Nursing theorist and practice

Nursing theorist and practice

Although researchers must be careful not to allow personal bias to influence their interpretation of study results, often the underlying assumptions that generate theory reflect the personal worldview of the theorist. As asked in the DQ, you are looking at the factors that may have influenced a particular theorist to view health or patient interactions in a certain way. Including values in theory is not necessarily a negative, especially in nursing, where theory is often based on observation of human behaviors. The values of nurse theorists are often altruistic and address the ethical principles of nursing, such as beneficence and nonmalfeasance. As you look at the social dynamics of the time, or the educational understanding of your selected nurse theorist, and understand how these influenced her thinking about the subject of the theory, consider the values you see. Do they align with nursing ethics? Are they still current? How do they align with the values of GCU, which incorporate a Christian worldview, the importance of tolerance, global citizenship and personal accountability? Do you think the values are a positive or a negative, related to how the theory could be used today