This 14 page paper considers how a nurse can become a teacher to patients, how this may be undertaken and the different considerations for the nurse to perform this task. The paper uses an example of a patient dying of cancer who needs to stop smoking and accept the nature of their condition. Issues discussed include the need to identify the context of the patient, the importance of motivation, communication, professional power and treating the patient as a whole. The bibliography cites 23 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: TS14_TEnurteach.rtf
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providing of different types of care such as palliative care. If we consider the case of a woman suffering form lung cancer, currently in a hospital where smoking in banned,
but suffering from a smoking addiction the role of the nurse is to care, but also to teach the patient of the harmful impact of smoking on her condition and
also to help the patient come to terms with a terminal illness. When considering this case there needs to be the understanding that there may be the knowledge of
the harm that the smoking is causing, but this does not mean a full comprehension or an emotional understanding. Theoretical knowledge can remain separated from the reality of a situation
as a form of denial (Anonymous, 2003). To consider how this can be undertaken we need to look at various aspect of nursing, from the way teaching can occur to
helping the patent come to terms with the situation and the way in which nursing care may incorporate all of these factors when seeing the patient as a whole rather
than simply a set of illnesses. Smoking needs to be prevented by the patient, not only for their own health but also as a result of the environment in
which they are cared for, where smoking is banned. Teaching patients may be seen as a function of nursing, in some US states it is a legal requirement of the
job (Williamson, 2000). If we are to look at the nurse as a teacher we need to define what we mean by teaching. This may be defined as the
use of a system of activities that will create learning within the patient. The nurse will already be teaching patients, regardless of whether or not they are aware of this.
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