The emergence of Nursing Theory Sample Clauses

The emergence of Nursing Theory. In the first two decades following the second world war, nursing began to develop a knowledge base that was distinct from the medically orientated knowledge that had underpinned nurse education in the years beforehand. The development of nursing theory that was centred on nursing as a unique and discreet profession became evident through the work of nursing scholars such as Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx (1909-1999), Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx (1897-1996), Xxx Xxxx Xxxxxxx (1926- ) and Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxx (1926-1973). With a growing nursing workforce and the changes to the nurse’s role in the healthcare team, a need to organise and articulate nursing knowledge became imperative. Degree courses in nursing were becoming available (albeit at a limited number of universities) and the emergence of nursing as a discipline- distinct from medical sciences- coincided with the publication of a plethora of nursing theories that sought to provide an empirical basis for nursing knowledge (see Table 2-1). Prior to the publication of these seminal texts, nursing knowledge existed in many forms, but each shared a common core that the new theories attempted to explain. At the time, nursing was still allied to the medical sciences, which held authority over the care of the sick; nursing theories were developed as an attempt to assert the unique value and contribution of nursing (Xxxxx and Xxxxxx 1999). This unique knowledge was denoted by the focus on the patient as a person rather than as a medical condition or diagnosis. Furthermore, the interpersonal relationship that exists between nurse and patient became a central element of this emerging science of nursing. Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx had emphasised the importance of the nurse maintaining only the most limited of interactions with her patient and stated that “patients who are really ill, do not want to talk about themselves” (Nightingale 1898). However, the theories of nursing emerging in the 1950’s to 1990’s outline the importance of developing person-centred and individualised care that is developed out of active communication with the patient. In half a century, nursing had been transformed from a profession that was only concerned with the application of poultices, the administration of medicines, maintaining a light and sanitary environment (Nightingale, 1889), into a profession that was now also concerned with developing a deep understanding of the patient through advanced interpersonal skills and psychosocial assessment. The changes to the ro...