Nursing Theories, Foundations, and Professional Concepts

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering nursing theorists and frameworks, critical thinking, evidence-informed practice, ethics and values, and Indigenous health concepts.

Florence Nightingale — Environmental theory

A practice-based theory holding that the environment affects health and recovery, and nursing helps create conditions that support healing through cleanliness, ventilation, light, warmth, quiet, sanitation, and nutrition.

Moyra Allen — McGill Model of Nursing

A practice-based model holding that nursing supports health in learning, family involvement, and participation in health-related experiences, focusing on health promotion and family strengths.

Virginia Henderson — Need theory

A theory stating nursing helps a person perform activities contributing to health, recovery, or a peaceful death that the person would perform independently if they had the necessary strength, will, or knowledge.

Dorothea Orem — Self-care deficit theory

A need theory holding that nursing is needed when people cannot adequately meet their own self-care needs, focusing on self-care abilities, deficits, and required support.

Hildegard Peplau — Interpersonal relations theory

An interactionist theory holding that the relationship between nurse and patient is central to nursing care, focusing on therapeutic communication, understanding patient behaviour, and trust.

Joyce Travelbee — Human-to-human relationship model

An interactionist theory holding that nursing involves a human-to-human relationship to help people cope with illness, suffering, and finding meaning.

Evelyn Adam — Conceptualization of nursing as a helping process

A model stating that nursing is a helping process in which the nurse uses nursing knowledge to assist a person with health-related needs and independence.

Dorothy Johnson — Behavioural systems model

A systems theory stating that a person is a behavioural system made up of interacting subsystems, focusing on behavioural patterns, balance, and stability.

Margaret Campbell and colleagues — University of British Columbia (UBC) Model for Nursing

A systems theory holding that human behaviour is shaped by basic needs and by physiological, psychological, social, and cultural circumstances.

Betty Neuman — Neuman Systems Model

A systems theory holding that the person is a holistic client system affected by stressors, and nursing helps protect or restore system stability.

Sister Callista Roy — Adaptation model

A systems theory holding that people respond and adapt to changes in their internal and external environments, and nursing promotes effective adaptation.

Martha Rogers — Science of Unitary Human Beings

A simultaneity theory holding that a person is an irreducible whole who cannot be fully understood by separating them into independent parts, existing with the environment as interconnected, continuously changing fields.

Rosemarie Rizzo Parse — Human Becoming theory

A simultaneity theory holding that people create meaning and make choices as they live their experiences, and health is understood in relation to each person's own meaning and values.

Jean Watson — Theory of Human Caring

A simultaneity theory holding that caring is central to nursing and involves a meaningful, human-to-human connection focusing on compassion, dignity, presence, and the mind–body–spirit connection.

Assumption

A statement accepted as a starting point for a theory or line of reasoning.

Concept

An idea or mental representation of a phenomenon, such as health, caring, pain, or stress.

Conceptual framework

An organized set of related concepts that helps explain a situation and guide nursing decisions.

Conceptualization

The process of developing and organizing ideas about a phenomenon into concepts.

Descriptive theory

A theory that describes or identifies the characteristics of a phenomenon.

Grand theory

A broad, abstract framework that provides an overall perspective on nursing or human experience.

Metaparadigm concepts

The four broad concepts used to organize nursing knowledge: person, environment, health, and nursing.

Middle-range theory

A more focused theory addressing a specific phenomenon or group of related concepts.

Model for nursing

A structured representation of nursing ideas that helps organize assessment, decisions, and care.

Nursing diagnosis

A clinical judgment about a person's responses to actual or potential health conditions or life processes that informs nursing care.

Nursing process

A systematic, ongoing approach to assessment, identifying needs, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Nursing science

The organized development and use of knowledge related to nursing practice.

Nursing theory

An organized set of concepts and propositions used to explain nursing phenomena and guide practice.

Paradigms

Broad worldviews or perspectives that shape how people understand knowledge and phenomena.

Philosophy of science

The study of what scientific knowledge is, how it is developed, and how it can be justified.

Praxis

The ongoing integration of theory, reflection, and action in practice.

Prescriptive theory

A theory that proposes actions or interventions and their intended effects.

Proposition

A statement that describes a relationship between concepts.

Theoretical model

A representation of concepts and their relationships that helps explain a phenomenon or guide practice.

Theory

An organized set of ideas and relationships intended to describe, explain, or predict phenomena.

Ways of knowing

Different forms of knowledge used in nursing, including empirical, ethical, personal, and aesthetic knowing.

Critical thinking

Purposeful, reflective thinking used to analyze information and reach reasoned conclusions.

