Applying Nursing Theory to Guide Leadership
Applying Nursing Theory to Guide Leadership
Nurse leaders are faced with issues or problems on a daily basis that are often expected and sometimes unexpected. It “comes with the territory” so to speak. If there were no issues to solve or hurdles to overcome the necessity of designating a leader would not seem quite as important. Nurse leaders can tackle issues that occur in their work environment using nursing theory to guide them. Nursing theory provides a framework that nurse leaders can use to implement interventions or changes to positively impact the staff they lead. This framework of the theory will set the standards for achieving the desired outcomes and is based on knowledge that is gleaned from practice and/or research. Grand, middle-range or practice theory can all be utilized by nurse leaders to guide them in practice, however, depending on the circumstances, a middle-range theory may be better than a grand theory in certain situations and vice versa. In very specific instances in which a clearly defined issue in practice is noted a practice theory may be the best choice of a nursing theory to use to address the issue. For the purpose of this paper Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort, a middle range theory will be used as the guiding theory. This writer has not had the experience of directly applying a nursing theory to solve an issue in nursing practice.
Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort asserts that if one’s comfort can be increased by identifying and addressing the needs of the individuals in a particular practice setting this will promote or encourage Health Seeking Behaviors (HSB) (www.thecomfortline.com). Increased comfort is the relief, ease or transcendence in four contexts (physical, pyschospiritual, environment and social). This paper will present the issue of nurse turnover in an organization and strategies from Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort will be developed to help nurse leaders address this problem. This will be done by applying concepts and
Nurse leaders are faced with issues or problems on a daily basis that are often expected and sometimes unexpected. It “comes with the territory” so to speak. If there were no issues to solve or hurdles to overcome the necessity of designating a leader would not seem quite as important. Nurse leaders can tackle issues that occur in their work environment using nursing theory to guide them. Nursing theory provides a framework that nurse leaders can use to implement interventions or changes to positively impact the staff they lead. This framework of the theory will set the standards for achieving the desired outcomes and is based on knowledge that is gleaned from practice and/or research. Grand, middle-range or practice theory can all be utilized by nurse leaders to guide them in practice, however, depending on the circumstances, a middle-range theory may be better than a grand theory in certain situations and vice versa. In very specific instances in which a clearly defined issue in practice is noted a practice theory may be the best choice of a nursing theory to use to address the issue. For the purpose of this paper Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort, a middle range theory will be used as the guiding theory. This writer has not had the experience of directly applying a nursing theory to solve an issue in nursing practice.
Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort asserts that if one’s comfort can be increased by identifying and addressing the needs of the individuals in a particular practice setting this will promote or encourage Health Seeking Behaviors (HSB) (www.thecomfortline.com). Increased comfort is the relief, ease or transcendence in four contexts (physical, pyschospiritual, environment and social). This paper will present the issue of nurse turnover in an organization and strategies from Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort will be developed to help nurse leaders address this problem. This will be done by applying concepts and