STRUCTURE &

ANALYSIS OF NURSING
KNOWLEDGE
Structure Level of Nursing Knowledge

1. Philosophies of Nursing
2. Conceptual Models of Nursing
3. Nursing Theories
Philosophies of Nursing (Metatheory)
 It set forth the general meaning of nursing and nursing
phenomena through reasoning and the logical
presentation of ideas.
 They are broad and address general ideas about nursing.
Because of their breadth, nursing philosophies contribute
to the discipline by providing direction, clarifying values
and forming a foundation for theory development
(Alligood, 2006).
 They are theoretical works that address one or more
metaparadigm concepts and are philosophical in nature.
They address questions such as the following (Alligood,
2005):
 What is nursing?
 What is the nature of human caring?
 What is the nature of nursing practice?
 What is the social purpose of nursing practice?
Conceptual Models of Nursing (Grand
Theories)
 Also called paradigms or frameworks.
 It is composed of abstract and general concepts and
propositions that provide a frame of reference for
members of the discipline. This frame of reference
determines how the world is viewed by the members of a
discipline and guide the members as they propose
questions and make observations relevant to the discipline
(Fawcett, 1944).
 It is a set of concepts and statements that integrate the
concepts into a meaningful configuration.
Nursing Theories
 It is a conceptualization of some aspect of reality (invented
or discovered) that pertains to nursing. The
conceptualization is articulated for the purpose of
describing, explaining, predicting or prescribing nursing
care (Meleis, 2007, p.41).
 They vary in scope and level of abstraction:
 Middle-range theory
 Moderately abstract, comprehensive, organized within a limited
scope and have a limited number of variables, which are testable
in a direct manner.
 Have a stronger relationship with research and practice.
 Are specific to nursing practice and specify the area of practice,
age range of the patient, nursing action or intervention, and
proposed outcome.
 It focus on concepts of interest to nurses: pain, empathy, grief,
self-esteem, hope, comfort, dignity and quality of life.
 ANALYSIS EVALUATION
• Historical evolution of the • Explicitness of
 Fawcett
theory assumption
(1989) distinguishes analysis and evaluation.
• Approach to model • Degree of
development comprehensiveness
• Content • Logical congruence
• Source of concern • Ability of the model to test
and generate hypothesis
• Contribute of the model to
nursing knowledge
Criteria in Evaluating a Theoretical Work according
to Chinn & Kramer (1991)

 Clarity
 Simplicity
 Generality
 Empirical Precision
 Derivable Consequences
 Semantics (study of the meaning
of language, symbols and logic)
and structure are considered
important.
 Questions to be asked:
 “Is the theory clearly stated?”
 “How clear is the theory?”
 “Is it easily understood?”
 Adequately comprehensive at a
level of abstraction to offer
direction however, it must have
as few concepts as possible
having simple relations to assist
clarity.
 Questions to be asked:
 “How simple is the theory?”
 The scope of concepts and goals within
the theory.
 Situation in which the theory is
applicable should be boundless. The
broader the scope, the greater its
significance.
 Questions to be asked:
 “How general is the theory?”
 “How broad is the scope of the theory
 The degree in which the defined
concepts are observable in actual
setting. It is in line with the testability
and ultimate use of the theory.
 Questions to be asked:
 “Is the theory testable?”
 “How accessible is the theory?
 It should lead itself to research testing which
would result to additional knowledge that would
guide practice.
 It should give direction to research and practice,
create new ideas, and ought to distinguish the
focus of nursing to other professions. It must
develop and guide practice.
 Questions to be asked:
 “How important is the theory?”
 “Does the theory have a significant
contribution to nursing knowledge?
Interdependence
of
Nursing Practice,  Observations in nursing practice, questions raised and
Nursing Theory conceptual models are formulated – leads to theory
& Nursing development and testing through research.
Research  Theory interacts with and guide nursing practice.
 Research validates and modifies theory, which then
changes nursing practice.