Concept Analysis Nursing

Concepts are essential elements in theories which provide ideas for research in nursing. Concepts give knowledge that can be applied to nursing practice, education and administration. (Parker & Smith 2010). Concept analysis brings about clarity. The methods of concept analysis have the following steps. Select the concepts, determine the purpose of the anaysis, identify all uses, define attributes, a model case of the concept, consequences of the concept, and define empirical references of the concept (Walker & Avant 1995)

The purpose of this paper is to create a concept analysis and identify a nursing concept that is within a nursing theory. A concept analysis is a process where concepts and their characteristics are researched and clarified. The eight steps on conducting a concept analysis include selection of a concept used in a nursing theory, identification of the aims or purposes of the analysis, identification of possible use of the selected concept, determination of defining attributes, identification of model cases, identification of antecedents and consequences, and lastly definition of empirical referents (Walker & Avant, 2011). The nursing concept selected for this paper is “empowerment” within the nursing profession. The nursing theory from which the empowerment concept was obtained is Kanter’s Theory on Structural Empowerment. In order to empower someone, an individual needs the tools and resources to feel powered. According to Laschinger, Gilbert, Smith, & Leslie (2010), Kanter defines power as the ability to mobilize information, resources and support to get things done in an organization. The role of management is to provide employees with power tools that empower them to maximize their ability to accomplish their work in a meaningful way. Kanter goes on to describe two primary empowerment structures in organizations, first being the structure of opportunity and second the structure of power. The structure of opportunity relates to job conditions that provide

70). This definition begins a departure from the Logical Positivistic Received View, in that it does not emphasize the structure of the theory. According to Meleis (1985) this definition of theory exemplifies the multiple usageof theory, an important issue in dealing with nursing practice, research, education and administration. The definition for use here is one adapted from Meleis (1985) and states that a nursing theory is a conceptualization of phenomena and relationships in or pertaining to nursing for the purpose of describing, explaining, predicting and/or prescribing nursing care. Many of the definitions of nursing theory proposed in the 1960s and ’70s derived their definitions from psychology and the social sciences.Nursing theories, according to Meleis (1985) “evolve from extant nursing reality as seenthrough the mind of a theorist who is influenced by certain historical and philosophical processesor events” (p. 29). Theory is not only a tool for the development of research propositions but is also a goal, in which findings becomemore meaningful (Meleis, 1985). One problem in nursing has been the lack of agreement on the definition of theory. Many authors have used the term theory as interchangeable with such terms as conceptual framework, conceptual model, model, and paradigm. Fawcett (1989) clearly states that “conceptual models and theories are clearly distinguished by their

Theory development stems from personal experiences, intuition, and knowledge of the theorist (Burns et al., 2013). When a scholar develops a theory, it has to be tested through research. The findings of the study are then presented to experts in the area of academics and the field of practice (Burns et al., 2013). The presentation of the findings allows experts to provide constructive criticism, highlight the pros and cons of the theory, and acknowledge whether or not the theory can be accepted as a guide to practice. This theory evaluation paper will give the reader a theory description, theory analysis, and an assessment of Dorothea Orem’s self-care deficit theory of nursing (Alligood et al., 2010).

Nursing knowledge is the result of incorporating what is known and understood through learning, research, experience, and theory. Knowledge depends on research and theory to provide a collective, structured, and current information. This information can be used to explore phenomena, answer questions, generate new theory, and solve problems. DNPs need to be familiar with the components and levels of abstraction in nursing knowledge. The way to comprehend this information is by using the structural holarchy established by Jacqueline Fawcett. It distinguishes the various components of nursing knowledge based on the level of abstraction. Fawcett (2005) develops nursing knowledge into a structural holarchy with five components: metaparadigm, philosophy, conceptual model, theory, empirical indicator. The larger whole is nursing knowledge and each component is a complete whole as well as part of a larger whole. The most concrete component in the holarchy of nursing knowledge is the empirical indicator and the most abstract component is the metaparadigm (Butts & Rich, 2015).

Since 1970s, person, nursing, health, and environment are considered as the core concepts of nursing theories by many nursing theorists.

