Theories And Theories Of Nursing Essay

Nursing should not be looked upon or practiced as a mere physical approach to healing. Nursing should encompass the aspect of restoring each individual patient to his/her maximum physical and emotional state of being. In order to achieve such a goal, a patient must be able to bond with her caregiver on a personal level (Blais & Hayes, 2011). Jean Watson’s caritas factors sets an environment where the patient can obtain optimum health benefits (Blais & Hayes, 2011). The goal of this paper is to state my philosophy of nursing, the important dynamics and values that led me to adopting this philosophy, and the reason why I choose nursing as a profession. I will further explain how Jean Watson’s principles of philosophy is

Theory can be defined as the explanation of an event in which constructs and concepts are identified, relationships are proposed and predictions are made; it is a set of interpretative assumptions, principals or propositions that help explain or guide action. (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p521) Concepts occur in three steps; originating as a thought which are abstract or concrete in nature, progressing to a stage in which words and meaning are given to the concept, and lastly it is operationalized becoming a variable to be used tested during research. (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p50) According to McEwen, & Wills, (2014), a concept analysis identifies, clarifies and explores the meaning of concepts in order to promote understanding which aids in the development of conceptual frameworks, theories and research studies. (p55) Concepts relative to nursing include quality of life, blood pressure, hope, job satisfaction and pain.

This author’s personal philosophy in practice is to provide holistic care to my patients and their families. This author feels that encompassing the whole family or the patients support framework in the plan of care is the best approach to returning the patient to their optimum state of health. It is important to this author to evaluate the all of the aspects of the patient’s lives that they will share. It is important to evaluate the patient’s learning style,

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)

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

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).

NOTE: You will create a new Word document for this Assignment instead of typing directly into this document.

‘‘Perceived susceptibility” refers to “one’s subjective perception of the risk of contracting a health condition.” (Champion, Stretcher, & Janz, 2002, p.48).

One nursing theory that has influenced my values and goals as a nurse is Jean Watsons Theory of human caring: Transpersonal Caring as the Fulcrum. Watson believed every person needs an interconnection with others and caring promotes this need. Through caring, a nurse can help the patient have balance and harmony of mind, body, and soul (Cherry & Jacob, 2014).

In the profession of Nursing, we are faced with different challenges daily. Some of the most common problem that we faced today are patient workloads, unit dynamics, new interns, difficult family members, and patient safety. I believe the most significant difficulty nurses faces today is the nurse-patient ratio. In New York, we currently do not have a legislation that sets the number of patients assigned to a nurse. The ratio is set by the administrators and nursing managers of different units. In California on the other hand; legislation has been passed in 1999 and revised on 2008 that sets the cap of nurse-patient ratio in a Medical Surgical Floor at 1:5 (Kasprak, 2004). Currently in my unit, the nurse-patient ration ranges between 1:6 to 1:8, ratios that render care that is not safe for the patient and nurses; which can result to negative patient outcomes. Meeting the needs of each patient in a 1:6 ratio is both difficult and unfair for the patient, it makes me feel that I am ignoring patients need. The Transitions Theory by Afaf Meleis which is a middle range theory and Human Needs Theory by Abraham Maslow a which is a Humanistic Theory both supports the need for regulation of Nurse-Patient ratio in New York.

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).

According to Walker and Avant (1995), concept analysis allows nursing to examine the attributes or

There are several methods of analyzing the concepts. The purpose of concept analysis is to help the nurses to identify the trends and development in patient care. In depth analysis of these trends and developments helps to formulate measures to provide holistic patient care (“Grand canyon university”2013). Walker and Avant introduced the process of concept analysis in nursing in 1983.Walker and Avant (2005). They are concept analysis; concept synthesis and concept derivation explained three different processes to analyze the concept in nursing. According to McEwen (2011) Walker and Avant use concept analysis to clarify meanings of terms and define concepts with an excepted outcome of readers and writers communicating in a common language.

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