Scenario
A nurse working in the emergency department admits a patient with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbated by heavy smoking. The patient was brought in by ambulance from an automobile accident. The patient does not speak English and has no family members present. The patient’s behavior indicates he may be having hallucinations. He is also having trouble breathing, and lung sounds are diminished on the left side.
Instructions
Describe a measurable patient outcome in 1–2 sentences, using the SMART goal framework, that would result in an improvement in the patient’s condition. Example: Patient will have a respiratory rate of less than 30 breaths per minute. (You cannot use this example for your measurable outcome.)
Identify a nursing theory that will facilitate the achievement of the measurable patient outcome.
Discuss the selected nursing theory that will facilitate the achievement of the measurable patient outcome.
Create a plan of care that identifies a total of 3–4 interventions that are supported by the theory selected for this patient.
Describe how the nursing theory key concepts relate to professional nursing practice, critical thinking, and clinical decision-making processes.
Provide examples of how nursing theory key concepts can improve patient outcomes based on the given scenario.
Establish the relationship between nursing theory key concepts and specific nursing actions in the plan of care to achieve measurable outcomes using numbers such as blood gases or vital signs.