Importance of Theory: Guidelines

PURPOSE

The purpose of this assignment is to a) identify a nursing theory, b) analyze the importance of the selected theory to the nursing profession, c) summarize key concepts and relationships among the concepts of the selected nursing theory, d) present views of the selected theory on areas of specialization, and e) communicate ideas in a clear, succinct, and scholarly manner.

COURSE OUTCOMES

Through this assignment, the student will demonstrate the ability to:
- (CO#1) Analyze theories from nursing and relevant fields with respect to their components, relationships among the components, logic of the propositions, comprehensiveness, and utility to advanced nursing. (PO1)
- (CO#3) Communicate the analysis of and proposed strategies for the use of a theory in nursing practice. (PO3, 7, 10)
- (CO#4) Demonstrate logical and creative thinking in the analysis and application of a theory to nursing practice. (PO4, 7)

REQUIREMENTS

Description of the Assignment

This assignment focuses on the importance of nursing theory within the profession. Selecting one nursing theory (non-nursing theories are not allowed), the nursing theory will be presented by identifying the key concepts present within the theory. The selected nursing theory will then be applied to ONE of the following professional nursing practice areas:

- Education (e.g. undergraduate, staff development, etc.)
- Leadership (e.g. nurse executive, manager, leader, etc.)
- Informatics (e.g. data management, etc.)
- Healthcare policy (e.g. application to local, state, national, or global healthcare concerns, etc.)
- Nurse practitioner

Criteria for Content

1. Introduction:
The introduction requires the following information.
- Statements about nursing theory in general
- Identification of the ONE nursing theory (non-nursing theories are not allowed) selected by the student to be used within this assignment. The specific selected nursing theory may be from any of the three categories of nursing theory (i.e. grand, middle-range, or practice), but must be a specific nursing theory (i.e. Orem, Roy, Benner, etc.); a category may not be used.
- Identification of the sections of the paper.
- References from nursing literature are required.

2. Importance of Nursing Theory:

This section requires the following information.
- Present an analysis of the importance of nursing theory, in general, to the nursing profession. Each of the following questions are to be answered.
o Why should the study of nursing theory be included in a master's program?
o How is nursing theory useful to the nursing profession?
o How can nursing theory be used to separate the nursing profession from other healthcare professions?
o What would be ONE concern regarding the use of nursing theory within the profession?
- References from nursing literature are required.

3. Summary of Selected Nursing Theory:
This section requires the following information.
- Present the name and author of the selected nursing theory (bibliographic and historical information about the theory or theorist is NOT included). Identify when the nursing theory was initially published and the latest edition of the selected nursing theory.
- Provide a summary of the key concepts contained within the selected nursing theory.
- Provide a detailed description of how this nursing theory addresses each of the metaparadigms/ concepts (person, health, environment, and nursing profession) associated with nursing.
- Identify why this nursing theory selected and its potential use within the student's selected Master's track (i.e. education, leadership, informatics, healthcare policy, or nurse practitioner)
- References from nursing literature are required.

4. Application of Specific Nursing Theory to Selected Professional Nursing Practice area:
This section includes the following elements:
- Present a discussion of how the selected nursing theory defines and explains one of the following professional nursing practice areas:
o Education (e.g. undergraduate, staff development, etc.)
o Leadership (e.g. nurse executive, manager, leader, etc.)
o Informatics (e.g. data management, etc.)
o Healthcare policy (e.g. application to local, state, national, or global healthcare concerns, etc.)
o Nurse practitioner
- Present 2 (two) examples illustrating the above information. Professional examples come from a student's own practice experiences or from the scholarly literature. If the example is from the student's experience, identify this as the source by using the first person in describing the example.
- Keep each example succinct (about 1 - 3 paragraphs).
- References from nursing literature are required.

5. Conclusion:
This section includes the following elements:
- Summarizes presented information regarding theory in general and its use within the nursing profession
- Summarizes the selected nursing theory.
- Presents self-reflection regarding what was learned from writing this assignment.

Criteria for Format and Special Instructions

1. A nursing theory was used.

2. This assignment must be submitted to TurnItInTM, as required by the TurnItInTM policy. A Similarity Index of "blue" or "green" must be obtained. A score in the blue or green range indicates a similarity of less than 24% which is the benchmark for CCN graduate nursing students. Any other level of similarity index level requires the student to revise the assignment before the due date and time. To allow sufficient time for revision, early submission of the assignment to TurnItInTM is highly encouraged. The final submission will be graded by faculty. If a TurnitinTM report indicates that plagiarism has occurred, the Academic Integrity policy will be followed.

3. A minimum of 4 (four) scholarly references must be used. A dictionary, required textbooks for this course, and Chamberlain College of Nursing lesson information may NOT be used as scholarly references for this assignment. References are current - within a 5-year time frame unless a valid rationale is provided and the instructor has approved them. For additional information regarding scholarly resources, please see "What is a scholarly source?" located in the Course Resource tab. Information from .com websites may be incorrect.

4. Title page, running head, body of paper, and reference page must follow APA guidelines as found in the 6th edition of the manual. This includes the use of headings for each section of the paper except for the introduction where no heading is used.

5. The paper (excluding the title page and reference page) should be at least 5, but no more than 7 pages. Points will be lost for not meeting these length requirements.

6. Ideas and information that come from scholarly sources must be cited and referenced correctly.

7. Rules of grammar, spelling, word usage, and punctuation are followed and consistent with formal, scientific writing.