Middle-Range Theory Continues to Guide Nursing Practice Essay

In order to explore my philosophy it is important that I be aware of how I would define nursing. “Definitions of nursing, like nursing itself, are dynamic; nursing is constantly evolving to meet new needs and take account of new knowledge.”(Clark, 2003, add p. # for direct quote)

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).

designed to guide the practice of nursing” (Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing, 2012). Nursing theories can help patients, managers and other healthcare professionals to recognize what and how much that nurses do contribute to the healthcare field. I never did realize how important theories in nursing practice could be until I became a nursing student myself. Nurses use theories in their everyday practice, but never think about them as being

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,

“Theory-based nursing practice has demonstrated a capacity to structure professional care, unify and simplify communication, save time, clarify decision-making, and reduce nurse staff turnover saving thousands of dollars” (Alligood, 2011, p. 982). Although theory is present in my workplace, it is rarely discussed. This is a shame because it is apparent that theory is essential to the nursing profession and should be at the forefront. Nursing theory helps define and verify

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.

Theory has so far remained a strategic tool in advanced nursing practice. Firstly, nursing utilizes every feature of management science. Fortunately, the knowledge base of each and every management science takes theory into account. Theory includes methods, principles, and concepts. The principles are usually related, and can be observed and validated or verified when translated into the practice of management. Likewise, concepts are general notions, thoughts, and ideas that tend to form a basis of discussion or action. Therefore, theoretical principles guide clinical nurses to various

The credibility of a profession is based upon its ability to create and apply theory. Nursing as a whole has not been at the forefront of theoretical research being much more practical or hands-on in nature. Unless nurses increase the value placed on research and the body of knowledge that establishes the legitimacy of their practice then nursing will remain in a subordinate position in the medical environment. Theorists anticipated that by conceptualizing models of nursing, practitioners would be able to become more autonomous in their clinical settings while increasing the visibility and authority of nursing as a discipline. It

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 form the supportive framework on which our patient care relies on (Alejandro, 2017). It is not only the foundation of the nursing discipline but, it defines of we practice. If nurses lack that foundation, new knowledge development within nursing will decline. They are very important for Masters and advanced practice nursing students who are preparing to

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

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

Nursing science provides the basis for professional nursing practice. Nursing theories provide the critical thinking structures to direct the clinical decision- making process of professional nursing practice. The relationship between theory, research, and practice is circular in nature. As new knowledge and discoveries emerge in each of these realms, the cutting edge of the art and science of the discipline of nursing evolves.

Nursing theories, concepts or models are adapted from the theoretical frameworks of other discipline in healthcare. However, as nursing advances, new frameworks may arise, the nursing theories, concepts or models from the past or present may fuse, extinct or change donaldson (year). Hence, nursing is a discipline which is consistently reviewing and upgrading its theoretical frame works to provide the best quality of care to patients. (https://www.jacksonvilleu.com/blog/nursing/the-importance-of-nursing-research/)