Title: The Importance of Nursing Theory in Nursing Education | Ohio University
Headings: The Importance of Nursing Theory in Nursing Education
The Importance of Nursing Theory in Nursing Education
The Importance of Nursing Theory for Nurse Education
A Look at Grand Nursing Theories
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Content: The Importance of Nursing Theory in Nursing Education | Ohio University
The Importance of Nursing Theory in Nursing Education
April 15, 2020
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Online Master of Science In Nursing
Nursing theory is at the heart of the nursing practice. The many different theories that now exist have been developed from scientific evidence and valid data to create frameworks and provide various strategies and approaches for patient care. But these theories are about much more than just big ideas — nursing theory helps to ensure that nursing carves out its own niche in the big, evolving world of healthcare providers. As Marlaine Smith and Marilyn Parker wrote in their book, Nursing Theories, and Nursing Practice, “Nursing theories … regardless of complexity or abstraction, reflect phenomena central to the discipline and should be used by nurses to frame their thinking, action, and being in the world. As guides, nursing theories are practical in nature and facilitate communication with those we serve, as well as with colleagues, students, and others practicing in health-related services.” Nursing theories can also be viewed as patterns to direct thinking about nursing. “All nurses are guided by some implicit or explicit theory or pattern of thinking as they care for their patients,” Parker and Smith wrote. “ Too often, this pattern of thinking is implicit and is colored by the lens of diseases, diagnoses, and treatments. This does not reflect practice from the disciplinary perspective of nursing. The major reason for the development and study of nursing theory is to improve nursing practice and, therefore, the health and quality of life of those we serve.”