NR 501 Assignment Importance of Theory in Nursing
NR 501 Assignment Importance of Theory in Nursing
NR 501 Assignment Importance of Theory in Nursing
I do believe that theory in nursing is very important. Theory has been a part of nursing since the time Florence Nightingale began to change and develop procedures and explanations as to why nurses do what they do. A theory is defined as “a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena” (Theory [Def. 1], n.d.) Theory in nursing has been an ever-evolving topic. Expanding on reasoning for what we do, why we do stuff, and what affects we do have on our patients. Peplau was a theorist who developed the theory of interpersonal relationships. Explaining the interactions with the patient as it evolves into a more therapeutic relationship. The nurse and patient start off as strangers in the orientation phase and progress to the exploitation phase where the nurse and patient interact and finally the resolution phase when the care has been provided and the relationship at that time is terminated. This theory is a foundation of each interaction we have with our patients starting the moment that we get our assignment. Peplau “enabled the nurse to begin to move away from the disease model orientation to one where the psychological meaning of events, feelings and behaviors could be explored and incorporated into nursing interventions” (Adams, 2017).
As nurses at the bedside we don’t often think too much about how we are using every day. As explained above the most common theory that has been developed and explained is the foundation to how we interact during the day. There are countless numbers of theories out there that we function based on, but don’t always know it. As identified by Sheri Jacobson, the best way to help nurses make the connection between theory and practice is by helping nurses make the connection using real example of practice (2017). An example she gave was of a nurse who is providing teaching for a patient on how to care for themselves when they leave (i.e. dressing changes, medication administration, exercises, etc.). Without theory in our practice we would have no foundation to go from to guide our practice and care methods.
References:
Adams, L. (2017). Peplau’s Contributions to Psychiatric and Nursing Knowledge. Retrieved December 27, 2017, from http://jmhan.org/index.php/JMHAN/article/view/3
Jacobson, S. (2017). Building Bridges from Theory to Practice: Nursing Theory for Clinical Nurses. Med-Surg Matters, 26(3), 1-15.
Theory [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Dictionary.com. Retrieved December 26,2017, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/theory.
Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our Verified MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS NR 501 Assignment Importance of Theory in Nursing:
I do believe that theory in nursing is very important. Theory has been a part of nursing since the time Florence Nightingale began to change and develop procedures and explanations as to why nurses do what they do. A theory is defined as “a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena” (Theory [Def. 1], n.d.) Theory in nursing has been an ever-evolving topic. Expanding on reasoning for what we do, why we do stuff, and what affects we do have on our patients. Peplau was a theorist who developed the theory of interpersonal relationships. Explaining the interactions with the patient as it evolves into a more therapeutic relationship. The nurse and patient start off as strangers in the orientation phase and progress to the exploitation phase where the nurse and patient interact and finally the resolution phase when the care has been provided and the relationship at that time is terminated. This theory is a foundation of each interaction we have with our patients starting the moment that we get our assignment. Peplau “enabled the nurse to begin to move away from the disease model orientation to one where the psychological meaning of events, feelings and behaviors could be explored and incorporated into nursing interventions” (Adams, 2017).
As nurses at the bedside we don’t often think too much about how we are using every day. As explained above the most common theory that has been developed and explained is the foundation to how we interact during the day. There are countless numbers of theories out there that we function based on, but don’t always know it. As identified by Sheri Jacobson, the best way to help nurses make the connection between theory and practice is by helping nurses make the connection using real example of practice (2017). An example she gave was of a nurse who is providing teaching for a patient on how to care for themselves when they leave (i.e. dressing changes, medication administration, exercises, etc.). Without theory in our practice we would have no foundation to go from to guide our practice and care methods.
References:
Adams, L. (2017). Peplau’s Contributions to Psychiatric and Nursing Knowledge. Retrieved December 27, 2017, from http://jmhan.org/index.php/JMHAN/article/view/3
Jacobson, S. (2017). Building Bridges from Theory to Practice: Nursing Theory for Clinical Nurses. Med-Surg Matters, 26(3), 1-15.
Theory [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Dictionary.com. Retrieved December 26,2017, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/theory.
