DIFFERENT THEORIES IN NURSING
charity of a nurse
- CONCEPT – an idea of complex
mental image of a phenomenon
(object, property, or event)
o Term for phenomenon or a
group of phenomena
o Something that is tangible
- PHENOMENON – subject matter of a
discipline, what is being talked
about in a particular discipline
o Aspect of reality that can be
consciously sensed or
experienced.
o It is an idea about an even, a
situation, a process, a group
of events or a group of
situations (Meleis, Afaf
Ibrahim)
- KNOWLEDGE – understanding
acquired through learning or
investigation of what is known about
a subject matter
o A developed knowledge must
have supported by
evidences. (Evidence based)
o Sources of knowledge
maybe from fact or
theoretical
- SCIENCE – A unified body of
knowledge about a phenomenon
that is supported by agreed-on
evidence
o Provides answers to
questions that pertains to the
subject matter
o In profession, for every
procedure, there is a rational
behind it.
- THEORY – a group of related
concepts that propose actions to
guide practice
o Can be a non-nursing or
nursing theory
o Explains a phenomenon
o E.g. Theory of Caritative
Caring (Katy Erickson) –
caritas: based on love and
o Eg. Theory of Comfort –
health will not be achieved if
there is discomfort/pain
HISTORY OF NURSING THEORY
Nursing was not a profession, it was a
vocation.
- Women were neither educated nor
employed in public service
o Florence Nightingale did
not study nursing, she only
cared for the soldiers of the
Crimean War out of
compassion. She established
a nursing school (St.
Thomas Hospital) in London
which is a hospital-based
education: training). This
paved the way for the birth of
modern nursing.
o Men were for military while
women were more inclined
with nursing.
1. Nightingale Era: her
establishment of a nursing
school was a guide for the
establishment of nursing schools
in the US
o Nursing has become as an
independent body of
knowledge; a discipline
separates from medical
knowledge
2. Curriculum Era: standardized o
Nursing has become a formal
education
o Courses to take to become a
nurse
o Hospital-based teaching is
becoming obsolete
3. Research Era: increase of
o Nurse’s seeking higher
education
o Emergence of nursing
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 theories
o Nursing is another field
where nurses can specialize
on.
o Nurse’s Graduate Era where
nurses sought a higher level
of learning (degrees,
specialization)
- Nursing as a science: Nursing
became a profession (1970s)
NURSING THEORY
- Group of related nursing concepts
derived from nursing models
- Describe, explain, predict a
phenomenon, cause & effect, and
prescribe an appropriate nursing
care
- Emerged from the effort of nurse
leaders in administration, education &
practice who saw limitations of
theory from other disciplines to
describe, explain or predict nursing
outcomes
- Applicable to own profession
Examples of phenomena and
relationships of nursing theories: 1.
A nursing client is bio-psycho
social and cultural being.
2. Communication is a tool for
identifying patient’s problem and
intervention in nursing.
3. Nursing provides self-care needs
only until the client or significant
other can provide self-care
(principle of independence)
➢ Nurses may teach the
patients on how to give
themselves interventions.
PARADIGM
- Patterns of shared understanding
and assumptions about reality and
the world
- Also known as conceptual
framework
METAPARADIGM
- Meta meaning “with” and Paradigm
meaninh “pattern”
- Broader concept of a specific
discipline
- Global concept to a specific
discipline
e.g. Some interventions are
only applied in the
Philippines but not in other
countries (medicinal plants)
4 CONCEPTS IN A NURSING
PARADIGM 1. Person or client/patients
- Recipient of nursing care (can be an
individuals, families, groups or
communities)
o Client: I am a business man
and you buy a certain
product, so you are my client.
– Affiliation/Consumer of a
professional service; broader
than “patient”
o Patient: The one who
receives the medical
treatment whether from a
nurse or a doctor. (more
specific)
2. Environment – Internal or external
surroundings that affect the client
(including families, friend and
significant others)
e.g. “You can be a part of my
internal environment because I deal
with you within my environment. You
have an influence on my being.”
External –
school/home/community 3. Health –
the degree of wellness or well-being
that the client
experiences
4. Nursing – the attributes or the
characteristics, and actions of the
nurse providing care on behalf of, or
in conjunction with the client (can be
given by professional nurse / in
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 collaboration with the help of the environment should also be
people surrounding the patient) treated)
EXAMPLES OF NURSING 2. Health and illness behavior are a
PROPOSITIONS IN THE product of person-environment
NURSING PARADIGM: interactions. (You can’t force a
1. Person-environment interactions person to be healthy if the start
are the focus of nursing care (the
is greatly influenced of having
sedentary lifestyle.)
3. The focus of intervention is the
patient’s environment
4. Environment is a composite of
energy fields (the spirituality of
an individual)
**Environment influences the
spiritual being of a person

DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
- “The family is the essential unit in a
democratic society”
- A philosophy is a belief system -
“Health is a fundamental right of
every individual”
- Often an early effort to define a
nursing phenomenon and serves as
the basis for later theories in nursing
practice.
CONCEPTUAL MODELS
Frameworks/ Paradigms – group of related
ideas, statements or concepts
e.g. Johnson’s Behavioral System,
Roy’s Adaptation Model (In life
changing situations, one must be able
to adapt to be able to acquire optimum
health, otherwise illness sets in)

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