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Importance of nursing theories
Importance of nursing theories
Decision making in adult nursing practice
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Nursing theorists have helped sculpt and mold the foundation for clinical decision making. One of the many well-known nursing theorists is Patricia Benner. She is known for her theory from novice to expert, and she developed the five stages of clinical competence.
Patricia Benner was born May 10, 1955 in Hampton, Virginia. She married Richard Benner, and had two kids. While working at a hospital as an admitting clerk, she first became interested in nursing. Patricia went to school at the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco, where she got her bachelor’s in nursing, master’s degree in medical-surgical nursing, and her doctorate.
Dr. Benner's theory focuses on how nurses acquire nursing knowledge. Her theory is based on not how
Marriner-Tomey, A., & Alligood, M. R. (2006). Nursing theorists and their work. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby/Elsevier.
Walker, L.O., & Avant, K.C. (2005). Strategies for theory construction in nursing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Walker, L. O., & Avant, K. C. (1995). Strategies for theory construction in nursing (3rd ed.). Norwalk, CT:
Walker, L.O., & Avant, K. (2005). Strategies for theory construction in nursing (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
In her theory, nursing skills and experiences are what is required to become an expert. Each step a nurse takes to build up their skills to master the expert level is built upon the previous steps. The nurse needs to have a good foundation in order to move them closer to obtaining the expert level. Benner’s theory also showed that practicing nurses can and should form theory (Current Nursing, 2013). Benner’s theory has five levels: the novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. The novice needs to be told what to do. Advanced beginner can recognize components that reoccur. A competent nurse is one that has had two-three years in the same type of situations. The proficient nurse starts to look at the whole picture and starts to critically think. The expert nurse does not need to look at the guidelines to react. An expert nurse has had many similar situations that, he or she can reflect upon a situation, analyze it and react quickly. Benner’s theory will be applied by discussing the problem,. a strategy to solve the problem,. discussion around the strategy and problem,. and finally the conclusion,. which will state what new knowledge was gathered by the
The nursing profession is considered both an art and a science. An example of the science of nursing is the theory and evidence based practice guidelines (EBP), which influence a nurses practice. The art of nursing is fluid of bringing science and patient care into nursing practice. Nurses in all levels of nursing educational programs should study nursing theory. According to Eun-Ok (2015) theory evaluation has declined and it is essential to developing nursing knowledge; which, leads to the development of nursing discipline. Nursing theory should be continually evolving as current health care trends evolve. The best way to accomplish this is through incorporating theory in academia and nursing
These views imply that real life experiences test theoretical foundation, allowing for an individual to gain what is referred to as practical knowledge. This knowledge consists of a combination between theory and practice, allowing for a more holistic approach to patient care. Benner credits her differentiation of “knowing how” and “knowing that” to the ideals of philosophers Kuhn and Polyani. The premise of “knowing how” is related to nursing practice, whereas the basis for “knowing that” is associated with nursing theory. Due to the complex circumstances surrounding different clinical situations, theory alone would be inadequate for providing proficient patient care. Because of this, the importance of examining nurse practice is invaluable to further the development of nursing theory (Alligood,
Walker, L. O. & Avant, K. C. (2011). Strategies for theory construction in nursing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Parker M. E., & Smith M. C. (2010). Nursing theories and nursing practice (3rd ed.).
Alligood, M. R., & Tomey, A. M. (2010). Nursing Theorists and their work (7th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby Elsevier.
Nursing theories are actions care that a nurse provides to a patient to prevent a sickness, maintain and promote health. Many of the theorists contribute to a frame work or a blueprint of how nurses should provide care to patients. Many these theories are part of nursing care and most of them they go hand in hand. Nursing theory aims to describe, predict and explain the phenomenon of nursing (Chinn and Jacobs1978).Nursing is apprehensive with laws and principles governing the life processes and functioning of sick or well human beings. Nursing theories are beneficial in understanding the knowledge of nursing and its application (Smith and Liehr, 2008).
According to Potter and Perry (2005), “a nursing theory is a conceptualization of some aspect of nursing communicated for the purpose of describing, explaining, predicting, and/or prescribing nursing care” (p. 62). Nurses use theory to assist in providing education and care to their patients. Utilization of nursing theories enhances the nurse’s ability to use concepts that have been researched and proven in the application of nursing care.
Ernestine Wiedenbach's theory has contributed to the development of clinical nursing practice by influencing core concepts in practice, such as the nursing process, and by contributing to the goal of nursing, which is to attend to a patient's needs by assessing their need for help in the clinical setting/
Nursing theory can be used to empower nurses by giving autonomy and improve skills. With the rise of healthcare, administrative decisions involving nurses could have a negative effect on patient care. There are four concepts that make up the nursing metaparadigm, person, environment, health and nursing and act as the model for nursing care. All theories in the nursing practice proves valuable within the profession but may vary between different theorists depending on what their beliefs are. Some theorists can view the same situation entirely different. Both Rogers and Neuman were theorist that developed theories for viewing and caring for patients but in two different ways. Professionalization, coherence, and enhanced communication are three arguments when determining the importance of theory in nursing. Multi-disciplinary nursing becomes necessary to achieve positive patient
Tomey, A.M., & Alligood, M.R. (2006). Nursing theorists and their work (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.