Nursing Theory: A History
Before writing some actually nursing theories, let us first study the history of nursing theory and how important is a nursing theory in nursing practice.
Originally, the role of the nurse was to carry out the orders of a physician. Nursing theories that arose from this model of patient care were essentially biomedical and focused on treating diseases rather than patients. These theories allowed little variation in care based on a patient’s individual needs and abilities. The biomedical theories of nursing assume that all patients with the same illness have the same problems and require the same care. These theories do not take into account differences in patient knowledge and abilities due to socioeconomic, psychological or cultural differences.
Social models of nursing, by contrast, consider the patient from varying degrees of holistic viewpoints. They take into account differences among patients due to culture, economic and social status and other factors. One of the first nursing theorists, though her work is only considered a body of ‘nursing theory” in retrospect, was Florence Nightingale, who published her thoughts on nursing during the Crimean War in, Notes on Nursing: What it Is and What it Is Not, in 1859.
Nightingale’s beliefs about nursing have influenced the shape of the profession for well over 150 years. She was the first to view the nurse as more than a servant carrying out the orders of a physician, but rather as a caregiver in her own right, who could manipulate the environment and situation to influence the patient’s well-being. Since then, there have been many models of nursing proposed and accepted by various communities and types of nursing. The most familiar names in nursing theory include Madeleine Leininger, who brought concerns of recognizing cultural needs into nursing care, and Hildegard Peplau, who introduced the idea of nursing roles and the nurse-client relationship as major influences in quality of nursing care.
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