Nursing Theories Overview and Development

Study Notes

Nursing theories are organized bodies of knowledge defining nursing's purpose and practice, establishing it as a unique discipline.
They guide nursing practice at a concrete and specific level.

1952: Hildegard Peplau's Theory of Interpersonal Relations.
1962: Ida Jean Orlando's focus on meeting patients' immediate needs.
1970: Martha Rogers' view of nursing as both science and art.
1971: Dorothea Orem's theory emphasizing nursing care when clients cannot fulfill their needs.
1971: Imogene King's Theory of Goal Attainment, focusing on nurse-patient collaboration.
1979: Sr. Callista Roy's Adaptation Model, emphasizing maintaining balance.

Silent Knowledge: Blind obedience to medical authority; minimal theory development.
Received Knowledge: Learning through others; borrowing from other disciplines.
Subjective Knowledge: Internalized authority; focus on defining nursing and developing theories about nursing (nurse-centric).
Procedural Knowledge: Connecting separate knowledge; applying theory to practice with attention to methodology.
Constructed Knowledge: Integrating intuition, reason, and self-knowledge; building upon empirical studies and clinical experience.
Integrated Knowledge: Assimilating evidence from literature; emphasizing clinical application through situation-specific and middle-range theories.

Concepts: Building blocks of theories; abstract or concrete ideas (e.g., noise, cleanliness).
Definitions: Explain concepts within the theory's context. Two types exist: theoretical and operational.
Assumptions: "Taken for granted" statements shaping the theory's nature and relationships between concepts.
Phenomenon: Term describing an idea or response to events or situations (e.g., caring, stress).
Conceptual Framework: Interrelated concepts conveying a mental image of a phenomenon; it identifies concepts and their relationships to core disciplinary concerns (person, environment, health, nursing).
Hypothesis: An educated guess testable through observation or experimentation.
Theoretical Model: Pictorial representation of concepts and their interactions.

Based on Scope: Metatheory (theories about theories), Grand Theory (broad, complex frameworks), Middle-Range Theories (focused on specific phenomena).
Based on Purpose: Categorized according to their function and application.
According to Meleis: A classification system outlining different theoretical types.