Nursing Application: King And Levine's Theory

Nursing Application: King and Levine’s Theory Transitioning the nursing education from the hospital training to the university settings led to the creation of many nursing theories. A body of knowledge, distinguishable from medicine, produced by nurses had to be decided as the standard nursing curricula. Fortunately, in 1955, Alligood (2014) narrated that the federal funds were allocated to support nurse scientists and educators to advance the nursing profession. Thus, King and Levine’s theory were among the many theories introduced at the time when nursing had to be clearly defined in its concepts and practice to guide the future generation of nurses. The following paragraphs will expound the relevance of King, Levine, and Roger’s theory

Interpersonal systems include interaction, communication, role, stress, stressors, and transactions. A nurse must keep this in mind as he interacts with the patient, using his communication skills to read both the patient’s verbal and non-verbal languages, identifies each other roles, conflicts or stressors, and aims for a successful goal achievement or transaction. One example is a situation when a patient needs to get out of bed after a surgery. After the nurse explained the reason, his support, and the patient’s role, he must assess and explore the patient’s motivation or reservation to accomplish the task. Additionally, when a family member is present, he may get involved in the interaction to influence the patient’s

Important concepts are organization, authority, power, status, and decision-making. A nurse can consider these concepts in patient teaching, acknowledging the patient’s main support and caretaker when the patient goes home. The social system is also relevant when addressing advance directives or informed consent.

Theory of Goal Attainment King explained in George (2011) that the goal attainment consists of effective nurse-patient interactions: accurate assessments, mutually-agreed goals, and actions to achieve those goals. In brief, a successful transaction with the patient accomplished by nurse’s skills and knowledge will lead to patient’s health.

Application

My personal encounter with an intubated patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) presented a unique challenge to apply the goal attainment theory. Interactions occurred among the health care team, the patient, and his mother. Our goal that day was to extubate the patient and was clearly agreed by everyone involved. Assessments of the patient were: drowsy but could easily be stimulated, followed commands but distracted and agitated. Mother was at bedside, supporting and assuring the patient. After brief instructions and a clear nod of the patient to remove the tube, we extubated the patient. The patient felt relieved, still somewhat sleepy but more relaxed. Afterwards, the patient’s mother expressed her gratitude to the health care