Nursing and Care
Comp. by: DuAnitha Stage: Revises2 ChapterID: 0000870335 Date:19/1/09 Time:10:13:11
B978-0-7020-2940-0.00001-9, 00001
1
Chapter c0001 1
Nursing knowledge and practice
Maggie Mallik, Carol Hall and David Howard
KEY ISSUES s0005 u0190 u0195 u0200 u0205 s0010 u0210 u0215 u0220 u0225 u0230 u0235 u0240 s0015 u0245 u0250 u0255 s0020 u0260 u0265
INTRODUCTION
SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE l Definitions, theories and models of nursing l Role and image of the nurse l People as recipients of nursing care l Contexts for delivering nursing care
Nursing care is provided for people with widely diverse health and sick care needs in multiple contexts worldwide.
The knowledge and competence to meet such a wide variety of care needs may be daunting for the student starting a programme of study to become a registered nurse.
Nursing programmes are designed to allow knowledge and practice experience to be accumulated and assimilated by the nursing student within the 3 or 4 year course period.
However, learning is lifelong, and the journey of learning through a pre-registration nursing programme is only the beginning. In the United Kingdom (UK), the knowledge and skills necessary to become registered as a nurse are primarily structured so that a student can focus on developing proficiencies to provide care for particular patient/client groups (Nursing and Midwifery Council 2004). Two of the groupings are age related, i.e. you register to deliver nursing care specifically to adults or specifically to children, usually with physical healthcare needs. The other two groupings are health condition related, i.e. nursing care is focused on people (children and adults) with mental health problems or people with learning disabilities. These ‘branches’ of nursing have their basis in the history of the development of nursing in the UK
(Dingwall et al 1988, Nolan 1998). Following a 1-year common generic programme, students begin to
B978-0-7020-2940-0.00001-9, 00001
1
Chapter c0001 1
Nursing knowledge and practice
Maggie Mallik, Carol Hall and David Howard
KEY ISSUES s0005 u0190 u0195 u0200 u0205 s0010 u0210 u0215 u0220 u0225 u0230 u0235 u0240 s0015 u0245 u0250 u0255 s0020 u0260 u0265
INTRODUCTION
SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE l Definitions, theories and models of nursing l Role and image of the nurse l People as recipients of nursing care l Contexts for delivering nursing care
Nursing care is provided for people with widely diverse health and sick care needs in multiple contexts worldwide.
The knowledge and competence to meet such a wide variety of care needs may be daunting for the student starting a programme of study to become a registered nurse.
Nursing programmes are designed to allow knowledge and practice experience to be accumulated and assimilated by the nursing student within the 3 or 4 year course period.
However, learning is lifelong, and the journey of learning through a pre-registration nursing programme is only the beginning. In the United Kingdom (UK), the knowledge and skills necessary to become registered as a nurse are primarily structured so that a student can focus on developing proficiencies to provide care for particular patient/client groups (Nursing and Midwifery Council 2004). Two of the groupings are age related, i.e. you register to deliver nursing care specifically to adults or specifically to children, usually with physical healthcare needs. The other two groupings are health condition related, i.e. nursing care is focused on people (children and adults) with mental health problems or people with learning disabilities. These ‘branches’ of nursing have their basis in the history of the development of nursing in the UK
(Dingwall et al 1988, Nolan 1998). Following a 1-year common generic programme, students begin to
References: org.uk (accessed 8 December 2007) Age Concern 2006 Ageism: a benchmark of public attitudes in Britain. Available online: http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/ Documents/Ageism_Report.pdf (accessed 23 August 2008)