Nursing Fundamentals- September 30th

Module 3: Human Development

Course Discussion

  • Midterm Exam Information

    • Midterm exam scheduled for Tuesday, October 14th, from 0800-1000 hrs, take place during course theory class.

    • The exam will be completed online using Respondus.

    • It is worth 30% of the final grade.

  • Written Reflection Assignment

    • The assignment Dropbox is available.

    • Due date: October 5, 2025, at 2359 hrs.

    • The assignment will be processed through SafeAssign; thus, students should avoid including any identifiers or personal health information to protect their privacy.

Learning Objectives

  • Human Development Understanding

    • Develop an understanding of human development across the lifespan.

  • Discussion of Developmental Theories

    • Discuss categories of developmental theories, providing comprehensive discussions of key developmental theorists.

  • Application to Older Adults

    • Apply developmental theories specifically to the older adult population.

  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

    • Analyze Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory and apply its core concepts to nursing practice.

Theories

  • Definition of Theory

    • A theory is defined as a system of ideas that informs practice. The main functions of a theory are to explain, predict, and describe phenomena.

    • A theory is described as an organized, often observable, logical set of statements about a subject.

Importance of Theory in Nursing

  • Understanding typical human development allows nurses to predict changes and identify variations from expected patterns.

  • This understanding enables nurses to support developmental well-being (Berk, Bukatoko & Daehler, 2014).

Lifespan Development Approach

  • Key Aspects

    • Development is a lifelong process.

    • Development is influenced by historical and contextual factors.

    • Development is multidimensional and multidirectional, requiring a balance of growth and decline.

    • Development is malleable and influenced by external conditions.

Types of Aging

  • Aging Categories

    • Chronological Age: Actual age from birth.

    • Biological Age: Age in terms of biological health or physical condition.

    • Psychological Age: Age based on mental functioning and emotional maturity.

    • Social Age: Age based on social roles and expectations.

Cognition and Aging

  • Types of Intelligence

    • Fluid Intelligence: Skills that are biologically determined, independent of experience or learning.

    • Crystallized Intelligence: Comprised of knowledge and abilities acquired through education and life experiences.

  • Memory

    • Defined as the ability to retain or store information and retrieve it when needed.

    • For complaints of memory loss, a comprehensive geriatric evaluation is crucial as memory impairment may relate to a reversible and treatable condition.

Growth and Development

  • Phases of Growth

    • Individuals progress through various phases of growth and development at a highly individualized rate.

    • Understanding typical growth and development assists nurses in predicting, preventing, and detecting changes in patients’ expected growth patterns.

  • Growth Defined

    • Growth is a quantitative and measurable increase in physical measurements (e.g., height, weight, teeth, skeletal structures, sexual characteristics).

    • Influences on growth encompass genetic factors and contextual factors, such as socioeconomic status.

Development Defined

  • Process of Change

    • Development is a progressive and continuous process leading to increased skills and functioning capacity.

    • Influenced by complex interactions between biological and environmental factors.

    • It is qualitative in nature and challenging to measure but has predictable characteristics (e.g., progression from simple to complex, general to specific).

Factors Influencing Growth and Development

  • Categories of Factors

    • Genetic or Natural Factors: Heredity and temperament.

    • Environmental Factors: Family, peer group, health environment, nutrition, rest/sleep/exercise, living environment, policies, and political environment.

    • Interacting Factors: Life experiences, prenatal health, state of health.

Nature vs. Nurture

  • This concept explores the debate about the relative contributions of genetic inheritance (nature) and environmental factors (nurture) in human development.

Developmental Theories

  • Purpose of Theories

    • Developmental theories are models explaining how and why people develop as they do.

    • They assist nurses in assessing and treating responses to illness.

  • Traditions of Developmental Theories

    • Developmental theories are grouped into five traditions:

    • Organicism

    • Psychoanalytic and psychosocial

    • Mechanistic

    • Contextualism

    • Dialecticism

Organicism

  • Focus

    • The focus is on the organism itself, emphasizing biologically driven behavior and adaptation to the environment.

  • Included Theories

    • Biophysical Development Theories

    • Cognitive Developmental Theories

    • Moral Development Theories

Biophysical Developmental Theories

  • These theories explain the growth and changes in physical bodies throughout development, quantifying changes from infancy to adulthood against established norms.

Gesell’s Theory of Maturational Development

  • Key Points

    • Behavioral norms provide essential information about childhood development.

    • Genetic activity directs the pattern of growth and development, while environmental factors support or modify this pattern but do not initiate it.

    • Development follows a fixed sequence and has critical periods where specific experiences are crucial for the emergence of particular biological functions.

Mechanisms of Maturational Development

  • Maturation

    • A biological regulatory mechanism governing the emergence of new skills and abilities with age.

    • Biological ability, physiological condition, and the desire to learn contribute to matured behavior through the relinquishment of previous behaviors and integration of new patterns.

