Introduction
The concept of nursing’s multiple paradigms is one that has continued to attract varying controversies over the years, and no singular paradigm may be said to have a dominant effect on the nursing discipline. The continuity with the controversy may be based on the fact that there seems to be no final conclusion as to which paradigm is most perfect or effective for adoption by nurses. By implication, therefore, the idea of multiparadigm appears to become more famous in nursing practices; as is offering the most likely future of the discipline.
A paradigm, by way of definition, entails a pattern or a model through which a set of beliefs or norms are implemented within a community. In the nursing practice, there is a great need to incline towards consistent and result-oriented paradigms; meta paradigm; as the nursing practice has to do with taking care of human health. (Contreras, 2011)
This paper will attempt to capture nursing theory through the concept of multiple paradigms, and will also present the differences that identify Grand, Middle-range, and Practices theories in nursing practice. An attempt will also be made to align concept analysis to clinical practices through analysis or review of a selected article.
Nursing Theory
Nursing theory is a fundamental framework for guiding nurses through research and through ways of carryout actions or implementations or arriving at convincible predictions for the benefit of clients’ responses. Some of the most fantastic nursing theories have been of concern to Transcultural Care, and are discussed. Middle-range theory, for example, is apparently imaginary with a confined set of variables that are testable directly or indirectly, and which happens to be of high significance to nursing research/practice (Penrod & Hupcey, 2005; Barker, 2008; Fawcett, 2011). Off the middle-range theory, Grand theory is seen as a framework for defining the wide scope of nursing practice. Specifically, theories have continued to influence and reposition the way nursing practices are conducted and Better results are obtained on daily Bases through the application of theories. For example, a certain Mercer Ramona’s theory: Maternal-Role-Attainment theory is known to be one of the most influential Mid-range theories with a focus on maternal-role/pregnancy. The Theory of Comfort by Kolcaba Katherine is one other fine Mid-range theory with a consistent influence on nursing practice. The list of very impacting theories seems endless, but the Self Car Model is outstanding; it is imperative for all nurses to have good knowledge of this theory and put it into effective practice as well.
Peer-Reviewed Journal
The article reviewed is written by Penrod & Hupcey (2005) and discusses the basic operations of the method to concept analysis in nursing. The paper is of the view that even though the nursing discipline has come to accept concept analysis as an effective tool through which validation and research methodology are maximized, the creation of strategy of enquiring the purpose as well as the nature of findings have been contradictory. The authors, therefore, propose that, since the fundamental aim of utilizing concept analysis remains for the determination of the state of clinical processes and for the promotion of strategy or planning, there is a superseding provision for supporting the interest of the concept.
The paper further discusses three (3) issues that are a problem to analyzing theories in nursing; as an attempt to make clear and follow a procedure for explicitly employing strategies that will easy research approaches; there is, therefore, the need to be deterministic. The authors have the conviction that when this is the case, the various fundamental contributions to ease the comprehension of limitations and strengths of a concept at a certain time in clinical literature may become of better application. This point of view suggests the possibility that the perspective is capable of enhancing a process whereby nursing would commerce the harnessing of the numerous strengths that are presently underutilized and subsequently slowing the advancement of the discipline.
The paper, therefore, provides a basic criterion for evaluating theories applicable to nursing. The criteria are significant of internalizing consistency, workability, testability, pragmatic-adequacy, as well as the parsimony to the theories applicable to nursing. A number of the criteria have been identified and quantified and are used for the development of theories identified structurally by the paper.
An appropriate structure for evaluating a theory, therefore, has to incorporate the evolutionary history, the basic elements, and the relative statements defining the theory. According to Penrod & Hupcey (2005), an effective process for evaluating a nursing theory must also be coherent, pragmatic, and correspond to the purpose of the theory.
Application of Concept Analysis to Clinical Practice
A description of how humans respond to clinical care under nurses has been noted to be of great help in helping to implement and evaluate clinical conditions and carry out therapeutic interventions (Winifred, 2000). This forms the basis for which the applications of nursing concepts are defined. Specifically, for a nursing concept to be relevant to analyzing a clinical condition has to fascinate care-planning, establish an appropriate definition for communication, enhance a diagnostic process and ease the general process of taking care of patients. For example, the Mercer Ramona Maternal-Role-Attainment theory earlier mentioned has a clear focus on maternal-role/pregnancy with an examination of confidentiality in practical terms (Elizabeth & Martha, 1999). This expresses the fact that the theory aggress with the antecedents and the empirical referents that make it easy for expectant ladies to have a safe delivery. With the incorporation of confidentiality as a theme in the maternal-role-attainment theory, the expectant mother receiving clinical attention is free to interact with nurses at the fundamental level for maximizing the attention the mothers may receive.
Conclusion
This paper presents an attempt to capture nursing theory through the concept of multiple paradigms and has also presented the differences that identify Grand, Middle-range, and Practices theories in nursing practice. The paper has equally aligned the concept analysis to clinical practices through analysis or review of a selected article.
The concept of nursing’s multiple paradigms has been discussed as one that has continued to attract varying controversies over the years- this, the paper suggests, is because there seems to be no final conclusion as to which paradigm is most perfect for adoption by nurses. By implication, therefore, the idea of multiparadigm is seen to become more famous in nursing practices; as is the most likely future of the discipline. A paradigm, by way of definition- the paper notes, entails a pattern or a model through which a set of beliefs or norms are implemented within a community and in the nursing practice, there is a great need to incline towards consistent and result-oriented paradigms as the nursing practice has to do with taking care of human health.
Reference List
Barker, M.A. (2008). Advanced Practice Nursing: Essential Knowledge for the Profession. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Contreras G. (2011). Project UNLOC – An Interdisciplinary Bibliography for Literacy, Narrative, and Technology. Web.
Elizabeth, J., & Martha, S. (1999). Multiple Paradigms of Nursing Science. Advances in Nursing Science, 55 (4), 64.
Fawcett, J. (2011). Criteria for Evaluation of Theory. Web.
Penrod, J., & Hupcey, J.E. (2005). Enhancing methodological clarity: principle-based concept analysis Aims. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 50(4), 403–409
Winifred, J. E. (2000). Confidentiality: Concept Analysis and Clinical Application. Nursing Forum, 35 (2), 5- 16