Advantages of a Nursing Development Theory

There are 15 nursing theorists who, over time, have added to the nursing development theory that helped the profession evolve. Each of these theorists have had a slightly different view on nursing and the assistance they provide to the doctors who come up with the overall plan for better health care. Nursing has gone from a job in which a nurse provided basic care to someone who cares more about a patient's overall needs, physically and mentally.

Theories Overall

• Theories are interrelating concepts that are devised in such a way so that they create a different way of looking at the same thing. Theories are general, logical and based on a hypothesis that can be tested. Once tested, they will typically leave several unanswered questions that would need further investigating. An example of a nursing theory might be to test asking a patient how they are feeling each time their vitals are taken against a group of people who are not asked how they are feeling. In theory, the people who are asked about their status are going to get better faster because the patient perceives someone to care.

Purpose of Theory in Nursing Practice

• There are several purposes for having a theory in nursing practice. The theory will assist nurses in describing, explaining and predicting experiences they run across in their everyday contact with patients. A theory will help to establish criteria for which nursing care would be evaluated against, helping to better that care. A theory would be helpful in building a common terminology that nurses could use when discussing a patient's care with other health care providers so that everyone understands and is on the same 'page' when it comes to the care of a patient.

Advantages of Nursing Development Theory

• Certain theories are thought to improve the nursing profession by helping it organize its practices. This can be seen in the analysis of the assessment data in patient care. If the nursing development theory is going to benefit the practice of nursing, then it should be developed with the cooperation of the people who practice nursing. In order to achieve minimum goals for the quality of care for patients by nurses, principals or procedural rules gained from the theories would be helpful in addition to standardizing the nursing practice.