Chess and Thomas’s Theory of Temperament Development

  • Temperament Defined

    • Refers to a child's physical and emotional response styles that influence their interactions with others and adjustment to life experiences.

    • Understanding temperament aids parents' perspectives on their children and allows healthcare providers to guide appropriately.

Cognitive Development Theories

  • Focus

    • Concentrate on reasoning, thinking processes, and changes in intellectual operations that relate to learning about the world.

    • Mental processes such as perceiving, reasoning, remembering, and believing affect emotional behaviors.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

  • Overview of Stages

    • The theory outlines four stages of cognitive development:

    • Sensorimotor: Birth to 2 years

    • Preoperational: 2 to 7 years

    • Concrete Operations: 7 to 11 years

    • Formal Operations: 11 years to adulthood.

Moral Development Theories

  • Concept

    • Focus on moral reasoning, how individuals contemplate ethical conduct rules, without directly predicting actions in ethical dilemmas.

    • Moral development includes distinguishing right from wrong and forming ethical values guiding actions.

  • Cognitive Theory Subsets

    • Piaget’s theory of moral development

    • Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

    • Gilligan’s theory

Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development

  • Describes moral development through successive stages, mirroring cognitive and learning growth.

  • Stages

    • Premoral Stage

    • Conventional Stage

    • Autonomous Stage

Psychoanalytic and Psychosocial Theory

  • Focus Areas

    • Addresses personality, emotional, and behavioral development, encompassing:

    • Freud’s psychosexual theory

    • Erikson’s theory of eight stages of life

    • Bowlby’s attachment theory

Sigmund Freud's Contributions

  • Psychosexual Theory

    • Structured theory outlining personality development governed by the id, ego, and superego to balance drives with societal pressures.

  • Stages of Development

    • Stage 1: Oral (birth to 12–18 months)

    • Stage 2: Anal (12–18 months to 3 years)

    • Stage 3: Phallic or Oedipal (3 to 6 years)

    • Stage 4: Latency (6 to 12 years)

    • Stage 5: Genital (puberty to adulthood)

Erik Erikson's Contributions

  • Psychosocial Model

    • Encompasses development over the entire lifespan, structured into eight stages where each stage's success is predicated on resolving conflicts from previous stages.

  • Eight Stages of Life

    • Stage 1: Trust versus mistrust (birth to 1 year)

    • Stage 2: Autonomy versus shame/doubt (1 to 3 years)

    • Stage 3: Initiative versus guilt (3 to 6 years)

    • Stage 4: Industry versus inferiority (6 to 11 years)

    • Stage 5: Identity versus role confusion (adolescence)

    • Stage 6: Intimacy versus isolation (young adulthood)

    • Stage 7: Generativity versus stagnation (middle adulthood)

    • Stage 8: Integrity versus despair (old age)

Attachment Theory - John Bowlby

  • Attachment

    • Defines the bond or relationship between individuals, notably between a child and a caregiver.

  • Extensions to Bowlby’s Theory

    • Patricia Crittenden’s dynamic maturational model considers attachment within familial contexts.

Havighurst's Developmental Tasks

  • Concept

    • Describes age-specific developmental tasks that emerge due to internal and external pressures, including cultural influences necessary for learning social behaviors and ethical norms.

Mechanistic Tradition

  • Understanding Development as Mechanical

    • Views the organism as a machine where development is stimulated by environmental conditions.

    • Behavior results from environmental stimulation rather than inherent biological factors.

Contextualism

  • Bioecological Theory

    • Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory emphasizes the interaction between individuals and their social environments, categorized into:

    • Microsystem

    • Mesosystem

    • Exosystem

    • Macrosystem

Dialecticism

  • Concept

    • Suggests that all developmental theories are mutually interactive, allowing the integration of various contexts.

  • Key Theories

    • Keating and Hertzman’s population health theory indicates a strong correlation among population health, developmental outcomes, and societal forces.

    • Resilience theory focuses on maintaining positive adjustment despite challenges.

Resilience Theory

  • Focus on Interaction

    • Examines the dynamics between protective processes (such as self-efficacy and social support) and vulnerability processes (such as physical illness and social risk).

Resilience Theory Examples

  • Homeward Bound Brockville

    • A local program to support single mothers, modeled after a successful Toronto program, designed to improve the life conditions of mothers and children in poverty.

Developmental Theories and Nursing

  • Integration in Nursing Practice

    • No single theory can comprehensively depict all aspects of growth and development.

    • Nurses should contextualize an individual’s development within familial and societal relations.

    • Developmental theories enhance critical thinking skills, aiding comprehension of human behaviors and nursing responses.

Class Discussion

  • Focus on a developmental theory assigned by the instructor, discussing its significance for nursing perspectives and potential impacts on nursing care practices.

Questions

  • Open floor for any questions regarding the course content and application in nursing practice.