Thank you for your interesting commentary. Jacobson utilized Dorothy Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory to support her wound care education example (Jacobson, 2017). Orem’s theory emphasizes the importance of the nurse-to-patient education regarding the skills that they will need to care for themselves after discharge (Younas, 2017).
Florence Nightingale believed that a clean environment is essential for healing. Ali Pirani (2015) describes a COPD patient’s cluttered hospital room, and claims that the disorganization may have led to that patient’s subsequent clinical crisis.
We often treat patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) on my medical floor. CF usually affects the lungs, the pancreas and the intestinal tract. It’s characterized by an overexcretion of viscous mucus that settles into the lungs and provides a welcoming environment for chronic bacterial infections. It also coats the intestinal tract and blocks the absorption of essential nutrients from digested food.
Many of our CF patients are in their twenties and early thirties. They have a high rate of admission recidivism, and they tend to stay for at least a week at a time. Since they’re used to being in the hospital, they tend to make themselves at home in their rooms. Their mothers or significant others usually stay with them for much of time.
They also tend to keep their rooms a total mess. They’ll have leftover food sitting around, but they save it in case they want to eat it later. Dirty linen and overflowing trash containers often sit in there for days at a time. They also have their clothing and electronic devices strewn throughout the area. There are several reasons for this, but one must wonder about the detrimental effect that it may have on their health.
Reference
Ali Pirani, S.S. (2016). Application of Nightingale’s theory in nursing
practice. Annals of Nursing and Practice, 3(1), 1040.
Retrieved from: https://www.jscimedcentral.com/Nursing/nursing-3- (Links to an external site.)
1040-pdf
Jacobson, S. (2017). Building bridges from theory to practice: Nursing
theory for clinical nurses. Med-Surg Matters, 26(3), 1-15.
Retrieved from:
htttps://nursetim.com/presenters/Sheri_Jacobson_PhD_MS_RN
Younas, A. (2017). A foundational analysis of Dorothea Orem’s self-
care theory and evaluation of its significance for nursing practice and
research. Creative Nursing, 23(1), 13-23.
doi: 10.1891/1078-4535.23,1.13
Many nurses would classify theory in nursing to be mainly academic in nature without any application to the field itself. However, there is a relationship to the practice of nursing indeed. Nursing theories do have a useful way that nurses can apply them. For example, in triage nursing, there is a decision-making process of sorting and placing patients into categories and levels of acuity. The triage nurse has to create a quick assessment that would focus on which patient needs priority versus another patient that does not need immediate attention (Reay & Rankin, 2013). The application of theory to triage decision-making is summarized by type of theory: grand, middle range, or situation specific. The level of context (triage environment) is low, medium and high, respectively (Reay & Rankin, 2013).
Another interesting part of this article was regarding the mention of a group of researchers who developed a model called the recognition primed decision (RPD) model. This was a model that was used as a guide understand the decision-making process of individuals that work in fields involving rapid decision-making an high pressure situations with limited time available. Some of these fields included nuclear power plant operators, airline pilots and nurses (Reay & Rankin, 2013).
References
Reay, G., & Rankin, J. A. (2013). Review: The application of theory to triage decision-making. International Emergency Nursing, 21, 97-102. doi:10.1016/j.ienj.2012.03.010
You raised an interesting point about how nursing theory is used by nurses on a daily basis to prioritize patient care by acuity level. Most nurses use both this type of patient triaging and the nursing process without realizing they are theory based practices that are fundamental to the nursing profession. Nursing theory is not only used to prioritize patient care but also used to help education patient about the disease process, discharge instructions and ways to improve healthcare outcomes.
One such theory is the Self- determination theory (SDT) which is used to promote effective patient education to improve patient outcomes and reduce patient negative behaviors. Schwindt and Sharp (2013) suggests that the main premise of SDT is that as a human being we all have a deep-seated need to feel competent in activities we engage in as well as the need to be connected to a group while maintaining some level of autonomy. Their article explains when the SDT is incorporated into tobacco cessation training individuals feel more autonomous and motivated to more likely to integrate new behaviors into their own value and belief systems and maintain that change over time.
