Implementing Theory in Practice Essay

Consider you are attempting to convey the need for adoption of a theory or model in your current environment. How would you go about justifying this to your peers and to nursing leadership? Refer to Chapter 19 in Smith, M. C. & Parker, M.E. (2015) Nursing theories & nursing practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis

The key purpose of applying theories in the nursing profession is to positively improve practice by directly and indirectly influencing the quality of life and health of patients. This implies that the relationship between practice and theory is reciprocal such that, while practice is the basis for developing nursing theory, in practice, nursing theory must be validated (Smith & Parker, 2015).To justify the need for adopting a theory in my current environment, I will organize a focused group discussion during which nurses will be educated on the essence of integrating theory into practice with the following talking points. Implementing Theory in Practice Essay

• Increasing professional power- nurses increase their professional power when they utilize theoretical research such as evidence from systematic reviews in making clinical decisions and critical thinking. According to Nilsen (2015), when nurses utilize theories and evidence supported by theory to structure practice, it improves the quality of care and health outcomes.

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• Planned change- although there are several ways to implement change, the use of theories encourages planned change which is a collaborative, calculated, and purposeful effort to bring improvement with the help of a change agent.
• Structured implementation approach- numerous forces drive change in healthcare organizations such as increasing costs of care, shortages in the nursing workforce, advances in science, the need to promote the safety of staff and patients, as well as increasing patient satisfaction rates. However, there are complexities linked with transforming change plans into action such as ineffective communication, under-motivated staff, and inappropriate leadership. These complexities occasionally increase the likelihood of failure since change agents utilize an unstructured implementation approach. Nilsen (2015) emphasizes that it is necessary that nurses, change agents, and managers identify and use appropriate change theoretical models and theories as frameworks to implement, manage, and evaluate change.  Implementing Theory in Practice Essay

References

Nilsen, P. (2015). Making sense of implementation theories, models, and frameworks. Implementation Science, 10(1), 53.

Smith, M. C. & Parker, M.E. (2015). Nursing theories & nursing practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis. Implementing Theory in Practice Essay