Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice

Flashcards covering key theoretical concepts, historic eras, level of abstraction, major nursing theorists, and research connections from Chapter 4.

What interactive relationship is illustrated between research, theory, and practice in nursing?

Theory, research, and practice are bound together in a continuous interactive relationship, each continuously informing and supporting the others.

How does a theory explain an event in nursing?

A theory helps explain an event by defining ideas or concepts, explaining relationships among the concepts, predicting outcomes, and explaining a phenomenon such as self-care or caring.

What is metatheory?

Metatheory looks at the relationships of various components that make up the knowledge of a discipline.

What is the primary function of a nursing theory?

It conceptualizes some aspect of nursing to describe, explain, predict, or prescribe nursing care.

What four components make up a theory according to this diagram?

Phenomenon, concepts, definitions, and assumptions or propositions.

What is the difference between theoretical (conceptual) definitions and operational definitions?

Theoretical definitions simply define a concept (e.g., pain is physical discomfort), whereas operational definitions define how concepts are measured (e.g., a pain scale of 1-10).

How are assumptions defined within a theory?

Assumptions are accepted as truths based on values and beliefs.

What is defined as the domain of a profession?

The territory of a profession, which provides the subjects, central concepts, values/beliefs, phenomena of interest, and central problems of a discipline.

What is a paradigm in nursing?

A pattern of beliefs used to describe the domain of a discipline that links concepts, theories, beliefs, values, and assumptions applied by the discipline.

What is a conceptual framework?

A framework that provides a way to organize major concepts and visualize the relationship between phenomena.

What are the core components of the nursing metaparadigm?

Person (the recipient of care), Health (a state of being defined relative to values/lifestyle), and Environment/Situation (conditions affecting patients and care settings).

Who was the first nursing theorist, and what was her theory founded upon?

Florence Nightingale; her theory was founded on her belief that nursing could improve a patient's environment to facilitate recovery and prevent complications.

What developments occurred during the Curriculum Era (1900s-1940s) of nursing?

Nursing education expanded beyond basic anatomy and physiology courses to include courses in social sciences, pharmacology, and nursing arts.

What major advancements marked the Theory Era (1980s-1990s)?

It contributed to knowledge development resulting in the publication of nursing journals, the development of nursing conferences, and the offering of more doctoral programs.

What is the focus of the Theory Utilization Era (2000s-today)?

Nurses strive to provide Evidence-Based Practice (EBP), which stems from theory, research, and experience.

How are nursing theories categorized by level of abstraction, from most abstract to least abstract?

Metatheory (most abstract) -> Grand theories -> Middle-range theories -> Practice theories (least abstract).

What are grand theories?

Theories that are abstract, broad in scope, and complex.

What are middle-range theories?

Theories that are limited in scope and less abstract.

What are practice theories?

Theories that are narrow in scope and focus.

What is the difference between descriptive and prescriptive theories in nursing?

Descriptive theories describe phenomena and identify circumstances in which they occur, whereas prescriptive theories address nursing interventions for a phenomenon, guide practice change, and predict consequences.

What is the ultimate goal of nursing knowledge?

To explain the practice of nursing as different and distinct from the practice of medicine, psychology, and other healthcare disciplines.

What is a shared theory in nursing?

Also known as a borrowed or interdisciplinary theory, it explains a phenomenon specific to the discipline that developed it (medical, sociological, psychological) and is applied in nursing.

How is the nursing process structured as a system according to this model?

Input consists of patient interaction data across multiple domains; System is the cyclic nursing process (assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, evaluation); Output is the patient's health status for returning to the environment; Feedback informs system performance based on patient functioning; Content is the system product and information.

What are the four phases of the nurse-patient relationship in Peplau's Interpersonal Theory?

1. Preorientation (gather data)
2. Orientation (define the issue)
3. Working (therapeutic activity)
4. Resolution (termination of the relationship)

What is the core focus of Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory?

It focuses on a patient's self-care needs and continually assessing a patient's ability to perform self-care (classified as a grand theory).

What is Leininger's Culture Care Theory?

A middle-range theory of cultural care diversity and universality that integrates patients' cultural traditions, values, and beliefs into care plans.

What is the purpose of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Clinical Judgment Model?

It was developed to help guide nursing educators in evaluating students' abilities to make clinical judgments and to help students learn how to think like a nurse and make safe clinical decisions.

What is the difference between theoretical knowledge and experiential knowledge in nursing?

Theoretical knowledge aims to stimulate thinking and create a broad understanding of nursing science and practice, whereas experiential knowledge is based on nurses' clinical experiences in providing care.

What is the difference between theory-generating research and theory-testing research?

Theory-generating research uses logic to explore relationships among phenomena, while theory-testing research determines how accurately a theory describes a nursing phenomenon.