B.S. is an 81 year old Caucasian female presenting with abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting in the emergency room on February 3, 2013. B.S. has a history of glaucoma, hypothyroidism, degenerative arthritis and diverticulosis. She has allergies to iodine and vicodin. B.S. is admitted for diverticulitis with possible partial bowel obstruction and hydronephrosis. B.S. was admitted on February 3, 2013 here at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

It is evident that nursing theorists, scholars and health care professions have varying interpretations of what caring is or should be. In the middle of all these disparity, caring is a vital component of the nursing practice and the key to choosing the concept of caring is because it is very essential when it comes to health care. This paper tries to make clear the concept of caring in the field of nursing and it makes use of the Walker and Avant outline to support the concept. It starts with recognizing the concept and its functions. It then identifies three emerging attributes of caring will be identified and a description of each will be given. At last, the paper will recognize antecedents, the effects or consequences and

The concept should be clear and distinct, unambiguously defined and well differentiated from other concepts, and should be applicable to the world and appropriate in context. Concept analysis is applied for the refinement and definition of concepts originating from nursing practice, nursing research and nursing theory (Maputle & Donavon, 2013), which helps to differentiate between similar and dissimilar concepts. Walker and Avant assert that concept analysis and development are fundamental processes required by nurse researchers who are attempting to measure the metaphysical phenomena of nursing, or in this study the midwifery practice.

Concept analysis and concept development are the terms used to refer to the process of bringing clarity to the definition of the concepts used in nursing science. They are generally applied to the process of inquiry that examines concepts for their level of development as seen in their internal structure, use, representativeness, and relationship to other concepts, in the quest to promote better understanding. Much of the conceptual basis of nursing theory has been derived from already established concepts from other disciplines, and a re-examination of these concepts for relevance and fit to nursing, is important for determining its appropriateness of application (McEwen, 2007).

123). There are numerous approaches of creating meaning for concepts based on literature review, academic critique, and providing precise operational definition of said concepts (McEwin & Willis, 2011). Walker and Avant developed the concept analysis approach selected in this article in 1983, which is a concept analysis method based upon Wilson’s method from the 1960’s (McEwin & Willis, 2011). Walker and Avant’s method “provides a systematic approach to analyze relatively new concepts” (Bruggemann et al., 2012, p. 124), and is comprised of three different processes: concept analysis, concept synthesis, and concept derivation (McEwin & Willis, 2011, p. 54). The concept analysis process is broken down into eight different steps that will allow defined terms to be presented in a common language (McEwin & Willis, 2011, pg. 54, para. 2). Additionally, the concept synthesis process is utilized when concepts need to be developed further and can be broken down into three subcategories: qualitative synthesis, quantitative synthesis, and literary synthesis (McEwin & Willis, 2011, pg. 54, para. 3). Furthermore, the concept derivation process is useful when generating innovative ways of thinking about an occurrence when few concepts are available and is comprised of a four-step design (McEwin & Willis, 2011, pg. 55, para. 1).

Concept has been defined as “symbolic statement describing a phenomena or class of phenomena (Kim, 2000,p.15). It can be theoretical or non theoretical like hope, love and desire or body temperature, pain (McEwen& Willis, 2011) the words like grief, empathy, power, job satisfaction or a phrase like health promoting behaviors or maternal attachment. Concept analysis refers to the rigorous process of bringing clarity to the definition of the concept used in science (McEwen & Willis, p, 51). According to McEwen (2011), the purpose of concept analysis is to clarify, recognize, and define concepts that describe phenomena.

The meaning of concept analysis is how nursing “explores the meaning of concepts to promote understanding” (McEwen, & Wills, 2010). Pain continues to be a common problem within health care and one of the most treat problems when seeking medical treatment. The concept analysis consist of several steps to complete the process. The steps of the concept analysis are as follows: “1. select the concept 2. Determine the aims or purpose of analysis 3. Identify all the uses of the concept possible 4. Determine the defining attributes 5. Identify model cases 6. Identify borderline, related, contrary, inverted, and illegitimate cases 7. Identify antecedents, and consequences 8. Define empirical references” (McEwen, & Wills,

While virtually all nurses have some kind of an 'idea' of how their profession should operate, this intuitive, anecdotal understanding is profoundly different from how a theory operates. A theory is "a creative and rigorous structuring of ideas that projects a tentative, purposeful and systematic view of phenomena" and is designed to "organize the relationship among the concepts to describe, explain, predict, and control practice" (Nursing theories: An overview, 2012, Nursing Theories). But while greater predictability is desirable versus, for example, the unpredictability of

In order to critically examine the concepts central to the discipline of nursing it is important to clarify my understanding of what constitutes a discipline. Nursing literature has led me to understand that a discipline can be, in simple terms, thought of as a field of study with a unique perspective which gives rise to the nature and scope of inquiry of that field and therefore leads to a specialized body of knowledge (Parker, M & Smith, M, 2010). In attempt to cement nursing’s place in the professional world and in an effort to distinguish it from other disciplines it seems imperative that nursing itself agree on the discipline’s most significant concepts. Through early course readings it