Nursing theory

Instructions: Response must be at least 310 words written in current APA format with at least two academic references cited. References must be within the last five years. Response must exten, refute/correct, or add additional nuance.

Nursing theory is a systematic outline of ideas and objectives intended to drive nursing practice. Some of the first nursing theories can be dated back to the late 1800s, due to a strong importance being placed on the formal education of nurses. Florence Nightingale is considered to have the first nursing theory of environmental. In her theory she states that external influences can contribute to or prevent death and disease, and with her emphasis on environment this led to changes in practice with nutrition, sanitation, and hydration, along with addressing the patients both physical and spiritual needs, whole person care. In addition, she founded what is referred to as the laws of nursing, this is what has directed nursing education in America through the 1950’s. After that several other nursing theorists came about directing education practice and research (Stolley et al., 2019).

The association of practice in relation to nursing theory and research are closely connected. Both theory and research play a role the development toward expert nursing practice. Both have the similar objectives which are geared to improving the quality of nursing care to individuals. Through the development of research and theory evidence-based practice occurs. Evidence based practice is recognized as the standard for the improvement of medical care. For example, one evidenced based study shows that after placing a nasogastric tube instead of ordering the usual x-ray utilizing an aspirate pH test is just as definitive and more economical when verifying placement (Chien, 2019). However, throughout the years the usefulness of utilizing nursing theories in practice has been questioned. Another study conducted decided to look at theories and examine the effectiveness of theory guided practice in relation to a more traditional evidence-based practice and they found that theory guided nursing practice is still very relevant and showed an overall improvement in all practice outcomes that were conducted in the study (Younas & Quennell, 2019). When looking at these two studies both show relevance and how there is an interrelationship between theory, practice, and research.

In addition, further looking at the interrelationship between theory, practice, and research there are 4 main concepts that seem to stand out and can be found in each field. They exist individually and work in conjunction with theory, practice, and research. The first concept is the individual who can be identified as a patient, family, group, or community. The second can be identified as the environment which can be the internal and external factors that can cause positive or negative effects on the individual. The third can be health which is the wellness or the well-being of the individual and the fourth is nursing which is the attributes and actions of the nurse and the care provided (Gaines, 2020).

In conclusion the individual, environment, health, and the nurse, all 4 can act independently within each field of practice, research, and therapy, but also foster the interrelationship between the three areas. For example, Peplau’s theories examining interpersonal relations can narrow the focus on specific concepts such as, the effects nurses have on patient outcomes and the patient’s hospital experience. Research can then be focused on the direct impact nursing has on improving patient outcomes and if a patients hospital experience plays a direct role with positive or negative outcomes. The data from the research can be used to improve healthcare practice and implemented to make policy and procedure improvements to provide better direct patient care. This incorporates the individual, environment, health, and nurse along with theory, research and practice, further showing the interrelationship connection. A similar process was used to develop the framework for Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems–Hospital (HCAHPS) which is a way for patients to report on their hospital experience and provide information which can assist in positive changes in the healthcare system (Hagerty et al., 2017).