Clinical reasoning

The process of interpreting patient information and connecting it with nursing knowledge.

Clinical judgment

A conclusion about a patient's needs, condition, or appropriate nursing response.

Decision-making

Selecting an action from available alternatives.

Problem-solving

Identifying a problem and working through possible solutions.

Reflection

Reviewing an experience, decision, or outcome to learn and improve.

Subjective data

Information reported by the patient, such as pain, nausea, or dizziness.

Objective data

Information observed or measured, such as temperature, blood pressure, or visible swelling.

Assessment

Collecting and validating information about a patient's condition and needs.

Planning

Establishing goals, expected outcomes, priorities, and interventions.

Implementation

Carrying out the planned nursing interventions.

Evaluation

Determining whether the patient's response meets the expected outcomes.

Bias

A tendency that may distort how information is interpreted or how decisions are made.

Confirmation bias

Focusing on information that supports an existing belief while overlooking contradictory evidence.

Anchoring

Relying too heavily on the first information or explanation encountered.

Reassessment

Repeating or updating an assessment to identify changes and evaluate the response to care.

Evidence-informed practice (EIP)

Integrating the best available evidence, clinical expertise, and patient values and circumstances to guide care.

Research

A systematic process of asking questions and collecting and analyzing information to develop knowledge.

Nursing research

Systematic investigation of phenomena relevant to nursing, patients, families, and care.

Evidence

Information used to support or evaluate a clinical decision.

Critical appraisal

Evaluating the quality, credibility, relevance, and limitations of evidence.

Systematic review

A structured review that identifies, evaluates, and synthesizes research on a focused question.

Clinical practice guideline

Recommendations intended to guide decisions about appropriate care.

Quality improvement (QI)

A systematic effort to improve care processes and outcomes in a particular setting.

Research question

A clearly stated question that a study is designed to investigate.

Research ethics

Principles and safeguards that protect the rights, welfare, and dignity of research participants.

Informed consent

Voluntary agreement to participate or proceed after receiving and understanding relevant information.

Validity

The extent to which a method or measure assesses what it is intended to assess.

Reliability

The consistency of a measure or method.

Applicability

How well evidence fits a particular patient, population, or care setting.

Values

Beliefs or ideals that a person considers important and that influence behaviour and decisions.

Ethics

The principles and reasoning used to evaluate right and wrong conduct.

Autonomy

Respecting a person's right to make informed decisions.

Beneficence

Acting to promote well-being and benefit the patient.

Nonmaleficence

Avoiding or minimizing harm.

Justice

Fairness in treatment, opportunities, and the distribution of resources.

Fidelity

Keeping commitments and fulfilling professional responsibilities.

Veracity

Truthfulness and honesty in communication.

Confidentiality

Protecting private information from unauthorized disclosure.

Privacy

Respecting a person's control over access to their body, personal space, and personal information.

Accountability

Taking responsibility for one's professional actions and decisions.

Advocacy

Supporting and protecting a patient's rights, needs, preferences, and interests.

Ethical dilemma

A situation involving competing ethical duties or values that make a decision difficult.

Moral distress

Distress experienced when a person believes they know the ethically appropriate action but feels constrained from taking it.

Professional code of ethics

A formal statement of ethical responsibilities and values that guides professional conduct.

Informed decision-making

Making a choice after receiving and understanding relevant information about options and consequences.

Indigenous peoples

In Canada, includes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, who have distinct identities, histories, cultures, and communities.

Holistic health

Understanding health through interconnected physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental dimensions.

Social determinants of health

Social and economic conditions that influence health, such as income, housing, education, food security, and access to care.

Colonialism

Systems and practices through which a people or state imposes control over another people's lands, governance, culture, or resources.

Systemic racism

Policies, practices, and institutional structures that create or maintain racial inequities.

Cultural competence

Developing knowledge and skills to provide respectful care across cultural differences.

Cultural safety

Care that addresses power imbalances, discrimination, and racism and is experienced as safe by the person receiving care.

Cultural humility

Ongoing self-reflection, openness, and willingness to recognize the limits of one's knowledge about others.

Trauma-informed care

Care that recognizes the possible effects of trauma and emphasizes safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and empowerment.

Self-determination

The right of peoples and communities to make decisions about their own affairs and priorities.

Health inequity

An unfair and avoidable difference in health or access to care.

Health equity

Fair opportunities to achieve health, with barriers and differing needs taken into account.

Intergenerational effects of trauma

Effects of trauma that can influence subsequent generations through family, community, social, and historical pathways.

Culturally safe care

Care that respects the patient's identity and choices, examines power differences, and avoids stereotyping or discrimination.