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Nursing Theory Comparison
AJ
West Coast University
NURS 500: Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice
Dr. Jody Lynn Kendrick
August 22, 2021
This study source was downloaded by 100000849044796 from CourseHero.com on 06-23-2022 13:56:17 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/108339219/Wk7-Nursing-Theory-Comparison-FDdocx/
, 2
Introduction
This paper will review Virginia Henderson’s grand nursing theory “The Principles and
Practice of Nursing”, and American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ middle range theory
“Synergy Model for Patient Care”. Its purpose is to discuss and compare each individual theory’s
background, philosophical underpinnings, major assumptions, concepts and relationships,
clinical applications, and the complexity of each. This paper will also discuss each theory’s
application to nursing practice and to my practice and experience.
Virginia Henderson’s “The Principles and Practice of Nursing” theory covers the four
metaparadigms of nursing: nurse, patient, health and environment. Virginia Henderson was
known as the nightingale of modern nursing. Her definition of nursing was, “the unique function
of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities
contributing to health or its recovery (or to a peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he
had the necessary strength, will or knowledge” (Independence, 2020).
The Synergy Model for patient care was developed by a panel of nurses of the American
Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) as a conceptual framework that aligns patient needs
with nurse competencies (McEwen & Willis, 2019, p. 233). It was first developed in 1996 as a
new framework for AACN’s certification programs and later shifted its assessment of nursing
skills to consistently match actual practice (American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, n.d.).
Background of the Theories
Virginia Henderson was educated by her family and at her uncle’s Army School of
Nursing at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C., where she received her Nursing diploma
(Independence, 2020). She later pursued her dreams of teaching where she became an instructor
at the Norfolk Protestant Hospital in Virginia (Independence, 2020). Henderson went on to
This study source was downloaded by 100000849044796 from CourseHero.com on 06-23-2022 13:56:17 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/108339219/Wk7-Nursing-Theory-Comparison-FDdocx/
Nursing Theory Comparison
AJ
West Coast University
NURS 500: Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice
Dr. Jody Lynn Kendrick
August 22, 2021
This study source was downloaded by 100000849044796 from CourseHero.com on 06-23-2022 13:56:17 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/108339219/Wk7-Nursing-Theory-Comparison-FDdocx/
, 2
Introduction
This paper will review Virginia Henderson’s grand nursing theory “The Principles and
Practice of Nursing”, and American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ middle range theory
“Synergy Model for Patient Care”. Its purpose is to discuss and compare each individual theory’s
background, philosophical underpinnings, major assumptions, concepts and relationships,
clinical applications, and the complexity of each. This paper will also discuss each theory’s
application to nursing practice and to my practice and experience.
Virginia Henderson’s “The Principles and Practice of Nursing” theory covers the four
metaparadigms of nursing: nurse, patient, health and environment. Virginia Henderson was
known as the nightingale of modern nursing. Her definition of nursing was, “the unique function
of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities
contributing to health or its recovery (or to a peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he
had the necessary strength, will or knowledge” (Independence, 2020).
The Synergy Model for patient care was developed by a panel of nurses of the American
Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) as a conceptual framework that aligns patient needs
with nurse competencies (McEwen & Willis, 2019, p. 233). It was first developed in 1996 as a
new framework for AACN’s certification programs and later shifted its assessment of nursing
skills to consistently match actual practice (American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, n.d.).
Background of the Theories
Virginia Henderson was educated by her family and at her uncle’s Army School of
Nursing at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C., where she received her Nursing diploma
(Independence, 2020). She later pursued her dreams of teaching where she became an instructor
at the Norfolk Protestant Hospital in Virginia (Independence, 2020). Henderson went on to
This study source was downloaded by 100000849044796 from CourseHero.com on 06-23-2022 13:56:17 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/108339219/Wk7-Nursing-Theory-Comparison-FDdocx/
