Theory Influencing Nursing Practice

Nurse leaders are faced with issues or problems on a daily basis that are often expected and sometimes unexpected. It “comes with the territory” so to speak. If there were no issues to solve or hurdles to overcome the necessity of designating a leader would not seem quite as important. Nurse leaders can tackle issues that occur in their work environment using nursing theory to guide them. Nursing theory provides a framework that nurse leaders can use to implement interventions or changes to positively impact the staff they lead. This framework of the theory will set the standards for achieving the desired outcomes and is based on knowledge that is gleaned from practice and/or research.

Leadership and management are essential to any health care organization, balancing patient care, employees, physicians, and the organization. Nursing is founded on interpersonal relationships. As a people-oriented profession, nursing leadership styles are influenced by humanism. The mission, attitude, and behaviors of a health care organization begins with its leadership, which creates the direction and purpose of the organization. The purpose of this paper is to differentiate between leadership and management, describe views of leadership, and explain the

In healthcare it is very important to have strong leaders, especially in the nursing profession. A nurse leader typically uses several styles of leadership depending on the situation presented; this is known as situational leadership. It is important that the professional nurse choose the right style of leadership for any given situation to ensure their employees are performing at their highest potential. Depending on which leadership style a nurse leader uses, it can affect staff retention and the morale of the employees as well as nurse job satisfaction (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) “Nursing leaders have the responsibility to create and maintain a work environment which not only promotes positive patient outcomes but also

nurse staffing ensures quality nursing care for patients and can be a challenge for nurse

The four major components of nursing leadership are decision-making ability, influencing and directing others, facilitating process and relationship building (Paul, Day, & Williams, 2016).Very closely associated with leadership is the concept of management and though many people use the two terms interchangeably, it’s very important to know that leading is one of the key functions of management; the others are planning, organizing and controlling activities to pursue

Nursing theories are important for nurses for our daily work as it provides us with an all-inclusive foundation to clarify and foresee issues that impact nursing care. In nursing, caring should be placed high on our priority list for our nursing practice. As nurses we must develop knowledge on research outcomes for the foundation of nursing practice. Consequently the grown and the certification of nursing theory will aid in the establishment of nursing practice. It is a source of specific individuality as it guides nursing education, research, practice, and distinguishes nursing practice from other disciplines.

For example in one study it shows “despite the knowledge that caring does positively influence patients and nurses, there are reports globally about the negative impact of uncaring and the call to improve caring within our profession (Mary E. Desmond, et al., 2014). If every single patient was like the other we wouldn’t need to have a theory of caring, patients would be treated the same, a patient is a patient, no difference from one to the other. This is not the case. So using nursing theory to improve and move forward nursing knowledge as it has done so far can only improve an ever changing care continuum that is known as nursing. This is how theory has changed and molded nursing knowledge and how we practice.

Nursing theory profoundly affects the practice of nursing in a multitude of ways. It is nursing theory that simultaneously validates nursing as a profession, and differentiates it from other medical professions. Nursing theory facilitates the growth of nursing knowledge by providing a structure for communicating principles and key ideas to support nursing practice. Across all aspects of nursing, theory provides a tool than can be used as a guide for problem solving, to simplify decision making, as well as providing a method for categorizing and comprehending patient data (Matney, Avant, & Staggers, 2015). In addition to direct patient care situations, nursing theory can be applied to resolve nursing challenges in education and research,

Given that nursing is a hands-on, professional 'practice,' to speak of nursing 'in theory' may at first seem like a contradiction in terms. However, nursing theory is an important tool, offering the practitioner in the field a way to better make decisions. Theory acts as a guide to practice. Of course, in nursing, theory is never subsumed to the specifics of a case. Unlike philosophy or literary theory, no theory can stand apart from the realities of the need to treat a patient effectively. But nursing theory can be helpful in dealing with unexpected situations. Nursing theories consist of "concepts, definitions, models, propositions and are based on assumptions" of deductive and inductive logic (Nursing theories: An overview, 2012, Nursing Theories).

Theories are establish, delineate, and define the profession of nursing. They are the key to setting policies, laws, and regulatory standards. For this reason, theories are altered, expanded, and improved based on current research. It is necessary to be updated on the most recent, accurate, and informative theories. Overtime new theories are developed to benefit the recipients of health care. The current state of health care affairs changes overtime. Theories reflect these issues which are paramount to nurses. There are three major reasons to get abreast of nursing theories.

There are several theories that have been written with the goal of providing the critical basis for understanding particular phenomenon. Nursing theories affect nursing practice in a tremendous way. Theories are a source of framework that guide and support nursing practice and can be used to provide solutions to practical problems in the nursing practice. Nursing theories can be applied to provide solutions in nursing education, health policy, nursing leadership, and nursing informatics. There are numerous problems regarding nurse-staffing leading up to less time to provide the caring and compassionate side of nursing. Jean Watson’s theory can be used to help understand the problems with nurse staffing and to help come up with solutions. Using Watson’s theory, this assignment will address problems with nurse staffing. The paper also gives a description of the core concepts of Watson theory, describes the issues of staffing problems and how leaders have utilized this theory in order to solve the problem. This paper also provides a conclusion showing the key points learned from the assignment.

The term nursing theory defines the body of knowledge given to specific aspects in the nursing profession. There are many theories that range from practice theories, mid-range theories, to grand theories. A theory refers to a group of related concepts, definitions, and statements that describe a certain phenomena from which to describe explain or predict outcomes. (Barnum) The theory guides the professional nurse in making clinical judgments based on evidence. It does so by using appropriate data, organizing, analyzing and developing connections to the patient. From there, nursing interventions can be planned appropriately and the outcomes can be evaluated in ensure proper intervention. (Black 267)

Nursing theory is another abundantly feared, apparently forgettable part of the nursing school knowledge. Huge amounts of time and exertion is spent attempting to remember the theorists, attempting to retain what they stand for and wanting to replay it effectively in practice. And at the same time, new graduates wonder, what are they going to do with this now that they graduated? What a large portion of them truly want to know is the way to put in an intravenous catheter. All things considered, a couple of years into practice I began to understand that the work I do– the consideration I give — is all in light of my theory of what is the right fit for my area of nursing — and my theory is a long way from extraordinary.

Nursing theories have been a major contributor to nursing education, it has helped create a focus. Nursing theories have also helped healthcare professional, managers and patients make unique contributions to health care. According to Im, E. & Chang, S.J. (2012)” Believing that the trends of focusing on specifics in theoretical works, close linkage to research, and integration to practice are positive in the sense that the close linkage to research could provide solid grounds for theoretical development in nursing and that the specifics could facilitate and strengthen the linkages between

There are many ideas about theory in nursing. The definition of nursing theory is a group of concepts that can be tested, changed or used to guide research (McEwen & Willis, 2014). This writer was exposed to theory in under-graduate classes and understands the importance of theory to her nursing practice. This paper will review the importance of nursing theory. It will also focus on Patricia Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory.