Nursing Scenario
I have chosen the first scenario, in which I am a nurse at a primary care clinic, and my patient is a 48-year-old woman who has been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. To ensure the effectiveness of treatment, she has to change her eating habits to lose some weight, but she claims that it will be almost impossible for her to change in order to stop consuming her typical products. Her main argument is that she cooks for the whole family, and her husband, his father, and two adolescent children are used to the food they normally eat.
This is a rather typical situation, and many households consume products that damage health and can potentially lead to the long-term metabolic disorders. Nursing obviously has a place in this situation, implying that there has to be a relationship between the patient and a professional in order for the former to progress against these habits. “The nursing situation involves particular values, intentions, and actions of two or more persons choosing to live a nursing relationship” (Boykin & Schoenhofer, 2015, p. 343). Thus, it is of the greatest importance to show her that she has to persuade her family to change their eating habits; otherwise, the whole family may be at risk.
Overview of Parse’s Theory
Possible solutions of this problem may be based on the Human Becoming Theory, a grand theory developed by Rosemarie Rizzo Parse. This theory focuses on guiding the nurses in their practice by establishing that the patient’s perspective on the treatment process determines his or her quality of life. There are three basic concepts of this theory, and I will apply them all to persuade the patient to change her eating patterns. The main concepts of the Human Becoming Theory are meaning, rhythmicity and transcendence.
One of the most important aspects of this theory is meaning, a principle that establishes that people participate in the process of creating their lives and their comprehension of reality by living according to their personal values. Another principle is rhythmicity, and this concept defines the patterns of human experience, and the fact that there are some limitations and opportunities at every moment of time, with these limitations and opportunities emerging within certain cycles. Finally, the third principle is transcendence, according to which there is an ambiguity of the changes that always happen in our lives at every moment; a human being should live knowing and not knowing how the life will change from one moment to the next.
Based on the given theory, nurses should guide themselves in the process of treatment by focusing on the quality of lives of the patients. This theory arose as an alternative to psycho-social and bio-medical theories and approaches. This theory focuses on living quality of people, their beliefs about the world they live in, and the ethos of becoming human beings. According to this theory, the main approach in nursing should be focused on nurse-patient relationship, and a patient-focused approach can be very effective in terms of providing the most effective health care treatment by the nurses. “To know the other as caring, the nurse must find some basis for respectful human connection with the person” (Boykin & Schoenhofer, 2015, p. 348). Therefore, it is important for the nurse to see the patient through the latter’s own perspective.
Research Results of Parse’s Theory
This theory has the strong support of research results. In fact, two research methodologies have been specifically designed for this theory: Parse’s Parse Method of Basic Research and Cody’s Humanbecoming Hermeneutic Method of Basic Research. They are both inductive, qualitative and correspond to the philosophical foundation of the theory. They both seek to examine the phenomenological, lived experience that the researchers can obtain from the patients, in order to relate it to the theory.
In nursing practice, implementation of the Human Becoming theory led to the personal transformation of the nurses, and it had a positive effect on the treatment process. The results of the implementation of the Human Becoming theory have shown that nurses become more concerned and respectful of the needs of their patients, and realized their role in helping their patients change their lives by creating their own lifestyles. This has led to the improvement of the patients’ quality of life: patients started feeling themselves more respected and honored, it helped them determine the meaning of some situations, and it supported them in making better choices. Human Becoming Theory guided the nurses and helped them spend more time on talking to patients and listening to them. As a result, patients were more satisfied with nursing and health care treatment they received.
In the everyday nursing practice, the Human Becoming theory can be applied through such basic processes as paying more attention to the needs of the patients and spending more time on talking with them. These actions will help the nurses gain more trust of the patients, and they will believe in what they hear from the nurses. In this way, nurses will be able to persuade the patients to change the quality of their lives, and the process of communication with the patients will bring better results.
It is important to note that the theory has also been extended to other settings. The community, educational models and administration principles have all been modified by taking her theory into account. Therefore, it is a worldview that extends the limitations of nursing, being able to modify other areas of the human experience as well.
Application of Parse’s Theory to Situation
I will use this theory to show the 48 years old female patient that her eating habits define the quality of the life she leads, and that improving the quality of life will have a significantly positive impact on her health, and health of her family. These principles are the foundation of the theory, and I will use each of them to show her that changing the way she cooks and chooses products will help her improve the quality of her life, and will have a positive effect on her health.
The concepts of the Human Becoming theory can be successfully applied to the scenario mentioned above. Firstly, showing the meaning concept to the patient will help her realize that she is the person who creates her own reality by choosing certain values, and if a healthy life-style becomes a value, her life can be significantly changed. Secondly, the patient faces some limitations set by her family’s eating habits, but if she does not make any changes, the situation will happen again, and her Type 2 DM will get worse. Finally, explaining the importance of transcendence will help the patient realize that there is always a chance to change everything, so she should use this change to improve the quality of her life.
It is important to show the patient that his or her life does not depend on eating. From the initial situation, one can see that there is also a worry about her family as well, for whom she cooks. By teaching her the significance of healthy eating so as to have a better and longer life, she will not only be augmenting her own quality of life, but that of her family as well. However, it is important to note that this change in eating habits should come naturally, after the patient has understood that it will only positively affect his or her own life, as well as her family’s.
Conclusions
I believe that human becoming theory can be a great approach in the nursing practice, as this theory can help in focusing on the needs of every single patient. The patient-focused model can help to increase the effectiveness of the treatment process, and the concepts of this theory can be a guide for the nurses in their everyday practice and their efforts to explain the patients the necessity of making certain choices that can improve the quality of their lives.
In my own words, I think that this theory is aimed to show that quality of life and life itself are interrelated concepts, and we can impact the quality of our lives by making certain choices that depend on how we perceive the world around us. In addition, some situations, in which we are to make the choices, are cyclic, and in every situation, we can have certain opportunities and limitations that will also define our choices. In addition, this theory is based on the fact that some changes and situations cannot be predicted, so we should make the choices based on the facts that we know and don’t know at the same time.
In this case, the patient would have to understand that she can have a better and longer life if she decides to change her eating habits. This will not only result in enhancements for her, but for her whole family. As such, it is important to understand the importance she gives to food and attempt to modify it, so as to make her life better without diminishing her perception of its quality.
References
Boykin, A., & Schoenhofer, S. O. (2015). Theory of Nursing as Caring. In M. C . Smith & M. E. Parker (Eds.), Nursing Theories and Nursing Practice (pp. 341-353). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.
