The Significance of Nursing Theory in Guiding Modern Nursing Practice

This essay discusses the role of nursing theory in modern nursing practice, highlighting its importance in underpinning practice and improving nursing knowledge. It addresses the incompatibility of nursing theories with evidence-based practice, noting the complexity of some theories and their deviation from contemporary nursing discourse. While the paper acknowledges criticisms of nursing theories, such as their perceived irrelevance and restriction of patient autonomy, it argues for the continued relevance of core concepts like caring and self-care. The author reflects on how the paper has enhanced their understanding of nursing theories and their application, emphasizing the need for a defined body of theories to guide safe patient care while recognizing the evolving boundaries of nursing practice. The essay concludes that despite the rise of evidence-based methods, there is still scope for infusing nursing theories into practice, with safety, caring, and compassion remaining central to nursing.

Running head:NURSING MANAGEMENT
NURSING MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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Introduction
Nursing theories should provide the principles that underpins the practice and help
improving nursing knowledge. This paper aims to discuss about the roles of the nursing theory in
modern nursing practice. The application of the nursing theory is important as despite the efforts
to increase the academic credentials in nursing, the profession still lacks distinct expertise. It’s
necessary to have a defined body of theory that should be able to enhance the professional status
of the nurses, guidance for research and education, the communication between the nurses
(Alligood, 2013). Since the crucial component of nursing; caring cannot be measured, so it needs
to have a proper framework of nursing.
Important ideas
One of the most important point in this paper was found to be the incompatibility of the
nursing theories with the evidence based concept. This can be supported by the example that,
healthcare service users often feel distressed during their admission in a hospital that have
strange environment. Instead of the positivist research theory, a humanistic approach supported
by professional expertise and training should be used to guide the nurse. According to Alligood,
(2013), a theory guided practice has established general protocols that the nurses are required to
follow, which allows the nurse to take decisions based on a single standard protocol. On the
other hand the

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Evidence based practice involves the application of the test techniques as per the
condition of the patient. Hence the concept of the nursing theory is not much compatible with
EBP.
Another important point of this article is that, it was correct in pointing out the complexity of the
nursing theories. Some complex terminologies such as Newman’s “ expanding consciousness”
and Roger’s “ dynamic energy field deviate from the contemporary discourse of nursing as they
are not comprehensible to the practitioners and hence the nursing theorists has worked at large
from generation to generation to make the nursing theory more flexible and easier for the nurses
to understand (McCrae, 2012). The paper has been right in pointing out that theories proposed by
the early theorist were not comprehensible for the everyday application. According to () a
nursing schools have tried to integrate the Roper-logan-Tierny model care, which further termed
the nursing practice in to more ritualistic as a part of the theory.
2 criticism
Apart from the strengths of this paper, there are few points that I have found to be
controversial or is not correct in its truesense, for example the paper claims the nursing theories
to be irrelevant to modern health care. with the increase of the health care consumers the horizon
of the nursing care have expanded largely, but that does not mean one has to shift from the
nursing theories (Colley, 2003). The core concept of all the concepts of nursing is caring is in
relevance with the present day nursing theory. For example, Dorothy Orem’s self-care theory
plays an crucial role in the self-management of the patient. According to this theory it is the duty
of the nurses to render the patient or the his family members who are capable of meeting the self-
care requirements.

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Another criticism of this paper is that it is being stated that nursing theories restrict the
autonomy of the patient. While one part of this statement is true but it has to be remembered that
it becomes very difficult for the nurse to rely on the managerial control (LoBiondo-
Wood&Haber, 2017). Most of the nursing procedures take place as a one –to one interaction and
application of theories to the therapeutic relationship is plausible.
The way in which the article relates to my professional practice
 The paper has helped me to understand the usefulness of the nursing theories and also the
right method of their application. This article has helped me to understand what I actually
know and what I still needs to know. It is to be remembered that a defined body of
theories provides right directives to the nurses to deliver a safe patient care (LoBiondo-
Wood & Haber, 2017). However I have also understood that the boundaries of the
nursing are constantly changing and some of the theories simply are not a part of the
everyday practice.
 The paper has helped me to understand the four elements of the nursing episteme like the
Aesthetics, ethics, Emperics and personal knowing. As a nurse it is essential to inculcate
scientific thinking among them. The recent nursing theories emphasizes on the varying
theories of nursing. I have understood that nursing should be practiced as a practical
experience rather than applied science and it is essential to have a realistic basis in
nursing.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that in the recent years the broad conceptual models and the
theories gave been suppresses by the evidence based method of nursing. Hence there will always

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be a scope of infusing the nursing theories in the EBP nursing. Whatever might be the theories
the core element of any nursing practices will be safety caring and compassion.

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References
Alligood, M. R. (2013). Introduction to nursing: its history, significance, and analysis. Nursing
Theorists and Their Work-E-Book, 1.
Colley, S. (2003). Nursing theory: its importance to practice. Nursing Standard (through 2013),
17(46), 33.
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McCrae, N. (2012). Whither Nursing Models? The value of nursing theory in the context of
evidence‐based practice and multidisciplinary health care. Journal of Advanced Nursing,
68(1), 222-229. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05821.x