NR 501 Week 1 Discussion DQ 1 Importance of Theory in Nursing

NR 501 Week 1 Discussion DQ 1 Importance of Theory in Nursing

NR 501 Week 1 Discussion DQ 1 Importance of Theory in Nursing

Based on the required readings for this week, previous lessons and experience as a nurse, it is evident that nursing theory is necessary for nurses to offer quality care and navigate patient needs in the ever transforming and complex nursing profession. Nursing theory provides a framework that guides the nursing practice in using concepts and relationships in patient evaluations and interventions (Butts & Rich, 2018). If nursing practice lacked theory, possibly, there will be loss of separation and clear distinction of the profession. Society has historically considered nursing as a vocational occupation and not a profession where nurses are expected to carry orders by physicians and clinical officers, especially in developing countries, without any form of accountability. However, through the development of theory as proposed by Nightingale in her notes over a century back, nursing is now an evolving profession and academic discipline as well as a science. Pioneers in the profession established nursing theories and models to emphasize the role of nursing profession in enhancing patient outcomes and quality healthcare delivery. Nurses possess critical thinking and scientific knowledge as well as ideas that they can use to improve patient care delivery (Gilbert, 2020). They can develop individualized interventions focused on health promotion, disease prevention and long-term care for patients with terminal conditions.

Nursing theories help to instill identity in nurses, enabling patients and other healthcare providers and professionals as well as managers to appreciate nurses’ roles and individual contributions to healthcare promotion and patient quality care. Nursing theories allow nurses to offer patient-centered care, utilize evidence-based practice interventions in health promotion, and development of professional values and work ethics to attain better patient outcomes (Younas & Quennell, 2019). Nursing theory empowers nurses to understand the transforming health system, address the expanding care demand and improve professional knowledge and skills to attain better patient care. Evidence shows that the use of theory provides structure and organization to nursing knowledge and offers a systemic means of collecting information and data to describe, explain, and predict trends that will shape the nursing practice like the increased of health technologies through telemedicine among others.

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NR 501 Week 1 Discussion DQ 1 Importance of Theory in Nursing References

Butts, B. J. & Rich, L. K. (2018). Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing

practice (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Gilbert, H. A. (2020). Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory and its influence on

contemporary infection control. Collegian, 27(6), 626–633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2020.09.006

Younas, A., & Quennell, S. (2019). Usefulness of nursing theory‐guided practice: an integrative

review. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences, 33(3), 540-555.

DOI: 10.1111/scs.12670.

For many students enrolled in NR 501, this is an initial course for nursing theory.  So, let’s have a debate!!!  Is nursing theory important to the nursing profession?  If you believe that it is important, explain why it is useful.  If you do not believe that it is useful, explain why nursing theory is not necessary to the profession?  Be sure to provide an example that demonstrates your opinion and a scholarly reference (not using the required textbook or lesson) which supports your opinion.