“Nursing theory is a set of concepts and principles that define the scientific basis of the nursing profession.” (Iskandarani, Al Hammadi, and Al Gizani, 2012, 115). It provides the knowledge and understanding needed to provide patients with evidence-based care. Theory provides organization to the practice and aids in developing critical thinking skills. The continuation of research helps to allow improvements to healthcare practice and patient outcomes. The evidenced-based practice would not be possible without it. Theory can help explain different events in nursing by explaining nursing concepts, clarifying relationships, and predicting specific outcomes. Many researchers use some theories as a basis for their research ideas to improve health outcomes. Florence Nightingale was one of the first nursing theorists. She created the foundation and provided her ideas on nursing care. Most of her work focused on establishing the meaning of nursing and deciphering what was needed within the practice to allow it to improve the patients’ health effectively. This paper will describe Imogene King’s middle-range theory of goal attainment. The following topics will be explored: the importance of nursing theory, a summary of the goal attainment theory, and the nursing theory’s application to nurse practitioners.
Including theory in a master’s program is essential because it provides an understanding of the early development of principles and concepts that provide the basis of knowledge needed for any advanced practice career path. The Essentials of Master’s Education gives nine essential concepts that should be included in master’s education. The first eight essentials all include some theory as a sample of content that can be included in education to meet the standards of that essential. One example is Essential I, which involves a background in practice in science and humanities. One of the sample content examples listed under this category was theories in bioethics cha, OS theory, and complexity science. (AACN, 2011). Iskandarani, Al Hammadi, and Al Gizani (2012) explained that “Nursing theories enhance students’ understanding of the principles, values, and meanings of the nursing profession.” (Iskandarani, Al Hammadi, & Al Gizani, 2012, p115).
Theories are helpful in nursing because they provide essential knowledge and help nurses understand their role in healthcare. “It also supports nurses in caring for clients holistically in assessing, planning, and implementing professionally.” (Iskandarani, Al Hammadi, and Al Gizani, 2012, p 116). Nursing theory helps to explain why nurses do what they do. It provides structure to the practice and clarification on treatment and possible outcomes and guides research. Nursing theories can help separate nursing from other professions because nursing focuses mainly on care and outcomes. Since nurses primarily create the theories, the content will mainly focus on concepts pertaining to nursing. Other health professions have theories that focus on the patient but may not consider holistic views on patient care or outcomes. One example is to compare them to medical theories aiming to diagnose and treat the patient; nursing theories aim more at caring for the patient and assisting them with improving their health outcome. One concern with implementing theory into nursing practice is how frequently theories are modified. The healthcare profession changes frequently. New research is always added, so the theories accepted into practice may need to be modified periodically to reflect new research and evidence to base practice on. If there is no modification of theories, nurses risk not practicing effectively enough to provide quality care based on current evidence from research.
“Dr. Imogene King developed King’s theory of goal attainment in 1981 to describe the interpersonal relationship systems in which a person develops and grows to accomplish personal life goals.” (Schubs, 2016). It is classified as a middle-range theory and was developed based on her conceptual model, which contained three interacting systems: personal, interpersonal, and social. (Goal Attainment, 2016). The concepts included in the personal system are perception, self, growth and development, body image, space, and time. (“Goal Attainment”, 2016). The interpersonal system covers the concepts of interaction, communication, transaction, role, and stress. (“Goal Attainment”, 2016). The social system concepts are organization, authority, power, status, and decision-making. (“Goal Attainment”), 2016).
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