Theory for doctoral Nursing Practice

This formative assessment aims to evaluate your ability to critically assess a nursing theory or framework, identify areas for improvement in conceptual clarity, and propose revisions to enhance its applicability in modern clinical practice.

Select a Nursing Theory or Framework:
Choose a nursing theory or conceptual framework that you believe could benefit from improved conceptual clarity. This could be a well-known theory such as Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory, Peplau’s Interpersonal Relations Theory, or Roy’s Adaptation Model, or a lesser-known framework.

Evaluate the Theory’s Conceptual Clarity:
Briefly describe the theory and its key concepts. Evaluate the clarity and coherence of these concepts. Consider the following:
Are the concepts clearly defined?
Do the concepts relate to one another logically?
Are the definitions of these concepts relevant to contemporary clinical practice?
Are there any gaps, ambiguities, or vague terms that may hinder practical application?

Propose Revisions to Improve Conceptual Clarity:
Suggest specific changes to the theory’s concepts or relationships between concepts that would enhance its clarity and improve its application in today’s healthcare environment. These revisions should address current challenges in nursing practice, such as technological advancements, interdisciplinary collaboration, patient-centered care, or evolving healthcare systems.

Discuss the Potential Impact of Your Revisions:
Explain how the proposed revisions would make the theory more relevant and practical for guiding clinical decision-making and improving patient outcomes in today’s healthcare setting. Consider how your revisions could support evidence-based practice, foster patient engagement, or enhance nursing interventions.

Full Answer Section

         
  1. Theory of Self-Care Deficit: Explains when nursing is needed. A deficit exists when an individual's Self-Care Agency is insufficient to meet their Therapeutic Self-Care Demand.
  2. Theory of Nursing Systems: Describes how the nurse helps the patient. It outlines five methods of helping and three types of nursing systems:
    • Methods of Helping: Acting for or doing for; guiding; supporting; providing an environment that promotes development; teaching.
    • Nursing Systems: Wholly Compensatory (nurse does everything), Partly Compensatory (nurse and patient share self-care), Supportive-Educative (patient performs self-care with guidance).
Clarity and Coherence Evaluation:
  • Are the concepts clearly defined?
    • Orem provides extensive definitions for her core concepts, particularly Self-Care Requisites and Self-Care Agency, often with sub-categories. This detailed approach can be helpful for initial understanding.
    • However, some concepts, especially "Self-Care Agency," can feel abstract and difficult to operationalize consistently in clinical practice. Its "power components" (e.g., attention, vigilance, energy, knowledge) are comprehensive but can be challenging to assess objectively or quantify for intervention planning.

Sample Answer

        Selected Nursing Theory: Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory (SCDT)  

1. Evaluation of Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory (SCDT) Conceptual Clarity

  Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory (SCDT) is a grand nursing theory that focuses on the individual's ability to care for themselves and the nurse's role in assisting them when they have a self-care deficit. The theory is comprised of three interrelated theories:
  1. Theory of Self-Care: Describes the practices that individuals initiate and perform on their own behalf to maintain life, health, and well-being.
    • Key Concepts:
      • Self-Care Requisites (SCRs): Universal (common to all humans, e.g., air, water, activity, rest), Developmental (associated with life processes, e.g., adjusting to new health state), and Health Deviation (associated with illness, injury, or disease, e.g., managing a colostomy).
      • Therapeutic Self-Care Demand (TSCD): The totality of self-care requisites that a person must meet over a specific period.
      • Self-Care Agency (SCA): The human ability to engage in self-care; comprises foundational capabilities and operationalized abilities (power components).