Nursing diagnosis "altered energy field"

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"Altered energy diagnosis"

Do you support this NANDA diagnosis? Or do you feel that this diagnosis threatens the legitamacy of our profession? Nanda still stands behind it. What are your thoughts?

paphgrl

ok, ok, I'll be nice. :rolleyes:

This is interesting. What other unusual nursing diagnosis are out there?

I think "energy field" is the most controversial one.

I think "Denial, Ineffective" is an interesting one. First the title of it gave me the impression that a patient is in denial but not doing a good job in being in denial.

Second if you read the details like the Defining Characteristics, subjective "...Does not admit fear of death or invalidism". Well, for some people with a strong religious belief system and good community support, there is literally no fear of death itself. They may fear the pain involve in the dying process, but not death itself. And even for atheist, it is also possible if s/he has enough life experience.

Then if you look at the objective section "Delyas seeking or refuses health care attention to the detriment of health;..." First thing this reminds me of are nurses! Don't many of us fit this as we know what goes on in a hospital, especially if we have to go to the one we work in.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Please remember to debate the issue, and not each other. Thank you.

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Specializes in Nursing assistant.
Good for you!

Actually, come to think of it... the ability to play political games is quite important as it can affect greatly patient care one way or another. Maybe nursing school should have a course on how to play political games (is that in the leadership courses?)... I mean nurses seemed to do everything anyway from taking care of patients to fixing computers (know where and how hard to kick the computer) to fixing toilets.

I am not sure this is political, but I do believe that we need some leadership in nursing, folks who are willing to test some of these theories. It is so important that the rubber meets the road! I understand your desertation on statistics was to test out what was being put forth based on statistics. What is the old saying: figures never lie, but liers always figure? If we have prejudged an issue, we always can find ample statistics to support our view. So what is an objective scientific type like you to do?

You have to test the authenticity of the argument being presented.

In fact, that is why I agree that a discussion on ID would not be a good thing for me to weigh in on. Frankly, my belief system is so established that I would not know where I ended and objectivity began. I know my faith as well as reason is a factor in my belief in ID. I will let others who are more objective argue that one on my behalf.

Bias can be the enemy of knowledge.

So, good clear thinking Danu!

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Specializes in Nursing assistant.

A carpenter, a school teacher, and scientist were traveling by train through Scotland when they saw a black sheep through the window of the train.

"Aha," said the carpenter with a smile, "I see that Scottish sheep are black."

"Hmm," said the school teacher, "You mean that some Scottish sheep are black."

"No," said the scientist glumly, "All we know is that there is at least one sheep in Scotland, and that at least one side of that one sheep is black."

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Good for you!

Actually, come to think of it... the ability to play political games is quite important as it can affect greatly patient care one way or another. Maybe nursing school should have a course on how to play political games (is that in the leadership courses?)... I mean nurses seemed to do everything anyway from taking care of patients to fixing computers (know where and how hard to kick the computer) to fixing toilets.

Oh, we still do........when I worked in the nursing home, it wasn't unusual for me to have to unclog toilets/shower drains, repair rips in wheelchair arm rests with Kerlix and tape, kick the soda machine in the lobby (right side, about three feet from the bottom) to get residents' and visitors' money back, even fix the holes in the chain-link fence to keep our 'wanderers' from squeezing through and escaping!:chuckle

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I am not sure this is political, but I do believe that we need some leadership in nursing, folks who are willing to test some of these theories. It is so important that the rubber meets the road!

Agree, it has to be practical eventually.

If we have prejudged an issue, we always can find ample statistics to support our view. So what is an objective scientific type like you to do?

Actually even the objective scientific types are not that objective. They have their own bias. But at least in science, we are aware of our bias and take steps trying to minimize it (e.g. double blind, peer reviews, repeatability... etc). Science also has its own world views and the way you test it is, how does the rubber meet the road as you put it. One thing about good science is that it is flexible enough to change. It may be wrong, but it has a built-in capcacity to correct itself eventually.

As with statistics, it is extremely easy to abuse. Two positions which are not advisable in my opinion. One is just because a study quote all kinds of statistics, we believe it. Two is the oppisite, because there are so much abuse in statistics, we conclude that statistics is totally useless (throw the baby out with the bath water).

I think one thing to do is to read "Statistics for Dummies". :) I checked it out of the library and I actually like it. Maybe read chapters like chapter 17 "Experiments:Medical breakthroughs or Misleading Results". Very readable, I like it.

For fun, read "Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists" and "More Damned Lies and Statistics: How Numbers Confuse Public Issues"

by Joel Best. I think you should be able to get it in many local libraries.

These two books are fun reading and you don't really need a background in statistics. Although it is on the abuse of statistics, indirectly you also learn what is the right way of using statistics. Hopefully this also give you an incentive to learn more about statistics and how it can be use (not abuse) in nursing in such a way to affect patient care in a positive way.

What else, if one is in school, I would definitely take a basic statistic course at a minimum (some nursing schools require it anyway). Then if one has an opportunity, take a nursing research/writing or health science research/writing kind of course.

You have to test the authenticity of the argument being presented.

In fact, that is why I agree that a discussion on ID would not be a good thing for me to weigh in on. Frankly, my belief system is so established that I would not know where I ended and objectivity began. I know my faith as well as reason is a factor in my belief in ID. I will let others who are more objective argue that one on my behalf.

