Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Over the years, nursing has incorporated theories from non-nursing sources, including theories of
systems, human needs, change, problem solving, and decision making.
Barnum defines theory as “a construct that accounts for or organizes some phenomenon. A nursing
theory, then, describes or explains nursing.”
With the formulation of different theories, concepts, and ideas in nursing it:
• It guides nurses in their practice knowing what is nursing and what is not nursing.
• It helps in the formulations of standards, policies and laws.
• It will help the people to understand the competencies and professional accountability of
nurses.
• It will help define the role of the nurse in the multidisciplinary health care team.
Nurses have developed various theories that provide different explanations of the nursing
discipline. All theories, however, share four central concepts: Person, refers to all human beings. People
are the recipients of nursing care; they include individuals, families, communities, and groups.
Environment includes factors that affect individuals internally and externally. It means not only in the
everyday surroundings but all setting where nursing care is provided. Health generally addresses the
person’s state of well-being. The concept of Nursing is central to all nursing theories. Definitions of
nursing describe what nursing is, what nurses do, and how nurses interact with clients. Most nursing
theories address each of the four central concepts implicitly or explicitly.