Research, Theory, and Practice Nursing Cycle

Research, Theory, and Practice Cycle Discussion

Research, practice and theory interrelate with each other in nursing. Theory plays a major role in guiding practice. Theory is used in nursing to contribute insights regarding practice situations via goals provision for intervention, diagnosis, and assessment. Similarly nursing theory is shaped through practice. Theory makes practice more effective and efficient, and the definitive advantage of application of theory in nursing is the client care improvement. Research on the other hand modifies and validates theory. Theories in nursing inspire nurse scientists to explore important problems in the nursing field (Parker & Smith, 2010). This results to the possibility for increase in nursing knowledge development. Theories can be employed to create various generalizations to elaborate association among variables.

Read also Unpleasant Symptoms Theory – Middle Range Nursing Theory Review

Read also Self-Care Deficit Theory by Dorothea E. Orem – Nursing Theory Analysis Paper

However, when empirically evaluated, the research results can be employed to support, disprove, modify, or verify a theoretical proposition. Similarly, research act as the key to discipline development. Middle practice and range theories might be tested in practice via clinical research. If personal practitioners are to advance their expertise, they have to take part in research. This demonstrates the cyclic relation between practice, theory, and research. Being a cyclic relation, individuals can enter the cycle at any stage.

Read also Legal and Ethical Aspects in Nursing Practice

Read also How Implementation of Medication Safety Promotes Evidence Based Nursing Practice

This means, a nurse can start with a theory, test it through research and practice it based on the result. Similarly, a nurse can start with a practice, develop a theory out of that practice and conduct a research to test and prove the theory. Similarly, a nurse may start with a condition that need to be research, and the research develop results that define a certain practice which can later be used in the development of a theory. Therefore, support experts claim that nursing is a cycle of theory, practice and research and that the cycle entry can be made at any point (McEwen & Wills, 2014).

Scroll to Top