Nursing theories
open access articles on nursing theories and models
Undertanding the Works of Nursing Theorists
Introduction
- Theory is "an internally consistent group of relational statements (concepts, definitions and propositions) that present a systematic view about a phenomenon and which is useful for description, explanation, prediction and control".
- Theories provide a framework for selecting and organizing information:
- What to ask
- What to observe
- What to focus on
- What to think about
- Nursing theory is an organized and systematic articulation of a set of statements related to questions in the discipline of nursing.
Uses of Nursing Theory
- Define relationships among the variables of a given field of inquiry
- Guide research, practice and communication
- Allow the prediction of the consequences of care
- Allow the prediction of a range of patient responses
Levels of Theory
There are four levels of theory
- Metatheory
- Grand Theory
- Middle Range Theory
- Practice Theory
Types of Theory
In nursing there are four types of theories:
- Needs
- Interaction
- Outcome
- Humanistic
Value of theory
- Enhances understanding and explanation for events
- Influence our behavior.
- Makes to think differently about a problem or a situation
- Helps to try new approaches or altering behavior.
- We can gain a new perspective of events
- Basis for challenge of its speculative tenets or propositions
- Challenges subsequent discovery of new ideas or knowledge that might explain and predict events not yet understood
In practice
- Assist nurses to describe, explain, and predict everyday experiences.
- Serve to guide assessment, intervention, and evaluation of nursing care.
- Provide a rationale for collecting reliable and valid data about the health status of clients.
- Help to establish criteria to measure the quality of nursing care
- Help build a common nursing terminology.
- Enhance autonomy of nursing by defining its own independent functions.
In education
- Provide a general focus for curriculum design.
- Guide curricular decision making
In research
- Offer a framework for generating knowledge and new ideas.
- Assist in discovering knowledge gaps in specific field of study.
- Offer a systematic approach to identify questions for study, select variables, interpret findings, and validate nursing interventions.
Theory development
- Theory development within nursing occurs in the context of practice.
- Two activities contribute significantly to the overall
process of developing theory in nursing.
- Concept analysis and
- Practical validation of theory.
Concept analysis
- Identify and verify abstract concepts
- "what events in practice can be linked with abstract concept x"
- Application of theory in practice
- Nursing process operation of analysis of assessment data.
- Used as scientific rationale supporting judgments in nursing care plans.
Concepts
- Concepts may be
- readily observable, or concrete - thermometer, rash, and lesion;
- indirectly observable, or inferential - pain and temperature; or
- non-observable, or abstract - equilibrium, adaptation, stress, and powerlessness
- nursing theories address and specify relationships among four major abstract concepts referred to as the metaparadigm of nursing.
- Four concepts are considered to be central to nursing:
- Person or client, the recipient of nursing care (includes individuals, families, groups, and communities).
- Environment, the internal and external surroundings that affect the client. This includes people in the physical environment, such as families, friends, and significant others.
- Health, the degree of wellness or well-being that the client experiences.
- Nursing, the attributes, characteristics, and actions of the nurse providing care on behalf of, or in conjunction with, the client.
References
- Phipps J Wilma, Sands K Judith. Medical Surgical Nursing: concepts & clinical practice.6th edition. Philadelphia. Mosby publications. 1996.
- Black M. Joice, Hawks hokanson Jane. Medical Surgical Nursing: Clinical Management for positive outcomes. St Lois, Missouri. 2005.
- Tomey AM, Alligood. MR. Nursing theorists and their work. (5th ed.). Mosby, Philadelphia, 2002
- Alligood M.R, Tomey. A.M. Nursing theory utilization and application. 2nd Ed. Mosby, Philadelphia, 2002.
This page was last updated on:
04/12/2020