Supporting Nursing and Psychotherapy Theories
Review your Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form you submitted last week and think about areas for which you would like to gain application-level experience and/or continued growth as an advanced practice nurse. How can your experiences in the practicum help you achieve these aims?
Review the information related to developing objectives provided in this week’s Learning Resources. Your practicum learning objectives that you want to achieve during your practicum experience must be:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Results-focused
Time-bound
Reflective of the higher-order domains of Bloom’s taxonomy (i.e., application level and above)
Discuss your professional aims and your proposed practicum objectives with your Preceptor to ascertain if the necessary resources are available at your practicum site.
Select one nursing theory and one counseling/psychotherapy theory to best guide your clinical practice. Explain why you selected these theories. Support your approach with evidence-based literature.
Create a timeline of practicum activities that demonstrates how you plan to meet these goals and objectives based on your practicum requirements.
The Assignment
Record the required information in each area of the Practicum Experience Plan template, including 3–4 measurable practicum learning objectives you will use to facilitate your learning during the practicum experience.
DOWNLOADED TEMPLATE. TEXT ME FOR CLRIFICATION
Practicum Experience
Student’s Name
University
Course
Professor’s Name
Date
Practicum Experience
Supporting Nursing and Psychotherapy Theories
Theoretical knowledge in the nursing profession is important in clinical settings. First, it helps nurses understand their role in a healthcare setting, which enhances their ability to assist patients and improve their outcomes. Moreover, theoretical knowledge enables nurses to be able to explain their activities to the patients, and the patient’s family among other stakeholders about the reasons for different tasks. The knowledge also helps them to recognize areas that need change and identify the correct approach to implement the change in order to improve quality of care and safety of treatment. When starting my practicum experience, the two theories that will guide me are the nursing theory of self-efficacy and cognitive behavioral theories. Both theories are supported by research evidence, which makes them suitable for application in the clinical setting during my practicum experience.
Self -efficacy involves an individual’s belief in their ability to perform a certain action successfully. The theory of self-efficacy applies to both nurses and patients. In the case of nurses, they should be able to motivate themselves and improve their performance in the healthcare setting by developing self-efficacy in the tasks they perform to assist the patients. In regards. To patients, they should believe they can perform various tasks such as overcoming their mental condition in order to be effective in society. The theory of self-efficacy in nursing is a middle-range theory that was developed from Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory. The theory indicates that self-efficacy is influenced by behavior, environment and cognitive factors. Cognitive influence is the most important factor and enhancing one’s perception of different issues helps is an important aspect of developing self-efficacy. Theory also indicates that self-esteem is also a factor in determining an individual’s self-efficacy. As such improving self-esteem is an important aspect of developing self-efficacy. Theory will help to guide my practicum experience as I seek to develop self-efficacy among the patients as well as myself as a nurse.
Unlike the theory of self-efficacy, which has concepts and propositions, the cognitive behavioral theories is derived from an amalgamation of knowledge from different psychotherapy theories, mainly the behavioral and cognitive models (Capuzzi, & Stauffer, 2016). CBT assumes that all behavior is learned including bad habits. However, external events such as a person’s environment are influential in maintaining their habits. CBT incorporates a person’s unique history in their assessment, which helps to determine how a habit began and the various personal factors that maintain it. The approach helps in the formulation of individualized plans that assist patients to change their habits and develop better lives. The approach aims to treat both cognitive and behavioral excess that affect a person’s life and prevent them for functioning in the society. Treatment using the approach involves educating patients and manipulating their environment among other methods that are designed to facilitate behavioral change (Capuzzi, & Stauffer, 2016). The theory offers flexibility during treatment to ensure that patient is responsive but it emphasizes on measurement of change in the individual’s behavior.
Both self-efficacy and CBT theories are supported by research evidence for use in clinical settings. For example, Nafradi, Nakamoto, and Schulz (2017) found that a patient’s self-efficacy is an important determiner of adherence to treatment. In this regard, their belief in eliminating their illness is a key part of adhering to a treatment plan in order to achieve their goal. Similarly, Olsen, Telenius, Engedal, and Bergland (2015) assert that the purpose of a nurse is to help a patient regain their self-efficacy by developing appropriate treatment plans. Moreover, Unwin, G., Tsimopoulou, I., Kroese, B. S., & Azmi, S. (2016) found that CBT is effective in treating various mental conditions, such as anxiety and depression, in adults with intellectual disabilities compared to other approaches. Thus, the use of both the theory of self-efficacy and CBT to assist patients in clinical settings is supported by research evidence.
References
Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2016). Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and interventions. John Wiley & Sons.
McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2017). Theoretical basis for nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilki...