Kolcaba (1994) expanded the concept of patient needs using Murray’s (1938) theory of human press, hanging nursing concepts on his abstract framework and developing relationships between needs, interventions, outcomes, and comfort. Kolcaba (2003) created a diagram of the CT, substructed from the theory of human press. Researchers individualize the diagram, starting with line four. Each researcher then develops unique versions of lines five and six. Each item on line five should have a conceptual definition and each item on line six should have operational definitions. CT may be applied to interdisciplinary healthcare at any stage, demonstrating transferability (Kolcaba, 2003). While there are few variables in the theory, not all the variables have to be utilized. Kolcaba permits researchers to develop the TS to fit their own comfort interventions, instruments, or settings. CT has well-defined and meaningful terminology, allowing for measurement of concepts and testing of hypotheses. To provide for measurement, Kolcaba developed the General Comfort Questionnaire (GCQ), a Likert-type scale with 48 items. She permits researchers to delete non-relevant items from the GCQ and replace the deleted items with questions specific to the study. She recommended items on the GCQ be related to the present moment, be state-specific, express a neutral-tone, have six possible responses to each question, and avoid compound statements. To obtain reliability, she suggested
But down to its most fundamental level, patients’ needs is nothing more than the presence of someone that could offer them the great comfort they long for. Nonetheless, it is sad to see that this humanistic aspect is fading away and being corroded by the rapidly modernizing health care settings.
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
The profession of nursing has, in recent years, been trying to further develop, test and use proposed nursing theory. To utilize theory appropriately, in all domains of practice, education and research, it is important to know how to describe, analyze and evaluate
There are many concepts in nursing theory that need further clarification. A concept analysis can provide a thorough explanation of a term in nursing theory that will help healthcare professionals better communicate. The Walker and Avant approach to perform a concept analysis was specifically formulated with nurses in mind (McEwen & Wills, 2014). Walker and Avant proposed a concept analysis be used to further understand the meaning of a term or concept in anticipation that those using the term would have the same understanding (McEwen & Wills, 2014). When a term or concept is in question or needs further questioning in any field of nursing, a concept analysis is indicated (McEwen & Wills, 2014). Walker and Avant’s concept analysis is comprised of eight steps; select a concept, determine the aim of the concept, list all possible uses of concept, defining attributes, model case, alterative case (borderline, related, contrary, invented, and illegitimate), list antecedents and consequences, and lastly list empirical referents (McEwen & Wills, 2014). The defining attributes are deemed most beneficial in obtaining comprehension due to the fact that these attributes show which show up in regularity when relating to the concept (Linda & Judith, 2011). Using the Walker and Avant concept analysis model a formal concept analysis will be performed on the term “pain”. Middle range nursing theory gave the example of pain as one of many concepts used in nursing (McEwen & Wills, 2014).
They needed a shift from a “body-system disease framework to a more holistic model that articulated both the art and science of contemporary critical care nursing practice” (Curley, 2007b, p. 255). The model is seen as rooted in the practice of nursing as explained by Virginia Henderson, known for her Nursing Need Theory (Curley, 2007a).
This piece of work will be based on the pre-assessment process that patients go through on arrival to an endoscopy unit in which I was placed in during my second year studying Adult diploma Nursing. I will explore one patient’s holistic needs, identifying the priorities of care that the patient requires; I will then highlight a particular priority and give a rational behind this. During an admission I completed under the supervision of my mentor I was pre-assessing a 37 year old lady who had arrived to the unit for an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. During the pre-assessment it was important that a holistic assessment is performed as every patient is an individual with unique care needs as the patient outline in this piece of work has
Conceptual analysis is integral in understanding nursing theory. According to Walker and Avant (1995), concept analysis allows nursing scholars to examine the attributes or characteristics of a concept. It can be used to evaluate a nursing theory and allows for examination of concepts for relevance and fit within the theory. The phenomena of pain will be discussed in this paper and how it relates to the comfort theory.
It is a mid-range theory because of the limited number of concepts and propositions, its low level of abstraction, and ease of application to actual practice (Petiprin, 2015). There are three steps required in order to practically use Kolcaba’s theory. In order to use the theory successfully, one must understand the technical definition of comfort and its origins, understand the relationships between the general concepts involved in the theory, and lastly, relate the general concepts to specific problems within the clinical situation to which it is being applied in order to enlighten practice and create research questions (Kolcaba,
Prepare a critical analysis of a qualitative study focusing on the problem statement, study purpose, research question, literature review, and theoretical framework. This can be one of the selected articles from your previous literature review or a new peer-reviewed article.
The importance of nursing theory to practice of nursing should not be overlooked or underrated. That is because, it’s understanding and application are essential in enhancing patient 's care, improving communication between nurses, providing education’ and guidance in research, (Robert T. Croyle (2005). It is equally important to know that currently, there are many theories that guide the practice of nursing. Two of the most prominent ones will be compared and will form the subject of this this discussion.
This essay will explore a needs orientated approach to the care that is delivered to a patient and examine the significance of the use of models and frameworks in the nursing process. It is intended to identify a patient with biopsychosocial needs that requires nursing intervention. Their holistic plan of care will then be critiqued in relation to the nursing model and framework utilised by the nursing staff.
According to Kolcaba, (1994) the purpose of CT is to describe how negative tensions (discomfort) can be reduced by increasing comfort (positive tensions) through nursing intervention that eventually leads to an outcome of enhanced health-seeking behavior (HSB). Kolcaba provides an in-depth description of her theory that allows the reader to understand concepts and relationships.
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 theory is the backbone of nursing. It is very important in the application of evidence-based practice (EBP). The functions of a theory are to narrow and provide specific information for the analysis of initially confusing behaviors, situations, and events (Fawcett & Madeya 2013). Moreover, nursing theory helps to improve not only the quality of care that we are providing to our patients but, they also help us make better clinical decisions. As a matter of fact, nursing theory gives the nurse a framework for organizing and analyzing information as well as a base for identifying with their patients throughout the nurse-patient relationship (Schick, 2015). I am very much interested in all the theories. The one that I relate to the most is Hildegard Peplau’s theory. It is a middle range theory that focuses on interpersonal relations. This theory teaches us about how to interact with our patients so that they feel more in control of their treatment. In this paper, I will be talking about the importance of nursing, the summary of Peplau's theory, and how as future nurse practitioners, we can apply it.
This section presents an analysis of Orlando’s theory. The central thesis of the Theory of the Deliberative Nursing Process is finding out and meeting the patient’s immediate need for help. The concepts and propositions of the theory are written at a concrete level of discussion (Fawcett, & Desanto-Madeya, 2013). The theory is classified as a middle-range predicative theory. The theory identifies the effects of a specific interpersonal nursing process on identification of the patient’s immediate need for help.