Bias can be the enemy of knowledge.

Well the ID topic is hard to be objective regardless which side you are on because there are so much emotions behind it. There is actually an interesting question to reflect on - Does the ID topic even belong to the relm of science? Actually anything that deals with origins that occur way back when, does that really belong to the relm of science? Usually in these kind of debates, both sides can become very dogmatic about it and there are lots of demonization of both sides and so we generate more heat than light. Also lots of times both sides take for granted and assumed everyone has the same understanding of different words (e.g. the word evolution is a good example) which unfortunately is not true. We'll seldom for example, discuss some of the major hidden assumptions between the two positions. For example, in science, you have to assume that there is no "God" in a Judeo-Christian sense at the least... or at a minimum, if that "God" exists, that God is having a hands-off kind of attitude. And the other side, the obvious assumption is that there is such a God. Another assumption is that in this debate we assume that the life we see on earth has to be either because of God (in the Judeo-Christian sense) or because of pure evolution as understand by science (which itself is changing). If you really want to be objective about it, one would ask are there other possibilities (and I could think of at least two on top of my head) and can the data we have be interpreted in those possibilities? How good are these possibilities compare to the established understanding?

There is another thing that people do not talk about too much... that is "science" has a very good reputation in many circles. It implies "truth" (sometimes the ONLY truth) and prestige. For example, way back in the dinosaur age, it is call "social studies", not "social science". Nursing itself for example, for RN, we get either an Associated of Science or Bach of Science (or some variation) and not Associated of Arts or a BA. The things in nursing as we all know, it contains both the hard sciences, the "softer sciences", and an art side to it which cannot be quantify.

In my opinion, ID really do not belong in science. A better place for ID may be something like in the area of phiolosopy of science. Or maybe some area like the integration of philosophy/religion and science. What ID can potentially give us is spiritual/philosophical meaning of the stuff science studies which is outside the scope of science.

Rats! I think I am off topic again.... sorry.

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A carpenter, a school teacher, and scientist were traveling by train through Scotland when they saw a black sheep through the window of the train.

"Aha," said the carpenter with a smile, "I see that Scottish sheep are black."

"Hmm," said the school teacher, "You mean that some Scottish sheep are black."

"No," said the scientist glumly, "All we know is that there is at least one sheep in Scotland, and that at least one side of that one sheep is black."

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

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Oh, we still do........when I worked in the nursing home, it wasn't unusual for me to have to unclog toilets/shower drains, repair rips in wheelchair arm rests with Kerlix and tape, kick the soda machine in the lobby (right side, about three feet from the bottom) to get residents' and visitors' money back, even fix the holes in the chain-link fence to keep our 'wanderers' from squeezing through and escaping!:chuckle

May I ask "how hard" do you have to kick it? :chuckle

They really should teach these skills in nursing schools. Maybe at least as a prereq or something. For nurses who are not in school, maybe we can have a certification in these things and get CE credit for it. Definitely a plumbing course should have nursing CE units...

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A carpenter, a school teacher, and scientist were traveling by train through Scotland when they saw a black sheep through the window of the train.

"Aha," said the carpenter with a smile, "I see that Scottish sheep are black."

"Hmm," said the school teacher, "You mean that some Scottish sheep are black."

"No," said the scientist glumly, "All we know is that there is at least one sheep in Scotland, and that at least one side of that one sheep is black."

Actually it reminded me one time I was in a jury selection thing. The lawyer asked me if a car is coming the other direction and it passes the traffic light, what color is the traffic light. My answer was something like (I was in engineering then) it is most likely green but we can't be 100% sure. :chuckle He didn't pick me.

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Specializes in Hospice, Med/Surg, ICU, ER.

Actually, come to think of it... the ability to play political games is quite important as it can affect greatly patient care one way or another.

You know.... I never thought of it that way.....:rolleyes:

And now that I AM thinking of it; I find the thought very saddening.:crying2:

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Specializes in med-surg 18 months, respiratory 3.5 year.

There have been some very good points made in this thread, as I have gone through severals changes of my mind as I got older regarding 'evidence based' and when I heard this term in nursing school, I thought, that's the kind of nurse I want to be. I am a great proponent of scientific research, but there is obviously something going on with all of the times a patient was "cured" or gone into remission, without any change in treatment.

I would put the instances under the heading "placebo effect" and I would put all energy fields, TT, Reiki, prayer, meditation, aromatherapy, acupuncture, etc. in this category. I am saying that I believe patients can cure themselves if they are of the right mind. I am in no way negating the actuality of energy fields if they can one day be proven by some still-uninvented technology. It has ever been that way, witness electricity, magnetism, herbal medicine, germ theory, chaos theory (I fight that one every day in my living room:chuckle ), string theory (the universe is made of strings, as a knitter, I must approve).

As far as it being a new Nanda Diagnosis, what were they :smokin:?

RNGreenhorn said:

"Nursing Diagnosis:

Altered energy field secondary to misalignment of 7th and 5th chakras as evidenced by -2 reading on the chakrometer.

Interventions:

1. Consult pts horoscope daily and plan medication schedule and activities accordingly

2. Keep HOB at 20 degrees to better maintain balance of 5th and 7th chakras

3. Rearrange room to corrospond to pts personal fen shui in order to create harmony and balance of Yin Yang"

:yelclap:

Rebecca

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You all should really get some sleep. Goodnight :zzzzz :zzzzz

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