Introduction

Advances in nursing practice have culminated in the publication of various nursing conceptual models. A nursing theoretical simulation offers a lucid, cohesive and a systematic manner of visualizing connected occurrences or processes relevant to nursing(Bousso, Poles & Cruz, 2014). Each model delivers a diverse formulation of nursing and a different global perspective. The models present unique views regarding the disposition of person-environment relations and different mental orientations to nursing. The models offer directions to the organization of nursing intelligence and prescribe the nursing practice, research and education. With the spread of nursing conceptual models, nurses need to examine these models for their applicability to contemporary nursing practice and teaching. In this regard, this article will detail how school nurses can apply of the nursing conceptual model of a nurse as a detective, scientist and manager of the healing environment to guide the development and implementation of a care plan.

PART A: Nurse as Detective

School nurses operate on the frontlines in pre-emptive health by working with students every day and identification of issues that demand more intensive health services. Execution of these tasks necessitates professionalism, and teamwork and collaboration. In nursing, professionalism describes a set of values critical to elevating the importance of patient care whereas enhancing the ways, canons, and decrees that govern daily nursing practices(Sulmasy, López & Horwitch, 2017). Like detectives, a school nurse has to base their operations on ethics and ensure their actions are legal. Nurses exhibit professionalism through prioritizing care, treating patients as individuals, respect dignity and maintaining superior standards of care.

School nurses exhibiting professionalism in practice has significant benefits. First, it assists in guaranteeing and protecting the health and well-being of students and staffs.  For instance, when attending to a student respectfully and offering them instructions using a language suitable to students’ intellectual level, inclination and aptitude to learn encourages them to make informed personal health decisions(Mason, 2017). Cultivation of these interactions makes students comfortable to share information pertinent to their academic excellence, health issues and their family situations which allows a nurse to formulate a plan to assist a student excel academically. Also, professionalism fosters collaborative relationships and through explicit communication lines with all stakeholders in sharing patient (student) information and plan treatment options and other strategies to enhance the academic accomplishment of students and well-being of employees through nursing services, education and environmental safety.

Similar to detectives, school nurses operate in an environment that has diverse opinions and are susceptible to deviation from ethical practices. The setting is characterized by competing values of teachers, school administrators, parents and other healthcare providers which makes it essential for nurses to investigate, analyze and ensure they make ethical decisions. While in some instances making ethical decisions can be morally distressing, it protects nurses from legal liability, especially when there is a collision with the Do Not Resuscitate DNR policy. Also, when nurses make ethical decisions, they achieve the desired outcome, which is enhancing the quality and safety of patients in the long-run.

Nurses can prevent or control adverse outcomes through teamwork and collaboration to organize a broad approach to health needs from a comprehensiveness perspective. Pragmatic evidence indicates that nursing is the most cited profession in inter-professional cooperative practice and inter-professional education(Souza et al., 2016). This affirms the consideration of its dominant contribution in arbitration regarding other professions in the health area. From personal knowledge, school nurses are central to advancing the well-being, educational accomplishment and health of learners by ensuring that learners are healthy and ready to learn. The achievement of these aims demands teamwork and collaboration between school nurses, teachers, school district, students, parents and the overall community. Therefore, a school nurse making any subtle deviation from teamwork and collaboration is likely to have adverse consequences on the academic success of students and the well-being of staffs.

As a school nurse, I will use teamwork and collaboration to foster integration between the school administration and nurses in the decision-making process to encourage co-accountability. The outcome of this arrangement is a dynamic, collaborative team that founded on respect, interaction, bonding and shared decision-making processes (Williams et al., 2016). Cohesion will be fostered through the creation of platforms to share prejudice grounded on communication, reverence and sensitive to diversity which promotes joint decision-making and shared responsibilities of the institution’s mission in a less fragmented and hierarchical routine (Souza et al., 2016). It is agreeable that communication is decisive in conciliation and creation of professional ties and confidence, especially in an environment characterized by non-nursing professionals. Therefore, in all conceptions of teamwork in nursing and non-nursing settings, communicative action underpinned by dialogue, permits experts to collaborate.

PART B: Nurse as Scientist

The growth of the nursing profession relies on advancing scientific principles that guide the practice. Nurses have a responsibility to engage in research to progress knowledge. In nursing, the study is designed to contribute towards the augmentation of quality and safety of care(Black et al., 2015). Nurse scientist ascertains research problems, methodology and conduct scientific exploration, collect and analyze data and account their discoveries. In most instances, nurse researchers collaborate with a scientist from other disciplines such as nutrition, pharmacy, and medicine for enhanced tackling of intricate enquiries and drawbacks. Continuous growth in science has empowered the nurses to become a researcher and exceed limits in improving patient care using evidence-based practice and compassionate patient-centered care.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is designed to hardwire up-to-date knowledge into typical care judgments to augment care processes and patient aftermaths. Pundits advocate for EBP because it is deemed as a solution to most deficits in healthcare that caused significant shortages in healthcare caused major preventable harm. As a school nurse, I can apply the nursing program conceptual of a nurse as a scientist using evidence-based practice because my environment cannot support research (Lippincott Solutions, 2018). As such, I can generally bring updated research conclusions to the bedside, steer and encourage small tests of change and quality enhancement projects autonomously or in alliance with assistants.

