Non-Nursing Theory
Non-Nursing theories can be used along with nursing theories. Choosing a hierarchy for
the following theories was a challenge. Each one had good evidence for why it should be first. I
would start wi
...
Non-Nursing Theory
Non-Nursing theories can be used along with nursing theories. Choosing a hierarchy for
the following theories was a challenge. Each one had good evidence for why it should be first. I
would start with Maslow’s Hierarchy, second Chaos Theory, Systems, Healthy Work
environment, Quality Improvement, Change, and Lastly Empowerment.
I believe Maslow’s Hierarchy would be most significant theory. Maslow proposed that
healthy people have a certain number of needs and that these needs are arranged in a hierarchy
(Burton, 2012). His theory impacts healthcare service daily. As nurses we need to understand
where our patients are placed on this hierarchy. Their basic needs such as, air, food, housing,
must be met before they can progress up the pyramid to deal with medical needs. Everything
else is secondary. If patients are focused on their children, or working to pay the rent and buy
groceries for their family, their health is the last priority. Through his theory, we find a better
understanding of a person’s behavior that allows us to care for our patients (Koltko-Rivera,
2006). The Healthy work environment goes along with Maslow’s Hierarchy theory.
Chaos theory is what mathematicians call a non-linear phenomenon, where small effects
do not automatically have small consequences (Matthews, 2009). One would think with a name
like Chaos, it would mean everything is just totally out of control, but just the opposite is true.
Chaos Theory seems to have been named because seemingly insignificant small changes can
have major almost chaotic reactions. This theory can give us the tools to better predict the
outcome of things which are often neither totally random, nor totally predictable, even in
nursing. I had a patient who was hospitalized for thyroid storm because she was self-medicating.
When I first saw her, her chief complaint was fatigue.
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