¶ … Theory-Practice Gap
The development of nursing theory has followed the natural sciences paradigm which has been commonly referred to as the technical rationality model (Rolfe, 1993). Therefore, the term theory, in nursing is used in a general manner to refer to the systematic concepts, deductions, and definitions that are interrelated as to explain, describe, or predict interconnections and relationships. As with other sciences especially chemistry and physics, theory and research has been used in nursing as to provide or build a firm and established foundation knowledge in nursing. The foundation of research is normally phenomenon and the research findings are normally accepted with minimal if any questions. However, there are serious implications for these findings in actual field work because the natural sciences paradigm creates a difference between the researcher and the professional who works at the field level.
In nursing, this paradigm creates a scenario where theory is elevated above practice, there is a rift between theorists and practitioners, and practitioners are turned to mere implementers of theories they played no role in their development. For instance, theorists can develop a clinical model and after it is published; practitioners pick it up for application in clinical settings. Such a model is based on an assumption that people, are predictable as the case with an inanimate object. It is however important to note that, people cannot be balkanized into a single assumption, but rather, they can only be predicated based on statistics (Rolfe, 1993). As a result, such a model creates a dilemma in its applicability to real-life situations. This paper therefore is meant to address this theory-practice gap by offering suggest on strategies to overcome it. This will be done primarily through review of the available literature.
A reflection
In the nursing profession, the main stakeholders with regard to theory and practice are students, nurses, and teachers. Based on literature, the theory-practice gap has created a variety of challenges that face these groups. The first challenge for this issue is how the nursing course (theory) is taught to students and how the knowledge...
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