between a person’s health condition as well as the
contextual factors.
6. What characterizes nursing practice that is attuned to rehabilitation?

INTEGRATED NURSING CONCEPTS 2
The following characteristics of nursing practice are attuned to rehabilitation; the consoling
function; where the nurse helps the patients and their families understand what has already
happened to them, what is happening to them now and what may occur in the future. The
conserving function; this is where the nurse in the maintenance of the normal duties of the body
emphasizing on protection and physical protection. The integrative function; here the nurse helps
the patient merge new learning and in relation to their daily activities of their daily living into
their daily lives and lastly we have the interpretive function where the nurse aids the patients and
their families to make sense of what has already happened to them, what is happening and what
may happen to them in future.
7. What would you need to know to do this well?
For one to do these functions well one needs to know the following; First, one should be aware
how to take every nurse-patient interaction as a teaching \learning opportunity and by doing so it
helps in ensuring nurses assesses the patient readiness, potential and ability to be coached to self-
care. Secondly, one should know how to use a rehabilitative approach which is very crucial in
helping nurses focus on a patient’s ability to see the possibilities rather than concentrate on the
disabilities. Thirdly, one should learn how to create a positive atmosphere and optimism for each
client.
8. What measures would you take to preserve Matthew’s function in acute care?
In the acute care setting, I would actively facilitate the patient’s recovery, his rehabilitation as
well as the preservation of his integrity and dignity as a person.
9. Why are goals important in rehabilitation?
Goals help to facilitate self-determination as well as engagement in the activities of
rehabilitation.
10. How do long and short-term goals differ?
Long-term goal identifies what is important to an individual and provides the reason for the
intervention of healthcare experts, while short-term goals are commonly used when articulated as
SMART goals to mean specific, measurable, agreed, relevant and time-limited.
11. Based on your reading of the chapter identify 3 ways rehabilitation services differ from
acute care. Explore cardiac rehabilitation through the following link to the Heart Foundation
website https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/after-my-heart-attack/heart-attack-recovery Look
through the pages on recovery and use dot points to answer the following questions:
In acute care the interpretive function of the nurse is to explain to the patients and their families
the nature of the patient’s injuries, the process and rationale for the various treatments while in
rehabilitation the role of nurses in the interpretive function is to explain to the patients and their

INTEGRATED NURSING CONCEPTS 3
families of what has already happened to them, what is happening and what may happen to them
in the future.
Secondly, in acute care the integrative function of the nurse is to aid the patients and their
families the consequences of the patient’s injuries in the lives while in rehabilitation the role of
the nurses is to aid the patients and their families make sense of what has already happened to
them, what is happening and what may happen in future.
In acute care the role of nurses in consoling function is to help the patients and their families
cope with the situation and since they are likely to be physically and emotionally compromised
learners the nurses will offer written and verbal information on how to cope and deal with the
injuries while in rehabilitation the role of the nurse will be helping the patients and their families
understand what has already happened to them, what is happening and what may happen in
future.
12. What part does rehabilitation play?
It reflects on the assessment of the physical, vocational, educational, cognitive, psychological,
and functional and the social needs of the patients. It also reduces the impact of disability and
prevents avoidable complications
13. What are the key features of cardiac rehabilitation?
The key features of cardiac rehabilitation are; audit and evaluation, psychosocial health, long-
term management, medical risk factor management, health behavior change and education, the
management of lifestyle risk factors and therapies if cardiac protection
14. Is there a relationship between cardiac rehabilitation and self-management?
Yes. In both, there is the awareness of management of lifestyle risk factors and health behavior
change
Second Part
Part one; Motivational interviewing (MI)
1. Briefly describe 3 ways MI could be a utilized by nurses in the nonacute setting From the
power point slide 13 please access the first or last two of the YouTube videos demonstrating
beginning s******s in MI called OARS (all very short). Briefly describe how the interaction is
changed when the practitioner uses MI (OARS) by describing effects on the practitioner/patient
relationship, patient motivation and lifestyle management.
How MI can be utilized by nurses in the non-acute setting

INTEGRATED NURSING CONCEPTS 4
Nurses can use the MI to do the following; lower stress level around precise self-care behaviours,
promote the ability to accept a disease, boost the confidence of the patients in their ability to deal
with challenges they face and also in encouraging patients to make changes in their lifestyles
which are related to nutrition and exercise.
2. How the interaction is changed when the practitioner uses MI by describing effects on the
practitioner/ patient relationship, patient motivation and lifestyle management.
When multiple lifestyle changes are put in place, you should help the clients prioritise what they
need to work on first.
Part Two: Practice Nurse Role:
You may not have a clear picture of the PN role and its possibilities as it remains an emerging
role in Australia. The following videos from the APN website may be helpful to the continuing
discussion of the nurse’s role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx7GEM62lHI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sjqcq-Ub-o&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x4e9h6PgBU In what ways have these videos informed your
understanding of this role? Provide at least 3-6 dot points
The practice nurse roles are; diagnose and treat illnesses, to treat wounds apply and remove
dressings, to provide emergency first aid and treatment, take samples of the patient ,swabs and
specimens, to check their pulses ,blood pressure and even temperatures, give advice about the
use of contraceptives and to make patients consultations within health centers.
Part 3: Palliative Care in General Practice Download the app ‘palliAGEDnurse.
1. While the app was funded through Aged Care the content is relevant to all palliative care
situations. Work your way through the aspects of the app related to nurses in General Practice.
In what ways could this app be useful to nurses in GP? List 3 reasons based on your exploration
of the app.
The app is useful to GP nurses in the following ways; It can give training to the nurse on how to
handle the patient; it can give the nurse confidence in providing care which must nurses lack due
to the complexity of the patients and it also offers good communication which sometimes lacks
from specialists
2. Reasons based on my exploration of the app

INTEGRATED NURSING CONCEPTS 5
It gives guidelines on how to handle the patient with a lot of care, it is precise and clear hence no
contradictions and it has enough and adequate information about the patients and how they
should be treated