References:
Schwindt, R. G., & Sharp, D. (2013). Making a Case for Systematic Integration of Theory-Based Tobacco Education Into Graduate Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Curriculum. Archives Of Psychiatric Nursing, 27(4), 166-170. doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2012.12.004
I enjoyed reading your response to the discussion, the message you wanted to bring across came clear and it allowed the reader to understand your point of view regarding nursing theories. I agree and support your position regarding nursing theories, and I think nursing theories are of paramount importance to the progress and development of nursing as a profession.
According to Turkel, Watson, & Giovannoni (2017) around 30 years ago Madeline Leininger, Jean Watson, and other pioneers of nursing theory met for the first time in a congregation with the purpose of having philosophical deliberations regarding caring and nursing. From this meeting the International Association for Human Caring (IAHC) was created and formalized. This group of nursing professionals meet yearly to reflect, converse, exchanged research information, advanc philosophical, ontological, and epistemological nursing presumptions. This group of nursing professionals does not seek to support one theory over the other, but to acknowledge that nursing theories organize, and advance disciplinary information and caring theories comprise fundamental ontological, philosophical, and epistemological expectations about the information and value regarding the nature of human caring.
Nursing theory form the structure and guide to the nursing profession. Nursing theories, lays out the structure by which nursing personnel is protected while providing care to patients, family and the community. The philosophical foundation of nursing practices, are based upon the understanding of four metaparadigms nursing concepts: person, health, care and environment. Nursing provides elements to understand the relationship that establishes the human being with the environment in the search for his health. The theory of the art of nursing contains three crucial concepts respect, responsibility, and empathy which are characterized within the context of the theory.
Reference
Turkel, M. C., Watson, J., & Giovannoni, J. (2017). Caring Science or Science of Caring. Nursing Science Quarterly 31(1), 66-71. DOI: 10.1177/0894318417741116 Alligood, M. R., & Fawcett, J. (2017). The theory of the Art of Nursing and the Practice of Human Care Quality. Visions: The Journal of Rogerian Nursing Science, 23(1), 4-12. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=ba33881a-5a28-4c2e-97cc-90e5a2fa8ca5%40sessionmgr103 (Links to an external site.)
I believe that nursing theory is important to the nursing profession. The nursing profession evolves greatly every year, every day, every minute. It is a wide span field with several leaders which contribute to the development of the nursing profession and molding it into what it is today. Without nursing theories or theorists, our profession would have never been able to move from a dependent profession relying solely on medical direction to an independent practice with its own diverse nursing interventions. (Petiprin, 2016).
There are over 30 nursing theorists who have contributed to our field. From the early nuns who cared for the sick to the men and women working in our hospitals, homes, or clinics today. Nursing is a way to get involved in an industry that allows us to work with patients on a personal level. The definition of nursing theory is, “A framework of several different concepts designed to guide us through our nursing profession” (Petiprin, 2016). The first theories appeared in the late 1800s with a strong emphasis on education. Overtime, nursing theories have developed as our foundation for clinical decision making.
I believe nursing theory is important because these theories are designed by nurses from all areas and time frames of our world. They are direct inputs and point of views that not everybody gets to witness. Theorists have a desire to explain, predict, and describe a situation or element from their own personal nursing care and practice (Petiprin, 2016).
To this day, nursing theories affect our nursing practice. Without even realizing it, most nurses today employ theories in their everyday practice. These theories help improve patient care, patient outcomes, and even improve communication between the nurse and the patient. Without nursing theories in our practice, new knowledge and data would be neglected which therefore neglects the future of our nursing practice (Petiprin, 2016).
Reference:
Petiprin, A. (2016). Nursing Theory Definition. Retrieved December 27, 2017, from http://www.nursing-theory.org/articles/nursing-theory-definition.php
problems involving incivility or injustice and realizing that things in our profession could be different if we utilize nursing theories as pieces of the puzzle to change a situation that improves the well being of our patients.
As far as Meleis speaking on the need for increased knowledge in speciality areas, I would completely agree. It is like I just mentioned, nursing theories are a mixture of research and experience and are important for us in all settings of the nursing practice. We do not just gain knowledge strictly from research, and that is what I consider to be a “generalist” approach. Instead, overtime the more experiences we as nurses experience and do hands on work, the more we learn and increase our knowledge in all aspects of the profession!
Reference:
Alligood, M. (2014). Nursing Theory: Utilization & Application (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. doi:978-0-323-09189-3