Nursing Essay: Historical and Contemporary Nursing

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the historical evolution and contemporary practices in nursing, with a particular focus on the application of Henderson's need theory to care planning. It explores the significance of intensive care units and the crucial role of critical care nurses in patient care. The essay highlights the importance of patient-centered care, therapeutic relationships, and the integration of nursing theories to meet patient needs effectively. It also touches upon the challenges faced by critical care nurses, such as compassion fatigue, and emphasizes the need for nurses to provide care irrespective of ethical background, gender, age, and job satisfaction levels. The essay references key nursing theories and contemporary practices, emphasizing the dynamic nature of nursing and the importance of holistic care within the healthcare system.

Running head: NURSING
Topic: NURSING
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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The history involving professional nursing have begun with Florence Nightingale. As
nurses sought degrees involving higher education, the research emphasis era started to begin.
Mostly during the mid-century, more nurses embraced higher education and understood that
research was the path to nursing language. In the contemporary world, nurses have grown in
their professional status and the use of substantive knowledge (Aligood, 2017). Nursing
theories and their implications are important in healthcare as it helps nursing students to
apply to unique perspectives of nursing irrespective of origin and ultimately help nurses to
guide research and practice (Smith & Liehr, 2018). In the given essay, the historical
perspective of nursing pertaining to planning of care and involvement of the care plans in
nursing have been discussed. Moreover, contemporary patient care and the significance of
intensive care units have been highlighted with reference to Henderson’s model of need.
According to Sacco et al. (2015), the concept of intensive care arose from the
devastating polio epidemic in Copenhagen in 1952 requiring intensive care by critical care
nurses. Critical care nurses are mainly required for assessment of the patient’s condition,
assistance to physicians in performing procedures, observing and recording patient’s vital
signs and administering intravenous fluids and medications. The first ICU units were set up
in Europe due to the epidemic. Over the years, medical interventions pertaining to intensive
care have been more numerous requiring critical care nurses to care for pre as well as post-
operative patients. However, further developments have to be made as ICU patients care
especially vulnerable to iatrogenic harm. The ever increasing populations and co-morbidities
alongside increased obesity are the main reasons behind the increasing demand for ICU units
(Kelly et al. 2014). Care pathways have first been used in 1990s for assisting healthcare
professionals for delivering high quality evidence based as well as cost effective care.
Henderson’s need theory is applicable for nurses in providing a care plan as it is much close
to realism and will help nurses to improve standard of caring through assessment of the

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patient’s needs and develop a proper and pragmatic plan of care (Ahtisham and Jacoline,
2015). Nurses play an important role in providing a person centered care as it is essential for
the optimal setting and recovery as well as positive experiences within a proper healthcare
setting (Feo and Kitson,2016).
Critical care nurses are required for the treatment processes as they provide
compassionate care for patients suffering from life threatening diseases. According to the
recent findings, nursing experiences are a combination of compassion fatigue and satisfaction
which is a part of the professional quality of life (Sacco et al.2015). Thus, critical care nurses
should minimize the indifference and improvise their care plan based on the satisfaction
levels of the patients. The Nursing need theory by Henderson gives emphasis on basic needs
of humans which is at the central focus for nursing practice. Moreover it highlights on the
development regarding needs of the patient and confirms how the needs of the patients can be
met through effective nursing (Nursing-theory.org, 2019). Nurses should provide a proper
care plan which would highlight the basic need of the patients. Considering the theory of
needs stated by Henderson, the values of relationships should be restored which will escalate
the patient clinician therapeutic relationship. Theory of needs have successively added more
precision to the identification of the needs of the patients within the nursing domains
(D’antonio et al.2014). Nurses should implement strategies for primarily focusing on the
mental as well as physical needs of the patients. According to Castaneda and Scanlan (2014),
job satisfaction is a factor for the proper provision of care by nurses. Quantitative analysis of
job satisfaction especially among nurses in clinical settings can provide care effectively and
accordingly. Contemporary practices of nursing claims that nurses should provide care
irrespective of the ethical background, ethical perspective, gender, age and the level of job
satisfaction of the nurse. Confidentiality of the patients is an important factor to be respected
by contemporary nursing theories (Cherry and Jacob, 2016). The contemporary nursing

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theories follow the theory of needs as they are overlapped in fulfilling the unmet needs of the
patients at higher levels along with lower levels thereby incorporating a holistic and dynamic
nature in nursing. According to Allen (2014), contemporary nursing strategies have
conceptualized holism within the nursing mandate which is centered on organizational
relationships apart from being therapeutic. Nurses can act as obligatory passage points
inclusive of health systems through translational mobilization.
From the aforementioned paragraphs it can be concluded that nursing theories are
important for the provision of care and support towards the patients and for the establishment
of an effective therapeutic relationship. Moreover, Henderson’s theory of needs focuses on
the needs of the patients above all medical interventions. There is a distinct difference
between the provision of care and support based on the old and contemporary nursing
practices which are aimed at a better establishment of therapeutic relationship with the
patients.

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References
Ahtisham, Y. and Jacoline, S., 2015. Integrating Nursing Theory and Process into Practice;
Virginia's Henderson Need Theory. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 8(2).
Allen, D., 2014. Re-conceptualising holism in the contemporary nursing mandate: From
individual to organisational relationships. Social Science & Medicine, 119, pp.131-138.
Alligood, M.R., 2017. Nursing theorists and their work. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Cherry, B. and Jacob, S.R., 2016. Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Kelly, F.E., Fong, K., Hirsch, N. and Nolan, J.P., 2014. Intensive care medicine is 60 years
old: the history and future of the intensive care unit. Clinical medicine, 14(4), pp.376-379.
Nursing-theory.org. 2019. Need Theory - Nursing Theory. [online] Available at:
http://www.nursing-theory.org/theories-and-models/henderson-need-theory.php [Accessed 11
Mar. 2019].
Sacco, T.L., Ciurzynski, S.M., Harvey, M.E. and Ingersoll, G.L., 2015. Compassion
satisfaction and compassion fatigue among critical care nurses. Critical Care Nurse, 35(4),
pp.32-42.
Smith, M. J., & Liehr, P. R. (Eds.). (2018). Middle range theory for nursing. Springer
Publishing Company.