Nursing Students Student Assist
Published Feb 4, 2015
ebyan
1 Post
I am trying to understand different nursing theory and it's confusing to me...need help??
Palliative Care, DNP
781 Posts
Honestly, nursing theory is a lot of BS. A lot of the grand theories make no sense to anyone. I have never used nursing theory in daily life and it simply becomes more ridiculous at the graduate level. I have my flame retardant suit on as I will get flamed for this but really I believe some of the theorists had way too much time on their hands and huge egos that needed boosting.
PsychNurseWannaBe, BSN, RN
747 Posts
I won't flame ya! :) To the original poster there are many theories. Could you give more information? And yes some theories are rather....well, elitist.
Also, if you are a student (not sure), maybe ask an admin to move this to the student section.
RunBabyRN
3,677 Posts
Can you be more specific with your question?
If you do a Google search, you'll find a lot of theories out there. Some actually feel relevant, and being able to speak to them can behoove you in an interview- there's one place I interviewed that's big on Jean Watson's Theory of Caring, something I did a paper on.
dream'n, BSN, RN
1,162 Posts
I actually find Patricia Benner's theory the most applicable; Novice to Expert. I have little use for the other theories and certainly don't use them in my job. I remember I hated learning Orem's theory in particular. I always heard that BSNs learn theory, MSNs evaluate theory, and PhD nurses construct theory. I may be flamed but basically I find most nursing theory as an excuse for upper educated academic nurses to make themselves appear important and as a way for them to try and separate medicine and nursing. Which seems to be why they created Nursing Diagnosis' in the first place
Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN
1 Article; 20,908 Posts
What exactly do you not understand? This is a great site I think may help....a companion to nursing theories and models
classicdame, MSN, EdD
7,255 Posts
Theories help identify behaviors and why they do/do not affect the desired outcome. We use the caring theory in my hospital as part of our nursing philosophy - what behaviors show we care? If you want the patient to be responsible for self-care, then the self-care theory can guide you. Orlando's nurse-patient relationship theory is the one that the nursing process is based upon, but can work in "real life" too. You assess the situation, determine what needs to be addressed, plan an intervention then evaluate. Heck, you can choose a new care that way!