Furthermore, EBP is essential in providing care in the school setting as a nurse can observe a pattern, review it and come to a logical conclusion or resolution of a prevalent problem. School nurses can monitor a student that reports the same problem and conduct investigation to resolve the issue using EBP. For instance, when a student has recurrent CAUTI incidents or head concussions due to sports, the nurse can address these cases through the scrutiny of events, analyzing observations and formulating solutions such regular cleaning of the catheter or using helmets in contact sports respectively. In such cases, the nurse would have managed to serve as a nurse scientist relying on EBP and alleviating the outcomes of a given situation.

Researching on best healthcare practices and outcomes will empower school nurses to integrate compassion and formulate patient-centered care plans. As a school nurse, providing empathetic care is central to offering safe, efficient, quality and patient-centered care in a school setting and is aligned with the nursing values and ANA code of ethics(Henderson & Jones, 2017). While everybody is vulnerable to psychological, emotional and physical ailments, students are more susceptible to these ailments as they are active and can be bullied too. However, this group often seek care at their weakest or when the teachers observe changes and send them to school nurses. School nurses must act with compassion to each recipient of care to prevent aggravating this susceptibility to harm. Care provided is also patient-centered, which is a value accentuated during training and education. Patient-centered care is friendly to and dutiful of, the anticipations and ideals of the recipient.

Empathy is indispensable in the care of susceptible people. In the school setting, a nurse can identify a victim of harassment and respond to the victim’s vulnerabilities with compassion while preserving the pride of the student. Addressing such issues with compassion empowers the student to share and participate in the formulation of solution and strategy to overcome bullying(Perron, 2015). Also, providing compassionate and patient-centered care is viewed as a moral obligation. Since morality focuses on proper behavior, the nursing practice could, then, be deemed to fulfill the threshold of adequate and safe conduct and practice. Serving as a school nurse creates an opportunity to exhibit humanity, respect and sympathy as dictated in the Code as in most cases, the nurse is dealing with vulnerable individuals.

PART C:Nurse as Manager of the Healing Environment

Florence Nightingale’s environmental theory interpreted the environment as all exterior aspects and influences that affect the development and life of an organism, that can hinder, subdue or underwrite to illness and death. The concept perceives ailments as a health-restoring procedure, and the nurse’s task is to find equilibrium to salvage the patient’s life vigor to overcome the infection, focus on the provision on an inspiring background for improvement of patient’s well-being(Medeiros, Enders & Lira, 2015). Here, a human being is conceived to be part of nature whose innate defenses are affected by a fit or morbid surroundings. The theory reveals Nightingales’ belief in the delivery of factors for preserving a favorable environment to enable healing and sound living practices such as aeration, cleaning and feeding to ensure recuperating process founded by nature are not impaired.

The concern for the surroundings has existed since the establishment of the profession. It is still practiced today in a more humanize environment based on a controlled environment around the patient, which is perceived to be an element of relationships and interactions with environments accessible to a patient. It is essential to understand that ecosystem is just a member of the tools contributing to the progress of improved care(Medeiros, Enders & Lira, 2015). Contemporary nurses can serve as managers of the healing environment through leadership and education and enhancing safety and quality care. Leadership is significant in nursing, especially for those working in diverse contexts that interact with different professions. Nurses must develop effective leadership to deliver excellent care and guarantee patient safety while engaging in other leadership duties. Nurse leaders can only succeed in their endeavors when they influence using relational skills to persuade others to attain a detailed goal (Al-Dossary, 2017). Therefore, leadership is the art of persuading others to endeavor freely towards the attainment of goals.

As a school nurse, I serve as the manager of the healing environment by enhancing health outcomes in the community through education and applied leadership. School nurses influence the formulation and execution of policies at school level by promoting reforms aimed at improving the health of the students and the population at large. The school nurse coordinates care between health facilities, school and home, intrinsically, they can use school-wide systems to survey and control infections. For instance, school nurses who introduce hand washing culture contribute towards managing of preventable diseases as the students carry the knowledge home and teach their families and community.

Nurses can also serve as managers of the healing environment by providing quality and safe care. Delivery of quality and safe care is part of the nursing core competencies as nurses form the most significant healthcare labor force and have the utmost potential of affecting quality and safety of patient care. School nurses are vital in school health plans as they assist in tackling major health issues children experience. This role includes the provision of pre-emptive and diagnosis services, health edification and support in making decisions on health, and immunization against avoidable ailments (Holmes et al., 2016). Also, school nurses assist in the management of acute, chronic diseases, injuries and emergencies, contagious infections, mental health and sexually transmitted infections. In this regard, nurses have a direct impact on the academic and health outcomes of students, and therefore, they must offer safe and quality care. Thus, the delivery of quality and safe patient care is a practical strategy for nurses to promote social justice in human health experience.

References

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