Grand Theorists : Theories And Theories Essay

The caring, supportive, sympathetic features of nursing, is immeasurable. Theories are essential to have. They provide a description of what nurses do and give meaning and purpose. When nursing theories are developed this new knowledge can greatly impact the future of nursing practice (McCrae, 2012).

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast nursing theorists from the four categories which are identified by Meleis as: Needs, Interaction, Outcome and Caring. (Meleis, 2012, Chapter 9) I have chosen Faye Abdellah, Imogene King, Myra Levine and Jean Watson as the grand theorists that I would like to explore for this study in contrast and comparison. This decision was made, in part, due to the fact that all of these theorists were born and educated in the twentieth century and I felt that their theories might be more applicable to my nursing practice. The information contained in the tables was obtained from several sources in an

Nursing theories have been a fundamental tool used to explain, guide and improve the practice of nursing. Theorists have contributed enormously to the growth of nursing as a profession. The four grand theorists I chose are Virginia Henderson, Peplau, Myra Levine and Jean Watson. These theorists have contributed tremendously in the field of nursing through their theories, and research. One thing the theorists have in common is that they are patient centered. They are all concerned on ways we can improve our responsibility to the patients, their families and the environment. They have different ideas but they are all aiming towards achieving the same goal, which is patient satisfaction and safety. Their differences are in their areas of

Theories are a series of interconnected proposals. Theories are an effort to describe, explain, predict, and finally control a period of events. We are able to base our experiments and select the contenders for the experiments off of our theories. We are able to test our theories by how well the cumulated data describes, relates to and predicts reality. Theories act as patterns for interpreting specific data that we may refer back to. These patterns ensure we stay on topic and are able to obtain the proper results needed to verify our theories.

The purpose of the nursing theories is to provide an interrelating framework focusing on the nursing practice. The defined nursing theories promote better patient care, improve the status of nursing profession, and improve the communication between the nurses, and provide guidance to the researches and education (Keefe, 2011). Not all nursing theories have the same meanings; however, they play the important role of explaining the key concepts and principles of nursing practice in understanding way.

Middle range nursing theories are abstract, testable theories that contain a limited number of variables. According to Chinn and Kramer (2011), middle range nursing theories can lead to new practice approaches as well as examine factors that influence the desired outcomes in nursing practice. One beneficial and widely used middle range nursing theory is the theory of unpleasant symptoms, developed collaboratively by Lenz, Pugh, Milligan, Gift, and Suppe in 1995.

A theory encompasses a cluster of concepts which descried a set or pattern of reality (Taylor, Lillis, Lynn, 2011, p. 27). A set of concepts that follow a logical pattern makes up a model (Taylor, et al., 2011, p. 27). The model makes up a set of steps which follow a blue print that tells an individual what the next step should be (Taylor, et al., 2011, p. 27). Nursing theories are ones that are specific to the nursing career field and allows nursing to be established as its own professional entity similar to the medical doctor profession (Taylor, et al., 2011, p. 27). Nursing theories are used in research to determine the best means of improving care of patients in the health care system (Taylor, et al., 2011, p.27). These theories describe,

Nursing is a unique profession which is built upon theories that guide everyday nursing practice. According to Taylor, Lillis, & Lynn (2015), “Nursing theory differentiates nursing from other disciplines and activities in that it serves the purposes of describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling desired outcomes of nursing care practices” (p. 27). Many nurses may unknowingly apply a theory or a combination thereof, along with critical thinking to get the best outcome for a patient. Theories are used in practice today because they have been supported by research and help the profession uphold its boundaries. Most nursing theories consist of four concepts which are the patient, the environment, health, and nursing. Each patient is at the center of focus and they have the right to determine what care will be given to them using informed

Nursing is a profession in which theories have been developed to help implement knowledge development into the practice since Florence Nightingale. Theories help to utilize research and what helps to guide our practice. According to Meleis (2018), theories can be examined through their levels of abstraction which include: grand theories, middle-range theories, and situation-specific theories. The purpose of this paper is to detail how middle-range theories are most applicable to clinical nursing practice in the 21st century.

