Theoretical Foundation of Nursing: Introduction and History

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the historical eras of nursing, the definition of theory and its components, scopes and types of nursing theories, and the differences between discipline, profession, and philosophical views of science.

Florence Nightingale

The Founder of Modern Nursing and “The Lady with the Lamp” who envisioned nursing as a respected, educated profession for women.

Vocation

A term used in the past to describe nursing as a calling or job focused mainly on caring for the sick, often without formal education or professional status.

Curriculum Era

An era emphasizing standardized curricula and what nurses needed to know, featuring basic courses called “fundamentals” and practice in Nursing Arts Laboratories.

Fundamentals

A term used during the Curriculum Era to describe the “basic essentials” of nursing content taught to students.

Nursing Arts Laboratory

A ward-like classroom where nursing procedures were taught and practiced, later referred to as “Skills Labs” when curricula emphasized science and research.

Research Era

An era focused on scholarship, scientific studies in nursing, and disseminating findings in scholarly publications to build knowledge through evidence.

Graduate Education Era

A period focused on higher education ($Master’s$ and $PhD$) to prepare nurse leaders, educators, and researchers.

Theory Era

An era where nurses began writing theories to guide practice and establish nursing as a science rather than just a practice.

Metaparadigm

Proposed by Fawcett ($1984$, $1989$) consisting of four central concepts: Person, Health, Environment, and Nursing ($P-H-E-N$).

Theory

An organized system of accepted knowledge composed of concepts, propositions, definitions, and assumptions intended to explain a set of facts, events, or phenomena.

Concepts

An idea formulated by the mind or an experience perceived and observed.

Abstract Concepts

Mentally constructed ideas independent of a specific time or place that cannot be seen or touched, such as pain, love, or stress.

Concrete Concepts

Ideas that are directly experienced and relate to a particular time or place, such as fever, blood pressure, or a wound.

Discrete Concepts

Also known as Non-Variable Concepts, these identify categories or classes of phenomena such as gender, marital status, or year level.

Continuous Concept

Variable concepts that permit classification of dimensions or gradations on a continuum, such as a score on a pain scale.

Conceptual definition

A type of variable concept description used to establish meaning and reduce vagueness.

Operational definition

A type of variable concept description used to provide measurement for a concept.

Propositions

Statements that explain the relationships between different concepts and show how one concept affects or relates to another.

Assumptions

Statements that specify the connection of factual concepts or phenomena that are believed to be true even if they have not been proven yet.

Phenomenon

Sets of empirical data or experiences that can be physically observed or are tangible.

Metatheory

Also known as Philosophy of Worldview; it is a theory about a theory focused on broad issues like the process of generating knowledge.

Grand Theory

The most complex and broadest attempts to explain broad areas of a specific discipline.

Middle Range Theory

Theories that are substantially specific with a limited number of concrete concepts and propositions reflecting a limited aspect of the real world.

Practice Theory

Also called Situation-Specific Theory or Prescriptive Theory; it is the least complex and narrowest in scope.

Descriptive Theory

Theories that describe, observe, and name concepts but do not explain interrelationships; they tell what is happening without saying what to do.

Explanatory Theory

Theories that tell why concepts are related and why a particular phenomenon happened.

Predictive Theory

Theories that describe the precise relationship between concepts to foresee and forecast outcomes.

Prescriptive Theory

The highest level of theory development that orders activities and gives specific directions to nurses on what, how, and when to act to achieve outcomes.

Discipline

Specific to academia, it refers to a branch of education, a department of learning, or a domain of knowledge.

Profession

Focuses on applying specialized knowledge and skills to solve practical problems, requiring formal education, certification, and ethical standards.

Rationalism

The “Thinking and Logic First” view where knowledge comes from reasoning and deep thinking.

Empiricism

The “Experience and Observation First” view where knowledge comes from the senses and what can be seen, touched, or measured.

Positivism

The dominant view of modern science, termed by Auguste Comte, which believes in the natural rather than the supernatural.

Emergent View

The “Multiple Ways of Knowing” view that science is important but human experience, feelings, culture, and meaning also matter.