1919417

Table of Contents

Clinical theoryStudent’s NameInstitutionClinical TheoryNurse theories play a fundament role because they define the nursing practice to counter the challenges in medical practices. Theories are critical because they assist nurses in improving human conditions through understanding better ways to handle health issues. The nurse theories comprise interrelated concepts that are logical, which provide predictive perspective, as well as a systematic explanation of any arising phenomena in nursing. In the 21st century, individuals are living in a word where constant change is the norm; thus, there are many attempts to cope, as well as to adapt to the changes. Nurses are finding the means to respond to the changes and global health issues by applying theories. The nursing practice can only become knowledge-based through the application of a theory that integrates a situation-specific level, and a general unspecified level in clinical-related situations. The most applicable theory is the middle-range theory, which is applied in broad nursing situations. Middle-range theories advance the practice and nurses’ knowledge because their creation enhances the realization of the mission and goals in nursing. The middle-range theories advance nurses’ foundational, thus enhances quality care. The overall purpose of the nursing practice is to reduce pain, as well as the distress of patients, and to improve health outcomes. This theory lies between the grand and the situation-specific theories; thus, they are directed towards a specific intervention. They provide frameworks. Which assist in managing the experiences of the patients and how to respond to healthcare. The grand theories may be less preferred because they are mainly based on abstract concepts, thus lacking specific lacking operational definitions and specificity. These theories cannot be practically tested in nursing practice, thus limiting their application. On the contrary, the middle-range theories have a narrower scope, making them act as the bridge between the nursing practice and other theories. Although middle-range theories are narrow, they can be applied in broad situations in nursing since their propositions may be associative or casual in accordance with how they are being applied. Determining the most applicable theory in today’s society relies on the competencies required. Example of these competencies is having a global perspective on healthcare and nursing matters. The nurses’ ability to apply emerging technologies while providing healthcare to enhance preferred patient outcome is another competency required. According to Jacob (2018), there is a need for the nurses to go beyond their primary role of providing healthcare services and ensure that they are working towards managing individuals to ensure they achieve the strategic health goals required in today’s world. Such initiatives require the nurses to actively participate in those political processes that aid in addressing healthcare issues in the national, international, and local levels. This will assist in catering for the dynamic and chaotic healthcare system present nowadays. Middle-range theories have some broadness that allows them to incorporate everyday clinical practices, and at the same time, they are less abstract as compared to grand theory.Middle-range theory developed inductively from practice and this is an added advantage to its preference. This is because it is easy to combine this research with the existing theories derived from other disciplines and research and is easy to integrate (Riegel, Jaarsma, & Strömberg, 2012). Such knowledge helps nurses taking care of the patients, for instance, hypertensive patients since it would be easy to understand the concepts related to the patient. Through middle-range theory, it becomes easier for nurses to understand the ideas associated with the ability of the patients to be willing to change their lifestyles. Among those concepts are; understanding the attitudes as well as the beliefs regarding the health or the sickness of the patient. Whenever nurses use middle-range theory to assess patients’ attitudes and beliefs, it becomes easy for the nurse to come up with a plan for patient care (Drevenhorn, 2018). The middle range theory also aids in understanding a hypotensive patient’s personality traits and autonomy. Personal characteristics may display a person as conscientious, agreeable, open, or showing neuroticism. Whenever a nurse understands the personality of patients, it becomes easy to understand behavior patterns, thus eliminating the external stressors, and aggressiveness that may prevent positive response to treatment.The application of middle-range theories is more convenient in emerging disciplines because they tend to be readily operationalized. They are also easily applied in practice, as well as in research studies frameworks. This is because the middle range theories provide grounds for generating a hypothesis that is testable since they address particular situations and populations. According to an evaluation by a review committee on the middle range theory, it was identified that the theory has four distinct criteria, which makes it more applicable than other theories, for instance, it has internal consistency, it is significant, has parsimony, and it is testable (Peterson, and & Bredow, 2009). It is, therefore, evident that the differences between the grand theory and middle age are distinct.The Middle-range theory is composed of descriptive, predictive, and explanatory theories. The descriptive are the basic types, and they describe phenomena and names any common factors found in the observation of individuals, situations, groups, or events. The described commonalities are then categorized into mutually overlapping, exclusive, sequential, and hierarchical dimensions (Fawcett, 2005). These middle age descriptive theories use descriptive research to generate and test them. On the other hand, the middle range explanatory theories aid in specifying relationships between concepts. They ensure that it explains the extent to which ideas are related to each other. Correlational research is used to test and generate the explanatory theory. Eventually, there predictive theory, which goes beyond phenomenal explanation to prediction of precise relationships between concepts. It becomes clear to understand how changes in occurrences occur. This type of theory is generated, as well as tested through experimental research. ConclusionMiddle-range theories are the 21st-century theory of preference. This is because it is more focused on particular phenomena, thus having a narrower scope as compared to the grand theories. The middle-range theory is also highly preferred because it acts as a bridge between nursing practices and the grand theories. Thus, the theories are practical enhancing operationalization in practice. The middle-range theories are applied in different nursing practices, making them to be more preferred. The theories are easy to test practically are preferred in research, unlike the grand theories, which are based on abstract concepts, thus making them impossible to be practically tested. Therefore, the middle-range theories are still the most preferred theories in the 21st -century. ReferencesDrevenhorn, E. (2018). A Proposed Middle-Range Theory of Nursing in Hypertension Care. International journal of hypertension, 2018.Fawcett, J. (2005). Middle range nursing theories are necessary for the advancement of the discipline. Aquichan, 5(1), 32-43.Jacob, S. R. (2018). Theories of Nursing Practice. Contemporary Nursing E-Book: Issues, Trends, & Management, 75.Peterson, S. J., & Bredow, T. S. (Eds.). (2009). Middle range theories: Application to nursing research. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Riegel, B., Jaarsma, T., & Strömberg, A. (2012). A middle-range theory of self-care of chronic illness. Advances in Nursing Science, 35(3), 194-204.