TFN: INTRODUCTION TO THEORIES

• THEORY


  a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action
• GREEK WORDS


  1. Theoria = "to speculate"
  2. Idein = "to see"
  3. Phainomen = "a thing appearing"
• LATIN WORDS


  1. Concipere = "to conceive"
  2. Proponore = "to put forth"
  3. Principium = "a beginning"
  4. Sumere = "to take"
• COMPONENTS OF A THEORY

  1. Concept
  2. Idea
  3. Phenomenon
  4. Proposition
  5. Principle
  6. Assumption
  7. hypothesis
  8. Relational Statement
  9. Conceptual Framework
  10. Theoretical Framework
• PURPOSES OF NURSING THEORIES

  1. EDUCATION
  2. RESEARCH
  3. PRACTICE
• TYPES OF CONCEPT

  1. ABSTRACT
  2. CONCRETE
• TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

  1. NULL
  2. ALTERNATIVE
• Concept 


  • a noun, building blocks of thoughts
  • identifies and establishes structure and boundaries for the phenomena and ideas generated by phenomena
• Abstract Concept


  • mentally constructed independently of a specific time or place
  • indirectly observed or intangible
• Concrete Concept


  • Directly experience and relate to a particular time or place
  • Directly observed or tangible
• Idea


  • Anything that describes a concept
  • Product of intellectual thought about the origin of a phenomenon
• Phenomenon


  • Fact or event of scientific interest susceptible to scientific description and explanation Observable fact or event between objects, events, ideas Event regarding an idea
  • Observable fact or event between objects, events, ideas
• Proposition 


  • Starting point for making a case or investigation
  • Identifies the direction and proposes a relationship between concepts
  • Affirm or deny a predicate of a sentence
• Principle 


  • Comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption
  • Truth (built on facts) that are foundational to other truths
• Assumption


  • Something taken as being true or factual
  • Used as a starting point for a course of action or reasoning
  • Factors that may or may not be constant in a hypothesis
• Hypothesis


  • Tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation
• Null Hypothesis


  • population parameter
  • Tests the likelihood of the statement being true to decide whether to accept or reject our alternative hypothesis
  • Signs: =, ≥, or ≤
• Alternative Hypothesis 


  • Directly contradicts the null hypothesis
  • Determines whether or not to accept or reject this statement based on the likelihood of the null (opposite) hypothesis being true
  • Signs: ≠, >, or <
• Relational Statement


  • Relationships between two or more concepts
  • Chains that link concept to one another
• Conceptual Framework


  • Analytical tool used to get a comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon
  • Consists of concepts placed within logical and sequential design
  • Less formal structure
  • Used for studies in which existing theory is inapplicable or insufficient
  • Specific concepts and propositions derived from empirical observation and intuition
• THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK


  • Structure that can hold or support a theory of a research study
  • Introduces and describes the theory which explains why the research problem under study exists
  • Provides a point of focus for attacking the unknown in a specific area
• NURSING THEORIES


  • Organized frameworks of concepts and purposes designed to guide the practice of nursing
  • Developed to explain and describe nursing care, guide nursing practice, and provide a foundation for clinical decision-making
  • Provide a way to define nursing as a unique discipline that is separate from other disciplines
• NURSING THEORY IN EDUCATION


  • Provides general focus for curriculum design
  • Determines curriculum content and order of subjects
  • Develop specialized knowledge and higher education
• NURSING THEORY IN RESEARCH


  • Offers framework and approach in the development of nursing knowledge
  • Provides research focus and design
• NURSING THEORY IN PRACTICE


  • Assists nurses to describe, explain, and predict everyday experiences
  • Establishes common terminologies
  • Provides knowledge in nursing practice
  • Carving out an advanced roles for nursing practice
• ANALYSIS OF NURSING THEORIES

  1. Clarity
  2. Simplicity
  3. Generality
  4. Accessibility
  5. Importance
• CLARITY


  • Question: how clear is this theory?
  • Word should be defined carefully and specifically according to the framework within which it developed
  • Clarity and consistency are facilitated within diagrams and examples
• SIMPLICITY


  • Question: how simple is this theory?
  • Should be sufficiently comprehensive, presented at a level of abstraction to provide guidance
  • As few concepts as possible with simplistic relations to aid clarity
• Generality


  • Question: how general is this theory?
  • Scope of application and the purpose within the theory
• Accessibility


  • Question: how accessible is this theory?
  • Addresses the extent to which empiric (observed) indicators for the concepts can be identified and to what extent the purposes of the theory can be attained
  • Capacity to "generate hypotheses and be subjected to empirical research"
• IMPORTANCE


  • Question: how important is this theory?
  • Nursing theories lend -> research testing -> knowledge for practice
  • Nursing theory guides research and practice, generates new ideas, and differentiates the focus of nursing from other professions
• CHARACTERISTICS OF A NURSING THEORY 


  • N - Nursing knowledge are developed
  • U - Understands nursing actions through frameworks
  • R - Research follow theory for direction
  • S - Serves as a validation for nursing practice
  • E - Evaluate practice outcome and client response
• METAPARADIGMS OF NURSING THEORIES 


  • Conceptual framework or conceptual model
  • Provides different views of nursing according to the characteristics of models
  • Consists of Person, Health, Environment, Nurse
• Person


  • Client or human being
  • Recipient of nursing care
  • Includes individuals, patients, groups, families, and communities
  • Bio-psycho-social being presents as an integrated whole
• Health


  • Degree of wellness or well-being that client experiences
  • State of wholeness or integrity of the individual
  • Ability to function independently regarding the activities of daily living (ADL)
• Environment


  • Situation
  • Internal and external surrounds that affect the client
  • Sub-component of man
  • May act in a positive or negative way upon the client
• Nursing


  • Attributes, characteristics, and actions of the nurse providing care on behalf of or in conjunction with, the client
  • Profession focused in helping client to prevent, solve, alleviate, or cope with problems associated with ADL
  • Goal of nursing theories is to improve patient care