Nursing Theories Coursework Example

Nursing Theory:
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Nursing is a very important field. It is associated with the provision of healthcare services to patients. It is a very sensitive field because nurses deal with the life, health, and well-being of their patients. It is a profession whose success is based on concepts and theories associated with health care and service provision. Nursing theories are, therefore, very important. They are concepts that provide principles that reinforce the nursing practice. The healthcare industry is also a fast-changing industry with needs and expectations becoming more complicated. Theories are important because they provide more knowledge. Nursing theory offers them a sense of identity for which managers, patients, and other healthcare professionals spot their unique contributions to the medical field (Saifan, AbuRuz, & Masa’deh, 2015).
Nursing theory is responsible for the recognition of the field as an academic discipline as well as an emerging profession. Despite the high importance of nursing theory in its practice, research and education have both failed to incorporate it into their culture, and many nurses leave school with little knowledge of nursing theory. Nursing theory is important because it offers nurses with a common perspective in relation to their practice. It is a source of perspective which is important for grounding nurses and supporting it as a self-governing profession. There is also a high need to incorporate nursing theory into its practice, research, administration, and education to ensure that it gains autonomy and professional recognition.

Nurses play a critical role in the provision of healthcare services. They, therefore, require a nursing theory to establish a framework of professionalism and identity which would provide a strong basis for their practice, education, and research (Alligood, & Fawcett, 2017).
Nursing theories are important because they define and explain what is and what is not nursing. Nursing theories are very important for the development of knowledge and practice of the nursing profession. Theories are important because they explain the particular experience, describe different relationships within a particular field, interpret observations made and project outcomes to be expected. In the nursing professions, theories help nurses understand what they know from observations, research and experience and also help them with what they need to know. Theories are reflections of understanding that guide the actions of nurses and also help them achieve a particular outcome from their practice (Saifan, AbuRuz, & Masa’deh, 2015).
The lack of focus and dedication to theory has created a debate as to whether nursing is an occupation or a profession. The difference between the two terms is that a profession has superiority based on vocations associated with learning and development of knowledge. On the other hand occupation is associated with a job and is limited in terms of development of knowledge. Occupations therefore, have to advance in terms of knowledge and theory to become professions. For many years nursing has been viewed as an occupation rather than as a profession, and it has had great difficulties when it comes to being recognized as a profession. One challenge facing nurses is long perception of being an occupation that is an extension of the duties of mothers and wives at home (Alligood, & Fawcett, 2017).
Many people have failed to understand the complex nature of the profession. Another problem is that for many years nurses have failed to organize their own professional knowledge. Nursing theory is therefore an important aspect capable of establishing and organizing it as a professional. Nurses also have to play the part of recognizing theory and basing their practices on them to develop new knowledge and to solidify it as a profession (Alligood, & Fawcett, 2017).
References
Saifan, A., AbuRuz, M. E., & Masa’deh, R. (2015). Theory Practice Gaps in Nursing Education: A Qualitative Perspective. Journal Of Social Sciences / Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 11(1), 20-29.
Alligood, M. R., & Fawcett, J. (2017). The Theory of the Art of Nursing and the Practice of Human Care Quality. Visions: The Journal Of Rogerian Nursing Science, 23(1), 4-12.