Helping Styles

A detailed Summary of Helping Styles

It is vital in all nursing situations to have a personal style of helping that is effective and leads to good patient care. When a patient receives first-rate care, they are likely to better adjust to their illness than if poor care was given. It is imperative that a variety of helping styles be available in a nursing environment because not all patients respond the same to all helping techniques. Fortunately, every nurse has a different personal style of helping, and as such, many different types of nursing theories have developed to compliment their individual style. If nurses can understand and identify with a theory, they can then better understand their personal style of nursing, and in turn, better apply this individual style when helping a patient. Therefore, this understanding translates to better patient care, better patient compliance, and higher spirits throughout the entire nursing environment.

Before nurses can apply theory to practice, they must first explore their own set of values and beliefs which strongly influence their particular style of helping. Without this personal understanding of themselves, the nurse would have a hard time deciding which theory best describes her and secondly, a difficult time im

Nursing theories have a lot to do with the way a nurse develops his/her own style of helping. Once a nurse has explored their own values and beliefs, they may then look into theories that correspond to their value and belief system. Theories are a good way of supporting what one finds to be true. For instance, Imogene M. King believes that "Goals, needs, and values of nurse and client influence the interaction process" (George, 1995). I, as a nurse, also believe this to be true, but to have a theory to back up my perception is superior to having this belief alone. As different nurses have different beliefs, there are many theorists to support those beliefs. For me, my values and beliefs are complimentary to the theories of Jean Watson, a needs/problem-oriented theorist, as well as Imogene M. King, an interaction-oriented theorist. King has the same view of patent nurse interaction as I have. Ie. King believes that individuals have a right to participate in the decision making process that would influence their own life and health (George). As well, King believes that individuals have the right to accept or refuse any type of health care. These views of King fit well with my views of the nurse-client relationship. Jean Watson has the same view of nursing as I do as well. For instance, Watson believes that caring promotes health and growth (be it individual or family) (Talento, 1995). Also, Watson believes that "caring can be effectively demonstrated and practiced only interpersonally (Talento).

A few weeks later, I ran into another problem with staff related to Mr. S. After arriving on the floor, I went to his room to see if he was awake and ready for breakfast. When I entered the room, I found him still lying in bed. I inquired as to why this was, as breakfast was to be served in ten minutes. He confided in me that he was having a lot of pain in the heel of his foot. As a care giver, I offered to look at his foot which appeared to be slightly swollen. I attempted to help him out of bed to get dressed, but he could not weight bear on his foot. This man usually used a walker to move around, so I offered a wheelchair to him to go to breakfast. He responded that he thought a day of rest would clear things up, and I agreed to let him rest and brought breakfast to his room. After this incident I spoke with the head nurse on the floor and discussed Mr. S's condition. The nurse and I agreed to Mr. S. resting for the day. The health care worker though, insisted that Mr. S. get out of bed and

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Marian Villa, Jean Watson, Imogene King, George King, Ie King, style helping, values beliefs, personal style, personal style helping, individual style, health care, king believes, care worker, patient care, nursing environment, care patient, patient care patient, health care worker, developed compliment individual, compliment individual style,

Approximate Word count = 1704
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous