INTRODUCTION TO

THEORIES
Theory
has been defined as a supposition or
system of ideas that is proposed to explain a given
phenomenon.
For

now, think of theory as a major, very well-

articulated idea about something important.

Theories

are also used to describe, predict, and

control phenomena.
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THE METAPARADIGM FOR

NURSING
A paradigm refers

to a pattern of shared

understandings and assumptions about reality and

the world.
Much

of the theoretical work in nursing, focused

on articulating relationships among four major
concepts: person, environment, health, and nursing

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THE METAPARADIGM
FOR NURSING
1.Person or client, the recipient of nursing care (includes individuals,
families, groups, and communities).
2.Environment, the internal and external surroundings that affect the
client. This includes people in the physical environment, such as
families, friends, and significant others.
3. Health, the degree of wellness or well-being that the client
experiences.
4.Nursing, the attributes, characteristics, and actions of the nurse
providing care on behalf of, or in conjunction with, the client
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PURPOSES OF NURSING
THEORY
Direct
links exist among theory, education, research, and
clinical practice.
In

many cases, nursing theory guides knowledge

development and directs education, research, and

practice although each influences the others.
The

interface between nursing experts in each area helps

to ensure that work in the other areas remains relevant,

current, useful, and ultimately influences health.
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Nightingale's Environmental
Theory

Florence Nightingale, often considered the first nurse theorist,

defined nursing almost 150 years ago as "the act of utilizing
the environment of the patient to assist him in his
recovery (Nightingale, 1860/1969).

She

linked health with five environmental factors: (1) pure or

fresh air, (2) pure water, (3) efficient drainage, (4)

cleanliness, and (5) light, especially direct sunlight.
Deficiencies

in these five factors produced lack of health or

illness.
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Peplau's
Interpersonal
Relations
Model
Central
to Hildegard Peplau's theory for a
(1952)

psychiatric nurse is the use of a therapeutic

relationship between the nurse and the
client.

Nurses

enter into a personal relationship

with an individual when a need is present.

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Henderson's Definition
of
Nursing (1966)
Unlike

Nightingale, Virginia Henderson sees the

nurse as concerned with both healthy and ill

individuals, and conceptualizes the nurse's role as
assisting sick or healthy individuals to gain
independence in meeting 14 fundamental needs.

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Rogers's Science of
Unitary Human
Beings(1970)

Martha Rogers

states that humans are dynamic

fields in
continuous exchange with

energy
environmental fields
Nurses

applying Rogers's theory in practice to

promote interaction between the two energy fields

(human and environment) to strengthen the integrity
of the person.
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Orem's General
Theory of
Nursing (1971)
Dorothea

Orem's theory includes three related concepts: self-

care, self-care deficit, and nursing systems.

Orem's

self-care deficit theory explains not only when nursing

is needed but also how people can be assisted through five

methods of helping: acting or doing for, guiding, teaching,
supporting, and providing an environment that promotes the
individual's abilities to meet current and future demands
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King's Goal Attainment

Theory
(1981)

Imogene

King's theory offers insight into

nurses' interactions with individuals and groups

within the environment.
It

highlights the importance of a client's

participation in decisions that influence care

and focuses on both the process of nurse-client
interaction and the outcomes of care.
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Neuman's Systems Model

(2002)

Betty

Neuman

community health nurse

According to
her
model
primary
prevention
focuses on protecting
the normal line of defense.
Providing immunizations would be doing just that
protecting the body's normal response to disease
by helping it to build antibodies.
Nursing

interventions focus on retaining

or maintaining system stability.

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Roy's Adaptation
Model(1997)
Callista Roy focuses on the individual as a
biopsychosocial adaptive system that
employs a feedback cycle of input (stimuli),
throughput (control processes), and output
(behaviors or adaptive responses).

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al concepts of nursing

Leininger's Cultural Care

Diversity and Universality
Theory
(1970)
Madeleine
Leininger
states that care is the
essence of nursing and the dominant, distinctive,
and unifying feature of nursing.
She

emphasizes that human caring, although a

universal phenomenon, varies among cultures in

its expressions processes, and patterns; it is
largely culturally derived.
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Watson's Human Caring Theory

(2005)
Jean

Watson believes the practice of caring is central to

nursing; it is the unifying focus for practice.

Her

major assumptions about caring are;

Caring can be

effectively demonstrated and practiced only interpersonally.

Effective

caring promotes health and individual or family

growth Human
caring

in nursing is not just an emotion, concern, attitude,

or benevolent desire.
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Parse's Human
Becoming Theory
(1999)
Rosemarie

Parse contends that the

client, not the nurse, is the authority figure and

decision maker.
The

nurse's role involves helping individuals

and families in choosing the possibilities for

changing the health process.
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Activity
Person, environment, health and nursing constitute the
metaparadigm for nursing because of which of the
following?
1. Provide a framework for implementing the
nursing process
2. Can be utilized in any setting when caring for
a client
3. Can be utilized to determine applicability of a
research study
4. They focus on the needs of a group of clients

Activity
4. Which of the following provides the best explanation for
describing nursing as a practice discipline?
1.Nursing focuses on performing the professional role.
2.It takes time and experience to become a competent
nurse.
3. Research and theory development is a central focus.
4. Nurses function as members of a team who form a
practice group.

References
Berman,

A.,
Synder,
S.,
(2008 B.Kozier
& Erb,Fundament
Kozier,
&
G. of
).
Erbs
als
nursin (8thed).Upper Saddle
NJ:
g
River,
Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-171468-6,
ch. 1-3
Silvestri, L (2012) Saunders
Comprehensive Review for the
NCLEX-RN Examination (5th ed).
MO: Saunders Elsevier. ISBN 978-116/12/37

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