Clinical guidelines and nursing sensitive outcomes
Introduction
Practice of medicine has over the years been associated with medication and sedation as the only solutions to all physical illness, mental disorders and nervous breakdown cases. However, necessary and vital interventions have been established that are changing how medical practitioners offer their services and improving general outcome of all patients. The field of nursing in particular requires more than the regular medication concepts to betterment of health care. Nursing interventions like patient education, reassurance and relaxation measures, music theory and guided imagery theory have been discovered and successful proved a worth course.
In my opinion guided imagery is the best practice to incorporate in nursing and clinical care. It entails deep breathing and muscle relaxation for patients together with playing background music (Kshettry et al, 2006). Nurses teach patient deep breathing procedures and how to create positive mental images.
This evidence-based practice has incorporated several approaches like the music intervention which is all about noise control and the soothing impact it has on patients. Music has a psychological effect that greatly reduces anxiety, promotes relaxation, improves moods, reduces pain, increases tolerance and induces sleep in patients (Dunn, 2004). Deep breathing and muscle relaxation procedures are measures that calm patients’ nerves and build positive thoughts in minds of patients. This practice impacts positively on patients and activities involved are a life-long experience to be used in all situations that need be.
Patient outcome is improved through this practice because their healing begins in the head. Medication and sedation maybe extensively used but if the mind-set of a patient is disoriented, anxious, fearful and negative then there is not much medication can do even in the simplest medical illness. Nursing sensitive outcomes are those that improve when there is higher quality and greater quantity of nursing care and some include pressure ulcers, falls, intravenous infiltrations and cardiac failure among others (Whitman, 2004).
Conclusion
Guided imagery among other practices should be implemented through first acquiring necessary skills required and applying it in every case. Barriers like going against some hospital regulations and worse case patients are likely to arise. However, patient care and health requires all necessary procedure be practiced for their benefit.
References
Dunn, K. (2004). Music and the reduction of post-operative pain. Nurs Stand; 18(36):33–9.
Kshettry, V. R., Carole, L.F., & Henly, S. J., et al. (2006). Complementary alternative medical therapies for heart surgery patients: feasibility, safety, and impact. Ann Thorac Surg; 81(1):201–5.
Whitman, G. R. (2004). Nursing-sensitive outcomes in cardiac surgery patients. J Cardiovasc Nurs; 19(5):293–8.
