©THEBRIGHTSTARS 2024
Nursing Theories and Philosophies Exam
Study Guide.
Theory - answer✔a supposition or system of ideas that is proposed to explain a given
phenomenon (ie: theory of gravity)
practice discipline - answer✔used for fields of study in which the central focus is performance
of a professional role (nursing, teaching, etc)
conceptual framework - answer✔a group of related ideas, statements, or concepts
grand theories - answer✔those that articulate a broad range of the significant relationships
among the concepts of a discipline
paradigm - answer✔refers to a pattern of shared understandings and assumptions about reality
and the world. they include our notions of reality that are largely unconscious or taken for
granted
metaparadigm for nursing - answer✔client, environment, health, nursing
midlevel theory - answer✔focus on the exploration of concepts such as pain, self-esteem,
learning, and hardiness
philosophy - answer✔a belief system, often an early effort to define nursing phenomena, and
serves as the basis for later theoretical formulations
nursing philosophies - answer✔Nightingale, Henderson, and Watson
nursing models - answer✔Neuman, Orem, Rogers, Roy, and King
nursing theories - answer✔Peplau, Leininger, and Parse
Nightingale's environmental theory - answer✔links health w/ 5 environmental factors: pure or
fresh air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness, and light, especially sunlight
PEPLAU'S INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS MODEL - answer✔existence of a therapeutic
relationship betw the nurse and the client. 4 phases: orientation, identification, exploitation, and
resolution
, ©THEBRIGHTSTARS 2024
Henderson's definition of nursing - answer✔nurse is concerned w/ both healthy and ill.
emphasis on independence from, and interdependence w/, other health care disciplines is well
recognized. Nurses role= assisting sick or healthy individuals independence in meeting 14
fundamental needs.
Rogers' science of unitary human beings - answer✔person=irreducible whole, the whole being
greater than the sum of its parts. humans=dynamic energy fields in continuous exchange w/
environmental fields. 4D.
Orem's general theory of nursing* - answer✔based on 4 concepts: self-care, self-care agency,
self-care requisites(needs), and therapeutic self-care demand
King's goal attainment theory - answer✔relationship of personal systems (individuals),
interpersonal systems (groups such as nurse-client), and social systems (education, health care,
etc)
Neuman's systems model* - answer✔based on the individual's relationship to stress, the
reaction to it, and reconstitution factors that are dynamic in nature. reconstitution is the state of
adaptation to stressors (atom model) intra=infection, inter=unrealistic role expectations, extra=$
concerns
Roy's adaptation model - answer✔the process and outcome whereby the thinking and feeling
person uses conscious awareness and choice to create human and environmental integration. 4
modes: physiological, self-concept, role function mode, and interdependence mode.
Leininger's cultural care diversity and universality theory - answer✔human caring varies
among cultures in its expressions, processes, and patterns. it is largely culturally derived. focuses
on what is univeral among cultures and what varies.
Watson's human caring theory - answer✔caring=unifying focus for practice. carative
factors=clinical caritas processes (10 of them)
Parse's human becoming theory - answer✔3 assumptions about human becoming focus on
meaning, rhythmicity, and cotranscendence
1. Ventilation
2. Pure Water
3. Efficient Drainage
4. Cleanliness
5. Light
Also: Noise, Warmth and Diet - answer✔List 5 Environmental theory of Nightingale
