Middle Range Theory in Nursing Essay

The credibility of a profession is based upon its ability to create and apply system. care for as a whole has not been at the forefront of theoretical look for being often more(prenominal) practical or hands-on in nature. Unless guards increase the value placed on research and the body of knowledge that establishes the legitimacy of their charge then breast feeding will remain in a subordinate position in the medical environment.Theorists anticipated that by conceptualizing models of nurse, practitioners would be able to become more autonomous in their clinical settings while increasing the visibility and authority of nursing as a discipline. It would therefore be anticipated that she-goats being able to comprehend and use possibleness will carry to grow with more master degree nurses and with the development of dod practice nurses. Theoretical development is coercive as nursing progresses into care management, prescribing rights and specialist arenas traditionally hel d solely by physicians.Current embodiments such(prenominal) as the Magnet Recognition Program have encouraged theoretical research in nursing (McCrae, 2012) explanation affectionateness range theory as defined by Smith and Liehr (2008) is a set of link ideas associated with the defined reality of nursing. These theories are developed at the level where research and nursing practice intersect. care for is a professional discipline and as such place range theories are part of this structure.Middle range theories and thusly the knowledge base of nursing is growing and theories are useful to both the nursing profession nut also other disciplines involved in the care of individuals and populations. On the Ladder of Abstraction, mall range theories are the middle rung below the abstract philosophical rung of symbols and concepts, and above the data-based or concrete level or that which can be observed. Current Trends In the evolving nursing profession, nursing theories have set the stage for nursing research and practice.The current trends in nursing theories as say by Im and Chang (2012) were categorized into six major groupings (a) foci on specifics where the researchers rather than further developing nursing theory focused their energies on details of the previous work and in testing associations among those concepts (b) coexistence of various types of theories where it was identified the some prevalent trend in nursing research was that crabby theories were cited predominantly, where 257 articles were close grand theories, 84 were around middle range theory, 13 were related to situation-specific theory, etc. (c) close links to research where it was noted that some of the articles published in the last 10 years were based on multiple areas of theorizing including research findings (d) world-wide collaborative works whereby much of the work reviewed was written by international authors coauthored by authors in the unite States, where the US author w as the senior author. This may be related to an increasing number of international nurse scholar exchanges in nursing academia (e) integration to practice where nurses attempt to integrate theory into practice in their clinical practice.Occasionally two or more theories were combined to explain a particular practice setting phenomenon and finally (f) selective evolution where most of the research noted related to the four-spot grand theories Neumans system model, Orems self-care theory, Rogers history of unitary human beings and Roys adaptation model. Im and Chang titled it such because only those four selective theories had been further developed through additional research in the past tense 10 years. They postulated that these particular theories were further developed because they are more closely linked to nursing practice.Examples An event of the coexistence of various types of theories is demonstrated by Andershed and Olssons (2009) research review of the existing middle ra nge theory of caring by Kristen Swanson. Her theory was developed from separate experiential studies and has been used by multiple authors referring to her theory, applying it in practice or validating and testing the theory. The authors concluded that if people are guided through discussions about their experiences and feel understood, informed, provided for, validated and believed in (p. 609), they were better able to integrate ifficult events into their lives in a positive manner. The middle range intellectual capital theory conceptualizes nursing knowledge within health care organizations and how it relates to tolerant and organizational outcomes. This incorporates two concepts nursing human capital and nursing structural capital. These are influenced by nurse staffing and employer support for continuing professional development. Magnet hospital nursing staff and nurse executives deem educational support to be necessary for higher quality patient care (Covell, 2008) ConclusionO verall it is central for the profession of nursing to formalize and expand upon middle range theories as they relate to nursing to advance the profession and validate the expanded roles being seen in todays nursing field. While building upon existing research is beneficial it is also important to conduct new research and expand the knowledge base for all nurses. As the role of the nurse is advanced so must the research that validates the nursing profession.