Four Grand Nursing Theories

The ANA defines nursing as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations”

There are 5 concepts in this theory which nurses can use to improve practice. This theory discuses nurses, patients and how they interact. It gives us a clearer understanding of the scope and nature of nursing, what nursing is not, what it is and what nursing can be in the future. It specifies the goals nurse must met in every therapeutic assistance they render and holds the nurse accountable for their

What is nursing? Florence Nightingale, first nursing theorist, defined nursing as having “charge of the personal health of somebody … and what nursing has to do … is to put the patient in the best condition for

Theories both nursing and non-nursing have made significant impacts in the nursing profession. Nurses use theories in everyday practice in how they deliver care to patients as well as upholding the standards of the profession. Jean Watson’s nursing theory can be used in combination with Maslow’s Hierarchy, a non-nursing theory, to deliver the upmost professional and compassionate care to patients.

A nursing theory can be defined as the concepts and assumptions used to explain, predict and control the practice of nursing. These theories provide a systematic view of the profession by organizing the relationships between all of the phenomena (i.e. events, people, and actions) that are associated with practice (Current Nursing, 2012). Nursing theories serve multiple purposes within the profession such as indicating the direction in which the practice will advance over time by predicting future relationships and occurrences. They establish the foundations for behavior and knowledge by explaining the practice through the models presented and the detailed descriptions of nursing phenomena. In addition, these theories can help distinguish the professional boundaries needed in practice to maintain a respectful and ethical relationship between patients and healthcare professionals. Nursing theories also have the ability to portray nursing in multiple lights to fit the situation at hand. This ability stems from the multiple categories of theories that each address a distinct part of practice. For example “outcome” theories focus on the end goal for the patient’s recovery and describe the nurse as the force behind coping and adaptation, while “interaction” theories focus on the patient’s mental state and describes nurses as a positive relationship (Current Nursing, 2012). One of the more widely known “outcome” theories is the Adaptation Model presented by Sister Callista Roy in

Nursing theory is a vital part in the field of nursing to aid nurses in the practice of their profession by guiding them with an implementation of structure and a process for organizing and explaining nursing actions. As a person embarks in a career as a nurse, they will bring with them their views, values, ideas, and experiences which all help in the development of their philosophy. It is this philosophy that will guide them in their nursing care. It is not enough to just have a philosophy as a guide to which nurses base their care. Theory must be applied to help bring together a person’s personal philosophy to their profession. To truly understand the nursing profession, one must acquire an understanding of theory and how it applies to person, environment, health, and nursing.

This model comprises the four domain concepts of person, health, environment, and nursing and involves a six step nursing process. Andrews & Roy (1991) state that the person can be a representation of an individual or a group of individuals. Roy's models sees the person as "a biopsychosocial being in constant interaction with a changing environment" (Rambo, 1984). The person is an open, adaptive system who uses coping skills to deal with stressors. Roy sees the environment as "all conditions, circumstances and influences that surround and affect the development and behaviour of the person" (Andrews & Roy, 1991). Roy describes

By definition, a nursing theory is “a set of concepts, definitions, relationships, and assumptions or propositions derived from nursing models or from other disciplines and project a purposive, systematic view of phenomena by designing specific inter-relationships among concepts” (Mutha, 2012). To be considered a nursing theory, there must be four components, which include the patient, the environment, health, and nursing. The environmental factors need to be included to ensure the patient and the living environment is comfortable. The health component of a nursing theory is concerning the health of the patient, which should be included in every theory. Additionally, nursing needs to be a part of every nursing theory to show the role that nurses play. Lastly, and the most important of the four, and the main focus of nursing and nursing theories, is the patient.

Nursing in itself is a very complex profession, with many different influences shaping it since its inception. These influences play a major part in defining what exactly nursing is. One of these key factors is nursing theory. Theory has many different definitions, but for the sake of this article, theory will be described as the “rigorous and systematic structuring of ideas that conveys a view of a phenomenon (Power, 2016).” In this case, that phenomenon is nursing. Theory is essential to developing a basic knowledge in nursing, and is what sets nursing apart as a professional occupation (Power, 2016). It can be very difficult to turn the practical aspect of nursing into theoretical terms, but there are many different theories out there that work together to outline the ideas that nursing revolves around (Power, 2016). One of these main theorists was Florence Nightingale, who singlehandedly brought public health to the world’s attention, through her sanitation efforts and work in wartime hospitals (Fee & Garofalo, 2010.). In this article, we will outline the components of Nightingale’s theory as well as identify how it still impacts the nursing world today.

Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life.

Nursing theory is the component that separates the nursing profession from other professions. Nursing theory is critical in improving and advancing patient care (Bond et al., 2015). In this ever-changing healthcare, it is essential for the nursing profession to be leaders and have input in all decision-making regarding patient care. Nursing theory identifies the nursing profession as unique from any other profession as well as supporting the nursing profession as the authority on patient care. Theories assist in not only guiding and advancing practice, but also provide guidelines for training, curricula, and research (McCrae, 2011).

Nursing does not have a simple definition, it is rather a mix of complex ideas. Nursing is not only the practice of providing care for the sick and injured but caring for the whole person beyond the physical state. Nursing is providing mental care by interacting with families and assuring them of quality care. For this reason, people in the field of nursing need to be outstanding communicators and relationship oriented by showing empathy and professionalism. They need to be advocates for others by informing family members on a case regarding a patient and listening to their patient to provide appropriate care. Nursing also involves critical thinking by assessing a situation and being able to think quickly and

There are numerous nursing theories and as the nursing profession grows, more and more theories are introduced. Ferreting for one core, unifying concept that is common across all theories is harder than initially assumed, but, if one reduces all to its core basis, one finds that al revolves around the patient and around attempts as to how to make the patient's life easier and better. To that end, therefore, the common element can be reduced to care of and adherence to patient.

4. Nature of nursing as a human science. – The science underlying the discipline of nursing has shifted away from an emphasis on natural sciences, and nursing tends now to be described as a human science. Nursing as a human science is concerned with the life experiences of human beings and their meanings, with health and illness matters and their significance in their lives, as well as their experiences with dying (Meleis, 2012). Because these experiences are shaped by history, significant others, politics, social structures, gender and culture, nurses also are concerned with how these perspectives shape the actions and reactions of human beings. (Willis, Grace, Roy, 2008). It is precisely because of this concern that makes nursing a practice discipline, which in turn helps to define its perspective. Taking everything that I have discussed since the beginning of this module into consideration, I honestly believe that all examples previously given readily support the nature of nursing a human science – it is practice, health and caring oriented, focusing on the human being in its entirety rather than subdividing it into smaller systems possibly independent from each other.

Nursing theory provides a perspective from which defines what, who and when nursing is needed and at the same time identifies the boundaries and goals of nursing therapeutics activities. A nursing theory is a set of relationships, expectations, suggestion and ideas derived from nursing models for the purpose of describing, explaining, forecasting and recommending. Theory is fundamental for effective nursing practice and research. The professionalization of nursing has been and is being brought about through the development and use of nursing theory. Nursing theories is used as a form of knowledge in supporting nursing practices. In order to understand nursing theories, the components of theory need to be defined first, and the components