Case study: a critical reflection of implementing a nursing care plan for two hospitalized patients
Abstract
Through critical reflection of designing and implementing a nursing care plan (NCP), based on a nursing model of care, this case study seeks to contribute to veterinary nursing's body of knowledge with regards the implementation of NCPs by veterinary nurses in practice. The rationale for the selection of the model of nursing care and design of the NCP is considered. The results of implementing the NCP for two hospitalized patients are discussed, along with the possible wider implications of these outcomes for both the use of NCPs in practice and the veterinary nursing profession as a whole. Recommendations for further research in order to establish more substantially these conclusions are identified. It is proposed that while there may be some obstacles to the usage of nursing models of care and their subsequent NCPs in practice, overcoming these is likely to deliver many benefits.
Within human nursing, models of nursing care feature heavily, with many texts and research papers devoted to the subject. Pearson et al (2005) suggest an interesting trajectory in their use in practice, with the initial scepticism surrounding their introduction in the 1970s soon giving way to a widespread adoption of them in both practice and education during the 1980s. However, more recently, there have been attempts by the human nursing literature to critically evaluate models of nursing care in the pursuit of ‘new perspectives on their use and implementation in practice, education and research’ (Wimpenny, 2002: 346).
If it is assumed that models of nursing care within veterinary nursing might follow the same trajectory, at what point of this curve are we now on? A review of the literature would suggest a current gathering of momentum for veterinary nursing to ‘use them as a way of taking practice forward’ (Davis, 2007: 104). The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Awarding Body's Veterinary Nursing Professional Syllabus (2010a) includes several learning outcomes pertaining to models of nursing and numerous journal articles have extolled their potential benefits (Joiner, 2000Davis, 2006Jeffery, 2006Orpet and Jeffery, 2006Cory 2007).
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