¶ … components contemporary nursing knowledge. The article include: • Concept triangulation • Metaparadigms • Philosophies • Conceptual models theory.
Nursing concept: The relational theory of nursing
According to the article "A theory of the relational work of nurses" by Daniela Terrizzi DeFrino from Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, because nursing has always been conceptualized as a 'caring' profession in a demeaning fashion, quite often some nurses are apt to deemphasize this aspect of their work. This is particularly true in the modern, time and cost-conscious healthcare environment, where the relational aspects of healthcare treatment are discounted. "The relational work exists but is, as a general rule, taken for granted as 'nice' and not valued as the skillful and effective process that it is. It is valued neither by nurses explicitly nor by management in general" (DeFrino 2010: 294). This article asks an important question: in the new world of healthcare, what is the role of the nurse?
DeFrino's article analyzes Fletcher, Jordan, and Miller's (2000) theory of the relational work of nurses in the context of a larger psychodynamic theory of the relational practices of women in the workplace. Even if more males are working as nurses, this does not discount the theory's relevance given that so much of preexisting nursing and conceptual literature has revolved around the idea of woman-as-nurse, woman-as-caregiver, and how a woman can simultaneously be a worker and a caregiver.
The theory suggests that women tend to use different coping strategies at work, and tend to behave in a more relational than...
Even in stereotypically male professions like engineering women tend to focus more on preserving one another's egos, upon mutually empowering strategies, creating teams, and less upon self and individualistic achievements (DeFrino 2010: 295-296). Relational strategies can often be confused with weakness and stereotypical femininity, because of current associations of strength with enclosed, clearly- defined ego barriers. Fletcher's theory was originally conceptualized to relate to all forms of female employment, but he noted it was especially relevant for nurses, given the degree to which nurses were forced to work with others, and to tend to others, as part of their profession. "Relational theory is an excellent window through which to view nursing expertise, power, and effectiveness ...There is not a theory in nursing that brings explicit acknowledgment of gender, relational practices, and workplace value together through which a fuller understanding of the dynamics of nurses' work functions" (DeFrino 2010: 297). Gender conceptions are often unspoken or only tacitly acknowledged in existing nursing theories, concepts, and metaparadigms. "The effectiveness of the relational practice, the benefits of professional satisfaction, the constraints of the current health care environment, the invisible work of nurses, and the disappeared achievements of nurses are all present in the literature. Fletcher's theory of relational work pulls it together" (DeFrino 2010: 297).
The theory of relational work of nurses has three assumptions. First, that "growth, achievement, and effectiveness" occurs only in a supportive and interconnected work environment; second…
