Developmental Model of Health and Nursing - Essay Example

? Developmental Model of Health and Nursing Developmental Model of Health and Nursing The developmental model of health and nursing emerged in the 1970s after a rigorous reform in the health sector. The reform sought to expand the services delivered by nurses for the benefit of the community. The developer of model had an affiliation to the McGill School of Nursing, and the model has been called the McGill model of nursing (Loiselle, 2011). Allen worked alongside the school in developing and establishing the model although she took the leading role. Allen had had a form educational basis in nursing that started with a nursing course at Montreal general hospital nursing school and progressed to acquire a degree and masters in nursing. Later, she acquired a Ph.D. in education from Stanford University in 1967. After this, she committed herself to teaching and research in the nursing field. She exhibited a futuristic approach to the nursing field, regarding the role of nurses a critical complement to the role played by other medical professionals (Bomar, 2004). This paper will discuss in detail the application of the developmental model of health and nursing in practice. Overview of the Article Allen had the conviction that nurses could expand their services from the patient to the family. Therefore, she sought to develop a model that would describe a relevant organization with the potential of bringing the family unit and health professionals into working to promote health. The McGill model is one of the models adopted by nurses in improving the efficiency of their services (Allen, & Warner, 2002). Allen highlighted that families have potentials, assets and strengths that can play a critical in improving health. According to her published article, the family and nurses play significant roles that if handled well, can suffice to foster health. The role of the nurse involves the identification of potentials, assets and strengths within the family setting and encouraging the family members to focus on them. The nurses also seek to convert deficits in the family to strengths. Allen envisioned nursing as an observable role that depended on competencies. This paper will seek to describe all the concepts and assumptions underlying the model (Loiselle, 2011). Allen sought to introduce a strength-based model of practice in nursing. Having interest in practicing nursing to promote health within the family has influenced my choice for this model. This approach involved a transformation in the way nurses handled issues concerning health. In the context defined by Allen, health was one of the social issues, and there was great potential of socializing it within the family setting. Therefore, Allen highlighted the urgency for nurses to initiate partnerships with the patient and family (Bomar, 2004). Moreover, the new approach required nurses to shift from the traditional perspective that focused on illness, deficit, and problems. They needed to replace such thinking with a perspective that identified the strengths of the individual and his family. With the new perspective, the nurse would then concentrate on motivating families to utilize their inherent strengths, and available resources in their efforts to achieve health goals. Moyra Allen constructed frameworks that nurses needed to adhere to, in their venture to embrace the new approach of nursing (Allen, & Warner, 2002). Prior to the description of the new approach, many nurses sought to identify the problem with the patients, and then advanced to identify viable solutions to the problem (Bomar, 2004). However, the developmental model of health and nursing sought to discourage nursing from the identification of problems as the initial step towards promotion of health. According to the basics of this model, adopting an approach that centers on identifying problems introduces setbacks to promotion of health. The family embraces the problem as a stigmatizing label, and triggers the negative feeling of helplessness. With such a negative attitude, it becomes difficult for the family to socialize the health attribute. The McGill model seeks to build a rapport between the nurse and the family of the patient. Contrary to the deficit perspective that dominated the nursing field, this model highlighted the need for a strength perspective that focused on the capacity that the family possessed and that would serve the critical role of promoting health (Allen, & Warner, 2002). This new approach required clinicians to focus on positive diagnosis, a factor that would prove reassuring to the patient and family that they had the capacity to promote health in the patient. The rapport and partnership developed between the nurse and family formed a conducive forum that ensured positive diagnosis (Bomar, 2004). In this relationship, neither the nurse nor the family indulges in judgment, but the nurse’s preliminary intervention involves recognition of the strengths and potentials of the family. Allen highlighted that focusing on capacities, resources and capacities of the family was the most critical step in establishing a working partnerships between the family and the nurse (Gaudine, 2001). As mentioned, nurses focus on family strengths in health promotion. These strengths may include internal personality attributes such as resilience, patience and other qualities that prove can help in the process of socializing health within the family setting. Each family member may possess a combination of traits and attributes that can foster health. The nurse should have the capacity to identify these traits among the family members. When a family realizes that it has desirable traits that have the potential of promoting health, such realization imparts a level of confidence in them (Allen, & Warner, 2002). Such confidence forms an exemplary starting point for the partnership between the nurse and the family. Moreover, the nurse may also identify other capabilities and competencies that the family has acquired through experience such as decision –making and problem –solving skills. These competencies can prove very effective in helping the family make critical health decisions. Other useful qualities that the nurse should recognize include the ability to motivate and energize as well as financial assets. Financial assets are strengths to the family in promotion of health because it is an indicator that the family can afford expensive medical care. The nurse should also exhibit expertise in identifying precursors inherent in the family that have the potential of becoming strengths because families can embark on developing into desirable strengths in the promotion of health (Bomar, 2004). The Developmental Model of Health and Nursing Importance in Nursing I settled on this model because it conforms to my nursing philosophy as I intend to impact the society through its application. I believe that the nurse should extend the nursing practice to the entire community. The developmental model of health and nursing has several important features that include health, family, and collaboration, coupled with learning in a paradigm surrounding the person, health, family and environment (Allen, & Warner, 2002). Allen highlighted that health was an aspect that an individual can learn. Therefore, the nurse should engage the patient in a learning process that involves maintenance, strengthening, and developing the health of the patient (Gaudine, 2001). The nurse relies on the fact that the family is a key player in socializing any aspect, hence the focus on family strengths and resources described above. The nurse and the patient often engage in a goal setting session in order to identify the health goals that the patient needs to achieve. The process of building the goals focuses on the strengths of the patient and family (Loiselle, 