Title: Nursing Theories and the Practice of Nursing
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Content: Nursing Theories and the Practice of Nursing





CHAPTER 2: Nursing Theories and the Practice of Nursing Chapter 2
Nursing Theories and the Practice of Nursing
The nursing practice must be based on nursing theories. This is what makes the nursing discipline a profession. The nursing theories provide direction and guidance for structuring professional nursing practice, education, and research. It also differentiates the focus of nursing from other professions. They serve to guide assessment, intervention, and evaluation of nursing care. They provide a rationale for collecting reliable and valid data about the health status of clients, which are essential for effective decision making and implementation. They help to establish criteria to measure the quality of nursing care. They help build a common nursing terminology to use in communicating with other health professionals. Finally, nursing theories enhance the autonomy of nursing by defining its own independent functions.