NUTH 1101 Professional Nursing Practice Foundations Exam 1 Study Guide

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering foundational nursing concepts, history, roles, theories, evidence-based practice, health promotion, levels of prevention, and caring models for Exam 1 review.

Novice

A beginning nursing student or nurse in an unfamiliar situation who relies on specific, step-by-step rules and procedures.

Advanced Beginner

A nurse who has some experience, which may be observational, and is able to recognize meaningful aspects or principles of care.

Competent Nurse

A nurse usually in the same clinical position for 2 to 3 years who anticipates care, organizes care, and sets long-range goals.

Proficient Nurse

A nurse in the same position for more than 2 to 3 years who perceives a whole clinical situation, transfers previous knowledge, and focuses on managing care.

Expert Nurse

A nurse with diverse experience and an intuitive grasp of actual or potential problems who can identify individual patient problems and broader system needs.

Standards of Professional Nursing Practice

Descriptions of competent care expected of all RNs demonstrated through the nursing process: assessment, diagnosis, outcomes identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Standards of Professional Performance

Descriptions of competent behavior in the professional nursing role, encompassing ethics, advocacy, respectful practice, communication, collaboration, leadership, education, scholarly inquiry, quality of practice, professional practice evaluation, resource stewardship, and environmental health.

Autonomy

The professional nursing responsibility of initiating independent nursing interventions without requiring medical orders.

Accountability

The professional and legal responsibility for the type and quality of nursing care provided, including dependent, independent, and interdependent actions.

Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)

An APRN expert in a specific population, setting, disease, type of care, or problem who diagnoses, treats, and manages patients while supporting bedside nurses and evidence-based practice changes.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)

An APRN with advanced education in anesthesia who provides anesthesia and pain-care services; requires at least 1 year of critical care or emergency experience before program application.

Florence Nightingale

A foundational nursing figure who developed a philosophy of health maintenance and restoration, an organized nurse-training program, environmental and sanitation improvements, and utilized epidemiological and statistical analysis.

Lillian Wald and Mary Brewster

Nurses who opened the Henry Street Settlement to address the health needs of poor populations living in New York tenements.

Nurse Practice Acts (NPAs)

State laws and regulations overseen by state boards of nursing that define the scope of nursing practice and protect public health, safety, and welfare.

Preventive Care

Health care focused on reducing and controlling disease risks through measures such as immunizations, blood pressure and cancer screenings, wellness visits, and safety legislation.

Primary Care

Health care focusing on health promotion, diagnosis and treatment of common illnesses, and ongoing management of chronic conditions, such as prenatal care and patient-centered medical homes.

Secondary Care

Care for acute illnesses provided in settings such as urgent/emergency care, acute medical-surgical hospital units, outpatient surgery, and radiological procedures.

Tertiary Care

Highly specialized care provided in settings such as intensive care units, inpatient psychiatric facilities, and specialty services like neurology, cardiology, or oncology.

Restorative Care

Services aimed at helping patients regain maximal function, independence, and quality of life following illness or disability, including rehabilitation, sports medicine, and home care.

IDEAL Discharge Planning Model

A patient safety framework consisting of Include patients/families, Discuss 5 key areas, Educate in plain language, Assess understanding with teach-back, and Listen to goals and preferences.

Community-Based Health Care

A collaborative, person-centered approach providing culturally sensitive care within communities, focusing on primary care, health promotion, and prevention where people live, work, and socialize.

Metatheory

An abstract level of theory that examines the philosophical, theoretical, and empirical components of a discipline's body of knowledge.

Grand Theory

A broad, abstract, and complex theoretical framework that addresses nursing as a whole and does not specify particular clinical interventions.

Middle-Range Theory

A theory with a narrower, less abstract focus targeting a specific phenomenon, such as comfort or health transitions.

Practice / Situation-Specific Theory

A narrow-focused theory designed to guide nursing care for a specific patient population at a specific time.

Nursing Metaparadigm

The fundamental perspective of the nursing domain consisting of four core concepts: Person, Health, Environment/situation, and Nursing.

Shared Theory

A theory originating in another discipline (such as psychology or medicine) that is borrowed and applied to nursing practice.

Grand Nursing Theories

Broad structural frameworks in nursing, including Henderson's 14 activities, Johnson's behavioral system, Neuman's open systems, Abdellah's 21 problems, King's goal attainment, Roy's adaptation model, Watson's transpersonal caring, and Rogers/Parse/Newman's unitary human focus.

Middle-Range Nursing Theories

Targeted frameworks in nursing, including Benner's skill acquisition, Kolcaba's comfort theory, Pender's health promotion, AACN's synergy model, and Meleis's transitions theory.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

A clinical problem-solving approach that combines the best research evidence with clinical expertise, patient preferences and values, and available resources to make care decisions.

PICOT Question

A structured format for asking clinical evidence questions consisting of Patient population (P), Intervention (I), Comparison (C), Outcome (O), and Time (T).

Performance Improvement (PI)

The formal, continuous analysis and improvement of local health care processes within a specific unit or agency to improve quality, efficiency, safety, and outcomes.

Comparison of EBP, Research, and PI

A framework contrasting EBP (translating best evidence into practice), Research (generating new generalizable knowledge), and Performance Improvement (improving local organizational processes).

Translational Research

A field of study (also known as implementation science) that tests strategies for implementing and sustaining evidence-based practices in real-world clinical settings.

Primary Prevention

Health promotion and disease prevention measures applied to healthy individuals before disease occurs, such as immunizations and health education.

Secondary Prevention

Activities focused on early diagnosis, screening, and prompt clinical treatment after disease or exposure is identified to prevent disease spread and limit disability.

Tertiary Prevention

Interventions aimed at minimizing the effects of permanent or irreversible disability through rehabilitation and retraining to prevent further functional decline.

Transtheoretical Model of Change

A model describing the stages of health behavior change: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance.

Caring Assessment Tool (CAT)

An instrument measuring patient-reported nursing behaviors across factors including mutual problem solving, attentive reassurance, human respect, encouraging manner, appreciation of unique meanings, healing environment, affiliation needs, and basic human needs.

Ethic of Care

An ethical perspective that places relationships and caring at the center of decision making, recognizing power imbalances between nurses and vulnerable patients to promote advocacy and respect.