2011). The model is of great significance because it focuses on the family institution and its increasing dynamics in its efforts to promote health. Since the family is the most crucial unit in the society, the model presents a higher potential for positive outcomes (Gaudine, 2001). The application of the model has the potential of influencing the perspectives of nurses concerning their practices. Moreover, the model prompts the nurse to indulge in a critical application of nursing practices compelling them to indulge in formulating research questions that help them in initiating a learning process for themselves, and for the clients and families. Moreover, the model present as an opportunity for nurses to exhibit their competence in implementing identified strategies. Assumptions of the Model In the formulation of the model, Allen made some assumptions. Of critical importance is the assumption that each family possessed strengths, resources and assets that were of significance in the promotion of health in the patient (Gaudine, 2001). The role of nurses focuses on these strengths. An additional assumption was that the efforts made by each family either in decision-making or problem-solving were a reflection of the needed process towards health promotion. Finally, Allen made critical assumptions concerning the results of the partnership between nurses and families (Gaudine, 2001). She described the outcomes as evident in the proficiency of families in health promotion conduct and immense promotion of the health of the patient. Major Concepts of the Model As mentioned above, Allen highlighted the fact that health was a concept that clients and families could learn if they received adequate motivation from the nurses. In this context, health denotes a continuous process towards a healthy behavior. The learning process relied on the fact that the family has proved to play a central role in socializing aspects (Gaudine, 2001). This is the reason why Allen motivated nurses to focus on the strengths within the family to foster the health of the client. The critical role that nurses had to play is exhibiting the competence to identify the strengths resources and motivations within the family, and use these in the promotion of the patient’s health. This model necessitated learning in both the family of the client and the nurse as well. Nurses needed to learn their potential roles in the partnership with the family. Allen reasoned that nurses could make immense effect in the promotion of the adoption of healthy behavior, if they learned more of what they could do in each session (Loiselle, 2011). Nurses had the additional responsibility of initiating a learning process in the clients and family. In order for the family to adopt a behavioral code that had the potential of promoting health, it needed to recognize specific qualities that it could work on in order to foster health. As Allen highlighted, it was the responsibility of the nurses to help the family come to the awareness of the strengths they possessed that were of critical value in promoting health. This explains why Allen emphasized on the importance of establishing a rapport between the nurse and the family. Effective learning required such a rapport based on trust between the nurse and the family (Bomar, 2004). Collaboration of the family and the nurses is the basis of the developmental model of health and nursing. The nurse had to make efforts to understand the patient and family in three critical dimensions. These included understanding the patient’s social, emotional and psychological predispositions. Such a broad understanding was central in helping the nurse address the family’s learning needs (Gaudine, 2001). The role played by the nurse as described in the model is highly complementary, augmenting the roles played by other professional In practice, the initial step of establishing a working collaboration between the patient and the family involves setting goals. The nurse, the client and the family should identify and outline the goals that the partnership will work on (Loiselle, 2011). After setting goals, the nurses embark on using open-ended questions that help in identifying the strengths and potentials that a family possesses. Identification of such strengths helps the family recognize its significance in the partnership of promoting health. This initial step serves to give the family insight on the purpose of the entire process, and empowers the family, preparing it for effective collaboration (Bomar, 2004). The second step involves feedback, and requires the nurse to present the family with commendations. The feedback delivered to the family by the nurse determines the continued efforts made by the family towards achievement of the goals set in promoting health (Gaudine, 2001). Therefore, the nurses should offer sincere feedback and in an appropriate manner. The feedback delivered should reflect the utilization of resources and the strengths described previously. The nurse should focus on offering descriptive, explicit feedbacks that exhibit specificity to all the goals described (Gaudine, 2001). The third step involves concerted efforts by the nurse and the family towards the development of additional strengths. Since the model emphasizes on learning for both the nurse and the family, they can collaborate towards the development of new strengths that can help the family achieve the desired goals towards health promotion (Bomar, 2004). Since health does not denote a destination, the partnership can work towards the development of strengths that foster the achievement of long-term health goals (Gaudine, 2001). The nurse should also encourage the family to solve emerging problems using their internal and external resources. Experimental studies reveal that the model is powerful in promoting health. However, a few challengers surrounding the competence of the nurses and the family may crop up, derailing the efficiency of the model (Loiselle, 2011). Application of the Model I can apply the model in my nursing practice as Allen described. I will embark on identifying the potentials, assets and strengths within a family setting and encourage the family members to focus on them. Moreover, I realize that I can help such families overcome their weaknesses and cope with debilitating health conditions (Bomar, 2004). Although it may prove difficult to help families to focus on their strengths, I am sure through resilience I will families overcome their doubts and deal with situations adequately. Conclusion As described above, the developer of model had an affiliation to the McGill School of Nursing, and the model has been called the McGill model of nursing. The McGill model is one of the models adopted by nurses in improving the efficiency of their services. According to her published article, the family and nurses play significant roles that if handled well, can suffice to foster health. The strengths of the model are that it converts deficits in the family to strengths. It helps all the family members contribute positively to their health. However, nurses will require resilience and patience so that they can encourage families to focus on their strengths. In my opinion, nurses should apply the model as it presents multiple strengths and can improve the health condition of the society. References Allen, F., & Warner, M. (2002). A developmental model of health and nursing. Journal Of Family Nursing, 8(2), 96-135. Bomar, P. J. (2004). Promoting health in families: Applying family research and theory to nursing practice. Philadelphia, Penns: Saunders. Gaudine, A. (2001). Demonstrating theory in practice: examples of the McGill Model of Nursing. Journal Of Continuing Education In Nursing, 32(2), 77-85. Loiselle, C. G. (2011). Canadian essentials of nursing research. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Read More