Courage in Nursing Practice: Annotated Bibliography
ORDER A PLAGIARISM FREE PAPER NOW
Courage in Nursing Practice: Annotated Bibliography
N362 Student
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Introduction
The concept of courage being a vital part of professional nursing has been around since the beginning of healthcare, but it is only recently that we have begun to understand the true importance of this idea. In the past few decades, researcher have conducted numerous studies to try to quantify the effect that courage can have in the nursing profession, both in support of positive patient outcome and superior job performance. The evidence from these studies points to the fact that courage is a vital component of success within the nursing profession. The following annotated bibliography reviews three research articles about the concept of courage in the nursing profession.
Gallagher, A. (2011). Moral distress and moral courage in everyday nursing practice. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 16(2), 8. doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol16No02PPT03
Very in-depth article from a renowned nursing journal that discusses the key concepts of moral distress and moral courage within the context of professional nursing. The article focuses on several studies conducted in the past 30 years on various clinical and educational settings in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The article references 19 separate sources to both explain the concepts of moral distress and moral courage and to showcase examples of both concepts manifesting in the profession world of nursing. Fantastic working definitions with both sources and studies to back them up are given for both moral courage and moral distress. The two concepts are discussed at length in the context of organizational structure and how management affects both of these ideals within their nursing staff.
The article is extremely well written and does a fantastic job of quoting and referencing other studies to support the ideas presented within the article about how to foster and encourage moral courage while impeding and eliminating moral distress. Several sections of the article could be used within a paper, as it is well set up to quote sections of material and concepts that pertain to courage in nursing practice. Also, with several quality references contained within, if further research is needed on a particular point or idea, this article would be a good place to look to find a trail to other sources. The article overall is set up in logical order, defining its intent, citing examples, defining both moral distress and moral courage, revisiting previous examples, and drawing conclusions from these examples. This would be an extremely useful article on the concept of courage in nursing.
Praise for Italian nurses’ courage. (2009). Nursing Standard, 23(32), 9. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=mnamsumank&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA198849265&it=r&asid=a65b4d5910de5cf658ff39ae85767aeb
A short article from a nursing periodical that comments nurses and other healthcare workers who treated people in makeshift hospitals in the city of L’Aquila, Italy after a devastating earthquake that left 278 dead, 100 seriously injured, and 28,000 homeless. After the local hospital had to be evacuated after it was deemed structurally unsafe after the quake, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers set up makeshift hospitals to treat the overwhelming number of wounded coming in for treatment and examination. Nurses were commended for their dedication in time of crisis, as well as their professionalism and courage to act during a tragedy that not only affected their countrymen and women, but also hit many of them close to home.
This short article will be useful to bring up an example or reinforce a point about nursing showing courage in the face of the greatest disasters. Article includes a quote from General Secretary of Royal College of Nursing that can be used as a direct quote to support points about nursing courage, fraternity, and solidarity. However, the article is quite short and there is not much substance. The article would be most useful as a way to support the general idea that nurses show great courage and commitment during times of great sorrow, but should not be counted on as a major research source on the subject.
Rishel, C. J. (2013). Tough courage: Oncology nursing forum addresses childhood cancer then and now. Oncology Nursing Forum, 40(4), 308-10. doi: 10.1188/13.ONF.308-310
This article is a surface look at treating a very specific form of childhood cancer called osteosarcoma. The vast majority of this article examines how this particular disease was treated in the 1970s and how those treatments have changed and improved since then. This is all sandwiched between and introduction and conclusion that discusses some of the special challenges nurses face from patients and family while they are treating childhood cancers. Much of the article discusses bone marrow transplantation, which is now known as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, as a preferred method of treatment for adolescents with osteosarcoma due to the fact that this treatment has a much higher success rate and rarely requires amputation of the infected limb, an older practice that caused much distress to children and their families.
Overall, I do not know if this article would be very useful as research for a paper about courage in nursing. The author seems to jump around a bit and finds her point that she defines in the introduction completely forgotten until she begins to draw conclusions. The article is a much better representation of how treatment options for adolescents suffering from osteosarcoma have improved in the past 40 years. While this is a worthwhile subject, it fails to tie strongly to the notion that courage is needed in nursing. However, a few minor points about needing courage to treat adolescent patients and keep their families informed and up-to-date can be salvaged from the introduction and conclusion if they are needed. Just don’t count on getting anything too substantial.
Conclusion
Each of these articles looks at courage in nursing as a vital part of success within the profession. All three articles take a different viewpoint when examining the concept of courage in the nursing profession, and while some articles are more informative on this subject than others, each one makes a valid point about the importance of courage in nursing as it pertains to successful patient outcome and competent job performance. Furthermore, the concept of moral distress, the antithesis of moral courage, is defined and discussed at length, both in how it negatively affects profession nursing and how it is allowed to grow and foster within healthcare organizations. In conclusion, each of these articles expounds on the necessity of courage in the nursing practice.
References
Gallagher, A. (2011). Moral distress and moral courage in everyday nursing practice. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 16(2), 8. doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol16No02PPT03
Praise for Italian nurses’ courage. (2009). Nursing Standard, 23(32), 9. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=mnamsumank&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA198849265&it=r&asid=a65b4d5910de5cf658ff39ae85767aeb
Rishel, C. J. (2013). Tough courage: Oncology nursing forum addresses childhood cancer then and now. Oncology Nursing Forum, 40(4), 308-10. doi: 10.1188/13.ONF.308-310
