Week 1 Discussion
RE: Discussion Prompt
Nursing practice requires research and theory on issues concerning improving patient care and nursing education at large. The basic types of theories are descriptive theories, explanatory theories, prescriptive theories, and predictive theories.
Descriptive theories are the first level of theory development, and they speculate on why particular phenomenon happens as well as the consequences of the event. In nursing, descriptive theories can be used to describe patient assessments. Descriptive theories can either be naming theories (explain characteristics or dimensions of a phenomenon) or classification theories (distinguishes a phenomena’s existence from its properties). For instance, the patient suffers from obesity due to the lack of physical activities and unhealthy eating. The patient spends most of the time playing video games and watching TV. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Prescriptive theories, on the other hand, refer to specific phenomena that can be easily defined and have a narrow scope hence contain fewer concepts (Pisano, 2016). Also known as practice theories, these theories can explain particular nursing elements as well as address and predict specific nursing interventions. Prescription theories can also improve decision making since it relies on the integration of understanding of values, attitudes, and biases from descriptive theories.
Explanatory theories identify how components and properties relate together as well as how the particular discipline functions. These types of theories allow generalizations to be made and improves their understanding. However, since context-specific factors might also have significance, it is vital to consider the conditions under which any observable relations among properties are valid. Explanatory theories can be used in nursing to promote family-centered nursing care by understanding how the family component relates to healthcare hence implementing healthy communication, love, and respect while interacting with them.
Predictive theories (situation-relating theories) are essential in calculating the relations between properties and how they happen. Predictive theories provide further research on predictive outcomes of other established but lesser theories. Descriptive theories can either be termed as naming theories or classification theories.
References
Pisano, G. P. (2016). Towards a Prescriptive Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategic Choice. Learning, and Competition. doi, 10.