Writing Resources
Nursing Theory Tonia L Rossano Indian River State College The development of nursing theory is something that began many years ago has evolved greatly and still has much room to grow There are many types of theories such as grand nursing theories middle range theories and practice theories each theory is beneficial in different ways The development of nursing has been progressive over time with a multitude of contributors and shifting focus This paper will discuss the evolution of nursing theory different types of theory used in nursing and how theory is beneficial to the nursing practice Evolution of Nursing The stages of nursing theory development are the silent stage received knowledge subjective knowledge procedural knowledge constructed knowledge and currently integrated knowledge McEwen Wills 2014 Theory in nursing dates to as early as the 1850s with Florence Nightingale a time when nursing was first becoming a profession with standards and educational criteria to be met The time of Nightingale is in the silent stage a time where nursing education included scant theory McEwen Wills 2014 During the received knowledge stage of theory development university education was growing as opposed to the previous hospital apprenticeship training for nurses Books on research methods and explicit theories of nursing began to appear McEwen Wills 2014 p 30 The subjective knowledge stage was a time when leaders in nursing made efforts to define the purpose of nursing