To this end, I believe middle-range theories are best suited to advance nursing knowledge and practice in the 21st century. “Middle-range theories are at those levels of conceptualization that could inform nursing practice and research, and thus continue the cycle of advancing foundational knowledge and enhancing quality care”, (Meleis, 2012). Middle-range theories were created to help the nursing profession realize its overall mission and goal, now and in the future; to alleviate pain, suffering and distress, as well as promote health-seeking behaviors which will lead to improved health outcomes and attainable goals. Because middle-range theories lie in the middle of grand theories and situation specific theories, they are directed more toward specific interventions that can be implemented at the ‘bedside’. As such, they are designed to provide frameworks to manage patients’ experiences with symptoms, as well as the ability to understand responses to health and illness phenomenon.

The two theories that have helped to form my personal perspective on nursing are Erickson; and Rogers. Helen Erickson’s model is based on caring for an individual patient based on their own unique needs and perspective (Nursing Theories and Models, 2017). Erickson’s model took concepts from several other theorists such as Maslow, Padget, Seyle, and Lazarus and combined them to create a nursing model that takes care of each individual patient based on their needs ( Reed, 2017). This theory helps me to be more cognizant of the individual needs of my patient, not all patients regardless of disease process are the same. Each patient may have different underlying factors or circumstances that affect their health and current situation. Rogers’ theory is broader, viewing nursing as both an art and science, promoting health and wellbeing to patients regardless of where they are (Nursing Theories and Models, 2017). The science of nursing involves the knowledge and research of nursing, and the art is applying that science for the betterment of the patient. This theory views an individual as part

Nursing is a unique profession which is built upon theories that guide everyday nursing practice. According to Taylor, Lillis, & Lynn (2015), “Nursing theory differentiates nursing from other disciplines and activities in that it serves the purposes of describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling desired outcomes of nursing care practices” (p. 27). Many nurses may unknowingly apply a theory or a combination thereof, along with critical thinking to get the best outcome for a patient. Theories are used in practice today because they have been supported by research and help the profession uphold its boundaries. Most nursing theories consist of four concepts which are the patient, the environment, health, and nursing. Each patient is at the center of focus and they have the right to determine what care will be given to them using informed

Nursing theories can be categorized considering their levels of perception, and the literature mentions that there are two kinds of concepts: grand theories and middle-range theories. Whether concepts are grand or mid-range (MR), we establish corrective intellectual and influence practice and investigation. By description, grand concepts are theoretical, complex, and detached from practice. We are not destined to be simply grasped or experienced. Associated with grand theories, MR theories enclose less perception and interactions, are adjustable to an extensive range of practice and knowledge, can be made from numerous sources, and are solid enough to be experienced. For these reasons, MR principles are predominantly persuasive as nursing science statements the encounters of the 21st period.

Nursing theories are the support of nursing practice today. They are significant to nursing practice, education and scientific research because they help to determine, what is already known, and what additional knowledge and skills are needed. Nurses are usually first exposed to nursing theories during nursing education and further exposure comes from hands on training. The gained knowledge, about nursing theories, through education and training enhances better outcomes for patients and caregivers, allows application of professional boundaries, and assists in decision making. In this paper I will attempt to analyze, in general, the importance of nursing theory to the nursing profession; discuss middle-range theory, furthermore Benner’s

Theory delivers an instrument or idea to understand a specific theme, and provides tangible enlightenment for it. The real-world application of theory can be done only with the assistance of the understanding provided by the theory. Theory can be verified only by how it applies practically to the hypothesized ideas, explanations and variables that require examination. This can be accomplished through how it is applied. Consequently, the two terms of research and theory are interlinked, and there is a shared association between both theory and its application.