NURS 600: Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice - Midterm
Exam 2026 |Maryville
1. Which of the following is considered the core of the nursing metaparadigm?
A. Person, Health, Environment, and Nursing
B. Hospital, Clinic, Community, and Health
C. Diagnosis, Treatment, Evaluation, and Research
D. Physiology, Psychology, Sociology, and Spirit
Answer: A
Rationale: The nursing metaparadigm consists of four global concepts: Person, Health,
Environment, and Nursing, which identify the phenomena of interest to the discipline.
2. Which nursing theorist is primarily associated with the ‘Environmental
Theory’?
A. Dorothea Orem
B. Florence Nightingale
C. Jean Watson
D. Martha Rogers
Answer: B
Rationale: Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory focused on the manipulation of
the physical environment as a major component of nursing care to facilitate the body’s
reparative processes.
,3. What is the primary focus of Hildegard Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal
Relations?
A. System stability
B. Self-care agency
C. Cultural competence
D. The nurse-patient relationship
Answer: D
Rationale: Peplau’s theory emphasizes the importance of the nurse-patient relationship as
a therapeutic process involving specific phases: orientation, identification, exploitation, and
resolution.
4. According to Dorothea Orem, when is nursing care required?
A. When the patient is unable to pay for medical services
B. Only in acute care settings
C. When there is a self-care deficit
D. When a physician orders specific interventions
Answer: C
Rationale: Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory posits that nursing is required when an
adult is incapable or limited in the provision of continuous effective self-care.
5. Which type of theory is most restrictive in its scope and focuses on a specific
population or practice area?
A. Grand Theory
B. Practice Theory
C. Meta-theory
D. Middle-range Theory
Answer: B
Rationale: Practice theories (also called situation-specific theories) are the most narrow in
scope and provide specific directions for nursing interventions in particular situations.
, 6. Martha Rogers’ Science of Unitary Human Beings views the person as:
A. A collection of biological systems
B. A patient with specific medical deficits
C. A social being striving for adaptation
D. An irreducible, pan-dimensional energy field
Answer: D
Rationale: Rogers’ theory conceptualizes humans as irreducible, pan-dimensional energy
fields integral with the environmental energy field.
7. In the Roy Adaptation Model, what is the goal of nursing?
A. To cure the underlying disease
B. To manage hospital resources effectively
C. To provide spiritual guidance
D. To promote adaptation in four modes
Answer: D
Rationale: Sister Callista Roy’s model focuses on promoting adaptation in four modes:
physiological-physical, self-concept-group identity, role function, and interdependence.
8. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring focuses on which of the following?
A. The 10 Caritas Processes
B. Mechanical efficiency in nursing tasks
C. Energy field manipulation
D. Technological competency
Answer: A
Rationale: Watson’s theory is centered on the ‘Caritas Processes’ (formerly carative
factors), which emphasize the spiritual and transpersonal dimensions of caring.
Exam 2026 |Maryville
1. Which of the following is considered the core of the nursing metaparadigm?
A. Person, Health, Environment, and Nursing
B. Hospital, Clinic, Community, and Health
C. Diagnosis, Treatment, Evaluation, and Research
D. Physiology, Psychology, Sociology, and Spirit
Answer: A
Rationale: The nursing metaparadigm consists of four global concepts: Person, Health,
Environment, and Nursing, which identify the phenomena of interest to the discipline.
2. Which nursing theorist is primarily associated with the ‘Environmental
Theory’?
A. Dorothea Orem
B. Florence Nightingale
C. Jean Watson
D. Martha Rogers
Answer: B
Rationale: Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory focused on the manipulation of
the physical environment as a major component of nursing care to facilitate the body’s
reparative processes.
,3. What is the primary focus of Hildegard Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal
Relations?
A. System stability
B. Self-care agency
C. Cultural competence
D. The nurse-patient relationship
Answer: D
Rationale: Peplau’s theory emphasizes the importance of the nurse-patient relationship as
a therapeutic process involving specific phases: orientation, identification, exploitation, and
resolution.
4. According to Dorothea Orem, when is nursing care required?
A. When the patient is unable to pay for medical services
B. Only in acute care settings
C. When there is a self-care deficit
D. When a physician orders specific interventions
Answer: C
Rationale: Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory posits that nursing is required when an
adult is incapable or limited in the provision of continuous effective self-care.
5. Which type of theory is most restrictive in its scope and focuses on a specific
population or practice area?
A. Grand Theory
B. Practice Theory
C. Meta-theory
D. Middle-range Theory
Answer: B
Rationale: Practice theories (also called situation-specific theories) are the most narrow in
scope and provide specific directions for nursing interventions in particular situations.
, 6. Martha Rogers’ Science of Unitary Human Beings views the person as:
A. A collection of biological systems
B. A patient with specific medical deficits
C. A social being striving for adaptation
D. An irreducible, pan-dimensional energy field
Answer: D
Rationale: Rogers’ theory conceptualizes humans as irreducible, pan-dimensional energy
fields integral with the environmental energy field.
7. In the Roy Adaptation Model, what is the goal of nursing?
A. To cure the underlying disease
B. To manage hospital resources effectively
C. To provide spiritual guidance
D. To promote adaptation in four modes
Answer: D
Rationale: Sister Callista Roy’s model focuses on promoting adaptation in four modes:
physiological-physical, self-concept-group identity, role function, and interdependence.
8. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring focuses on which of the following?
A. The 10 Caritas Processes
B. Mechanical efficiency in nursing tasks
C. Energy field manipulation
D. Technological competency
Answer: A
Rationale: Watson’s theory is centered on the ‘Caritas Processes’ (formerly carative
factors), which emphasize the spiritual and transpersonal dimensions of caring.
