Assignment: The Basic Tenets
as the primary authority on the pain
experience, thereby prompting clinicians
to pay closer attention to clients’ description
of their lived experience of pain rather than
relying on a standardized definition of pain.
From a holistic perspective, all elements that
comprise the pain experience are equally
important and frame clients’ perception of
pain, the behaviors clients use to manifest
the impact of the pain experience, and
clients’ responses to varied methods used
to treat pain. Being knowledgeable about
pain management practice is an expected
competency of every registered nurse, yet
many nurses continue to describe barriers
that impede the management of clients’ pain
(Rejeh, Almadi, Mohammadi, Kazemnejad,
& Anoosheh, 2009). The literature supports
the notion that nurses’ knowledge and
attitudes about pain management is linked
to their ability to help clients successfully
manage pain; updating knowledge about
methods for relieving pain is key to improving
practice (Duignan & Dunn, 2008; Lui, So,
& Fong, 2008; Matthews & Malcolm, 2007;
Xue, Schulman-Green, Czaplinski, Harris,
& McCorkle, 2007).
Many strategies have been developed
to help bridge the gap between what nurses
know and what they actually do in practice
to help manage clients’ pain (Dihle,
Bjølseth, & Helseth, 2006). The problem
of under-treated pain persists and is likely
complicated by the lack of application of
theory to guide pain management practice.
When coupled with nurses’ uncertainty
about how to autonomously treat clients
in pain, pain relief outcomes are often
unsatisfactory. Theories, particularly
theories that have the potential to resonate
with clinicians and impact care of the whole
client, may be particularly powerful in
narrowing the theory-practice gap and
providing clues to more effective,
comprehensive pain management. The
application of a holistic philosophy of
care emphasizes the role of clinicians in
partnering with clients in the design and
implementation of mutually agreeable plans
for the relief of pain—plans that sufficiently
address the dimensions of the whole
person’s lived pain experience. Holistically,
the ultimate goals for the nurse are to better
understand the pain experience from the
client’s perspective, foster healing, and
deliver care that strives to provide the
greatest extent of pain relief possible.
Anchored in the Scope and Standards of
Holistic Nursing (2007), the five foundational
concepts of Dossey’s theory of integral
nursing articulate the qualities and way of
being that characterize the holistic, integral
nurse and prompt the nurse to attend to the
many dimensions of pain affecting the whole
client. In this way, the nurse invites the client
experiencing pain to participate in the
development of potentially transformative,
relationship-centered interactions and to
provide feedback on interventional success
or the need for further improvement.
The primary purpose of this paper is
to introduce the basic tenets of the theory
of integral nursing to aid clinicians in
designing caring interventions focused
on healing and grounded in the theory’s
holistic, relationship-centered approach.
Following the unfolding of the basic tenets
of this theory, examples of the application
of the theory to pain management are
proposed.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.