Nursing Theory

by

Purpose 

The purpose of the graded collaborative discussions is to engage faculty and students in an interactive dialogue to assist the student in organizing, integrating, applying, and critically appraising knowledge regarding advanced nursing practice. Scholarly information obtained from credible sources as well as professional communication are required. Application of information to professional experiences promotes the analysis and use of principles, knowledge, and information learned and related to real-life professional situations. Meaningful dialogue among faculty and students fosters the development of a learning community as ideas, perspectives, and knowledge are shared.

Activity Learning Outcomes 

Through this discussion, the student will demonstrate the ability to:

  • Demonstrate logical and creative thinking in the analysis and application of a theory to nursing practice. (PO 2 and 5)Weeks 2, 6
  • Examine broad theoretical concepts as foundational to advanced nursing practice roles. (PO 1 and 2)Weeks 1, 2, 4
  • Analyze theories from nursing and relevant fields with respect to the components, relationship among the components, and application to advanced nursing practice. (PO 1)Weeks 4, 6

Requirements:

Discussion Criteria

  1. Application of Course Knowledge: The student post contributes unique  perspectives  or insights gleaned from personal  experience  or examples from the healthcare field. The student must accurately and fully  discuss  the topic for the week in  addition  to providing personal or professional  examples. The  student must completely answer the entire initial  question.
  2. Integration of Evidence:The student post provides support from  a  minimum of one scholarly in-text citation with a matching reference and assigned readings or online lessons, per discussion topic per week.
    • What is a scholarly resource? A scholarly resource is one  that comes  from a professional, peer-reviewed  publication  (e.g., journals and government  reports such as those  from  the FDA or (CDC).
      • Contains references for sources cited
      • Written by a professional or  scholar  in the field and indicates credentials of  the author(s)
      • Is no more than 5 years old for  clinical  or research articles
    • What is not considered  a  scholarly resource? 
      • Newspaper articles and layperson literature (e.g., Readers Digest, Healthy Life Magazine, Food, and Fitness)
      • Information from Wikipedia  or  any wiki
      • Textbooks
      • Website homepages
      • The weekly lesson
      • Articles in healthcare and nursing-oriented trade magazines, such  as  Nursing Made Incredibly Easy and RNMagazine (Source: What  is a scholarly article.docx; Created 06/09  CK/CL   Revised: 02/17/11,  09/02/11 nlh/clm)
    • Can the lesson for the week  be  used as a scholarly source ?
      • Information from the weekly lesson  can  be cited in a posting; however, it is  not  to be the sole source  used  in the post.
    • Are resources provided from CU acceptable sources (e.g., the readings for the week)?
      • Not as a sole source  within the  post. The textbook and/or assigned  (required)  articles for the week can be used, but  another  outside source must be cited  for full  credit. Textbooks are not  considered scholarly sources  for the purpose of  discussions.
    • Are websites acceptable as  scholarly resources for discussions?
      • Yes, if they are  documents  or  data cited from credible websites. Credible websites usually end in .gov or edu however, some .org sites that belong to professional associations (e.g., American Heart Association, National League for Nursing, American Diabetes Association) are also considered credible websites. Websites ending with .com are not to be used as scholarly resources.
  3. Professionalism in Communication: The post presents information in logical, meaningful, and understandable sequence, and is clearly

Preparing the Assignment

Identify your specialty area of NP practice. Select a nursing theory, borrowed theory, or interdisciplinary theory provided in the lesson plan or one of your own findings. Address the following:

  • Origin
  • Meaning and scope
  • Logical adequacy
  • Usefulness and simplicity
  • Generalizability
  • Testability

Finally, provide an example how the theory could be used to improve or evaluate the quality of practice in your specific setting. What rationale can you provide that validates the theory as applicable to the role of the nurse practitioner.

resources: Butts, B. J. & Rich, L. K. (2018). Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. Chapters 18, 19, 25