Nursing Theory

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Pages: 6

Introduction
Nursing research and theories are used throughout the healthcare system. Today, nurses see evidenced based practice, nursing diagnoses and goals in individualized care plans for patients in hospital and outpatient settings based on years of research and theories. Theories provide the foundation for hypotheses to improve nursing care on the testable knowledge obtained overtime (Ellis, 2008, p. 82). Theories build the structure around learning and developing new approaches in the healthcare field. Nurses wear many hats as part of a healthcare team. The nurse is a teacher, coach, counselor, role model, therapist, and care provider. Ellis explains a team as being able to “capture the skills, abilities, and creativity of all persons
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There is a managerial duty to plan, organize and direct a patient to accomplishing their goals and specific tasks given by the health care team (Ellis, 2008, p. 429). Being a patient advocate is another important role of the nurse. Ellis states, “when serving in an advocacy role, the nurse can assist the patient to be involved in informed decisions that affect that individual’s healthcare” (2008, p. 460). Having the patient involved in their health needs is an important part of adaptation in the health setting. In looking at nursing theorists, health care teams can see what interrelated concepts and nursing interventions have improved the quality of patient care and apply those concepts to clinical …show more content…
The Neuman Systems Model is an adaptable model, which allows it to be used in a variety of settings. Nursing-Theory.org explains “The central philosophy of Neuman's nursing theory consists of energy resources that are surrounded by three things: several lines of resistance, which represent the internal factors helping the patient fight against a stressor; the normal line of defense, which represents the patient's equilibrium; and the flexible line of defense, which represents the dynamic nature that can rapidly change over a short time” (nursing-theory.org,