Nursing Theorists

Like many nurses, I learned a little about nursing theory in college but didn't fully grasp its significance for nursing at the time. I also didn't fully integrate its use into my practice at the time. However, as I got more experience as a practicing nurse (both as a staff nurse and CNS) and went to graduate school twice, my understanding and appreciation of the nurse theorsits has grown enormously.

Today, my primary job is in Nursing Staff Development. I work full time for a hospital. But I also teach a Nursing Theory class (and a nursing research class) for a local university in their BSN completion program. I am having a terrific time with that as the students and I together explore the different theories and relate them to our practice. I think that having had at least a couple of years of nursing practice experience makes it easier for my students to fully appreciate what the theories can contribute to their undestanding of situations that occur in nursing.

I am a huge advocate of the use of multiple theories -- of not just picking one upon which to base your practice. I see each theory as a tool to be used. Just as I wouldn't assume that only 1 tool (such as a hammer or a wrench) would be the only tool I would need to build a house, I would not assume that I only needed one theory to understand all aspects of the world around me. As one of my students said at the end of the semester "Each theory is like a different color of paint. While you can paint a picture with just different shades of one color ... you get the most realistic painting if you use multiple colors of paint. Each theory is a different color on the artists pallette."

Also, as I've re-explored the thoeries over the last couple of years, I have discovered "new" aspects of some of them that I never really understood before. Some theories I didn't like in the past are becoming my favorites and other theories that seemed so great in the past don't impress me as much. I am also havng fun exploring some of the new theories that most people never heard of. As we have seen a growth in graduate level nursing programs, the volume of work being done in nursing research and theory development/testing has increased. The new work is taking nursing theory beyond what it was in decades past -- often in directions that relate to issues relevant to contemporary nursing such as outcomes measurement and cost containment. The practical use of theory is emphasized more than it was in some past eras. That's an exciting development.

Some of my favorite theories (at the moment):

Benner -- ( classic for anyone is staff development

Kristin Swanson -- I prefer her caring theory over Watson's even though Watson was one of my grad school professors. I think Watson has been the most influential theorist in recent years, but the spriritual aspects of her theory are difficult for some people to relate to and it can be difficult to translate her theory into practical, measurable outcomes. I love Swanson's definition of nursing as "informed caring for the well-being of others."

Rogers -- hard to grasp the universe as being composed of energy rather than matter, but I admire her courage for putting "something new and different" out there.

Parse -- Like Rogers, her theory is very hard to grasp and I doubt it will ever be mainstream, but as I read it again this past year, I finally "got it" and found it excitingly profound.

Henderson -- the giant of the 20th century ... Probably my #1 pick if I had to pick just one

Yes, Watson is "out there." That's a phrase we used in grad school. Another expression that sometimes crept into our conversation was that we were on the "cutting edge" of nursing scholarship and sometimes were afraid that we were falling off the edge!

Seriously ... if you like the idea of caring, but have trouble relating to Watson ... look up the work of Kristen Swanson. She has studied the process of caring in a way that is much less mystical and more pragmatic. She uses it as a foundation for outcomes research and it is more concrete and easier to relate to actual practice situations. As a former student of Watson, her work is compatable with Watson's theory -- but has a more practical, down-to-earth tone.