Comparing Middle Range Nursing Theories

The two middle range nursing theories that we are going to compare are Peplau’s Interpersonal Relations Theory and Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. Peplau’s Interpersonal Relations Theory is a middle range descriptive theory because it classifies a phenomenon and encompasses only one concept. According to this theory, the purpose of nursing is to assist others in identifying their felt difficulties and nurses are required to apply the principles of human relations to the problems that will arise at all levels of experience. Nursing is considered to be a therapeutic interpersonal process. This theory focuses on the relationship between the nurse and the patient and it encourages interaction between the two in order to have positive outcomes for the patient. The theory focuses on the therapeutic relationship by the use of problem-solving techniques for the nurse and the patient. By the two collaborating it is easier to identify the problem and offer solutions that are agreeable to the patient. With continuous communication, it is possible to identify what is working and what should be changed in order to meet the needs of the patient.
Watson’s Theory of Human Caring is a middle range explanatory theory because it specifies relations between two or more concepts. This theory focuses on health promotion and the treatment of diseases. Caring has been shown to be more effective in nursing practice than any medicinal cure. Watson's theory recognizes that human beings have a hierarchy of needs and by caring one is offering support for the needs of the patient (Arslan?Özkan, Okumu?, & Bulduko?lu, 2014). When nurses care for their patients they are more likely to understand the patients and have a professional relationship with the patient, which would make it easier for the nurses to identify when there is a problem with the patient. Caring also allows the patient to open up to the nurse and this can be beneficial during treatment. Using this theory, a healthcare facility can improve its practice and equip the facility in order to provide the client with holistic care.
Development of a Middle Range Theory
The theory being developed in the Theory of the Well-Being Supportive Physical Environment. This is middle range theory that is developed from an Inductive-Deductive Theory. The theory has been developed by following these phases (1) selection of concepts and their synthesis, (2) definition of relationships between concepts, (3) setting and testing hypotheses, and (4) presentation and verification of the theory (Elo, Kääriäinen, Isola, & Kyngäs, 2013). The phases have been split into two with the first two representing an inductive approach and the last two a deductive approach. The researchers conducted their study on elderly as they wanted to identify the meaning of well-being of the elderly. A qualitative approach was used to gather data. The researchers made use of interviews and they interviewed home-dwelling elderly people who were over 65 years of age. Concepts were formed by the merging of synonymous statements in order to form subconcepts. This is how the inductive approach to the theory development was conducted.
In the deductive approach, a hypothesis for testing the theory is set and tested. The hypotheses for testing this theory was the structures of the main concepts relating to the physical environment: (1) Northern environment, (2) pleasant physical environment, and (3) environment that enables safe activity can be indicated. The theory hypotheses were tested by operationalization of the concepts of the hypothetical models. The validity and reliability of the theory were relatively good. This ensures that the theory does achieve what was intended and it has been tested after being developed. Based on the findings of this study, further research can be conducted to further identify the effect of the environment on the elderly.
References
Arslan?Özkan, ?., Okumu?, H., & Bulduko?lu, K. (2014). A randomized controlled trial of the effects of nursing care based on Watson's Theory of Human Caring on distress, self?efficacy and adjustment in infertile women. Journal of advanced nursing, 70(8), 1801-1812.
Elo, S., Kääriäinen, M., Isola, A., & Kyngäs, H. (2013). Developing and testing a middle-range theory of the well-being supportive physical environment of home-dwelling elderly. The Scientific World Journal, 2013.