NURS 600: Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice - Week 2 Study
Guide 2026 |Maryville
1. Which of the following describes the ‘metaparadigm’ of nursing?
A. A set of theories used to guide clinical skills
B. The global concepts that identify the phenomena of central interest to a discipline
C. A specific research methodology used in nursing science
D. The administrative hierarchy of a hospital system
Answer: B
Rationale: The metaparadigm consists of the most abstract and general concepts that
define the discipline; for nursing, these are Person, Environment, Health, and Nursing.
2. In the nursing metaparadigm, the concept of ‘Environment’ refers to:
A. Only the physical room where a patient resides
B. The biological ecosystem of the planet
C. The internal and external surroundings that affect the client
D. The healthcare facility’s organizational chart
Answer: C
Rationale: Environment includes all conditions, circumstances, and influences
surrounding and affecting the development and behavior of persons.
,3. Florence Nightingale’s theory focused primarily on which aspect of the
metaparadigm?
A. Person
B. Health
C. Environment
D. Nursing
Answer: C
Rationale: Nightingale’s Environmental Theory emphasized that the nurse’s role is to put
the patient in the best condition for nature to act by manipulating the environment.
4. Which level of nursing theory is the most abstract and provides a general
framework for nursing practice?
A. Middle-range theory
B. Practice theory
C. Grand theory
D. Descriptive theory
Answer: C
Rationale: Grand theories are broad in scope, highly abstract, and require further
specification through research before they can be fully tested.
5. Carper’s ‘Ways of Knowing’ (1978) identified which four patterns of nursing
knowledge?
A. Research, Practice, Education, and Administration
B. Biology, Psychology, Sociology, and Ethics
C. Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, and Evaluation
D. Empirics, Esthetics, Personal Knowledge, and Ethics
Answer: D
Rationale: Barbara Carper identified these four fundamental patterns of knowing that are
essential for nursing practice.
, 6. The ‘Empirics’ pattern of knowing is primarily concerned with:
A. The art of nursing
B. Moral obligations
C. Individual therapeutic use of self
D. The science of nursing and factual descriptions
Answer: D
Rationale: Empirics refers to scientific competence and knowledge that is systematic,
objective, and verifiable.
7. Which pattern of knowing involves the ‘art of nursing’ and empathy?
A. Ethics
B. Empirics
C. Personal Knowledge
D. Esthetics
Answer: D
Rationale: Esthetics is the expressive, creative, and empathic dimension of nursing
knowledge.
8. Personal knowledge in nursing refers to:
A. Knowledge of the patient’s medical history
B. Knowing, encountering, and actualizing the concrete, individual self
C. Confidential data stored in personnel files
D. The nurse’s education level
Answer: B
Rationale: Personal knowledge is the most difficult to master; it involves the inner
experience of becoming a whole, aware, and authentic person.
Guide 2026 |Maryville
1. Which of the following describes the ‘metaparadigm’ of nursing?
A. A set of theories used to guide clinical skills
B. The global concepts that identify the phenomena of central interest to a discipline
C. A specific research methodology used in nursing science
D. The administrative hierarchy of a hospital system
Answer: B
Rationale: The metaparadigm consists of the most abstract and general concepts that
define the discipline; for nursing, these are Person, Environment, Health, and Nursing.
2. In the nursing metaparadigm, the concept of ‘Environment’ refers to:
A. Only the physical room where a patient resides
B. The biological ecosystem of the planet
C. The internal and external surroundings that affect the client
D. The healthcare facility’s organizational chart
Answer: C
Rationale: Environment includes all conditions, circumstances, and influences
surrounding and affecting the development and behavior of persons.
,3. Florence Nightingale’s theory focused primarily on which aspect of the
metaparadigm?
A. Person
B. Health
C. Environment
D. Nursing
Answer: C
Rationale: Nightingale’s Environmental Theory emphasized that the nurse’s role is to put
the patient in the best condition for nature to act by manipulating the environment.
4. Which level of nursing theory is the most abstract and provides a general
framework for nursing practice?
A. Middle-range theory
B. Practice theory
C. Grand theory
D. Descriptive theory
Answer: C
Rationale: Grand theories are broad in scope, highly abstract, and require further
specification through research before they can be fully tested.
5. Carper’s ‘Ways of Knowing’ (1978) identified which four patterns of nursing
knowledge?
A. Research, Practice, Education, and Administration
B. Biology, Psychology, Sociology, and Ethics
C. Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, and Evaluation
D. Empirics, Esthetics, Personal Knowledge, and Ethics
Answer: D
Rationale: Barbara Carper identified these four fundamental patterns of knowing that are
essential for nursing practice.
, 6. The ‘Empirics’ pattern of knowing is primarily concerned with:
A. The art of nursing
B. Moral obligations
C. Individual therapeutic use of self
D. The science of nursing and factual descriptions
Answer: D
Rationale: Empirics refers to scientific competence and knowledge that is systematic,
objective, and verifiable.
7. Which pattern of knowing involves the ‘art of nursing’ and empathy?
A. Ethics
B. Empirics
C. Personal Knowledge
D. Esthetics
Answer: D
Rationale: Esthetics is the expressive, creative, and empathic dimension of nursing
knowledge.
8. Personal knowledge in nursing refers to:
A. Knowledge of the patient’s medical history
B. Knowing, encountering, and actualizing the concrete, individual self
C. Confidential data stored in personnel files
D. The nurse’s education level
Answer: B
Rationale: Personal knowledge is the most difficult to master; it involves the inner
experience of becoming a whole, aware, and authentic person.
