Why should the study of nursing theory be included in a master’s program?

Summarizes presented information regarding theory in general and its use within the nursing profession

Assignment Criteria Points % Description
Introduction 6 6 This section includes:

· Statements about nursing theory in general

· Identification of the ONE nursing theory (non-nursing theories are not allowed) selected by the student to be used within this assignment. The specific selected nursing theory may be from any of the three categories of nursing theory (i.e. grand, middle-range, or practice), but must be a specific nursing theory (i.e. Orem, Roy, Benner, etc.); a category may not be used.

· Identification of the sections of the paper.

· References from nursing literature are required.
Importance of Nursing Theory 20 20 This section requires the following information.

· Present an analysis of the importance of nursing theory, in general, to the nursing profession. Each of the following questions are to be answered.

o Why should the study of nursing theory be included in a master’s program?

o How is nursing theory useful to the nursing profession?

o How can nursing theory be used to separate the nursing profession from other healthcare professions?

o What would be ONE concern regarding the use of nursing theory within the profession?

· References from nursing literature are required.
Summary of Selected Nursing Theory 20 20 This section requires the following information.

· Present the name and author of the selected nursing theory (bibliographic and historical information about the theory or theorist is NOT included). Identify when the nursing theory was initially published and the latest edition of the selected nursing theory.

· Provide a summary of the key concepts contained within the selected nursing theory.

· A description of how this theory addresses each of the metaparadigms/concepts (person, health, environment, and nursing profession) associated with nursing.

· Identify why this nursing theory selected and its potential use within the student’s selected Master’s track (i.e. education, leadership, informatics, healthcare policy, or nurse practitioner)

References from nursing literature are required.

Application of Specific Nursing Theory to Selected Professional Nursing Practice area

25 25 This section includes the following elements:

· Present a discussion of how the selected nursing theory defines and explains one of the following professional nursing practice areas:

o Education (e.g. undergraduate, staff development, etc.)

o Leadership (e.g. nurse executive, manager, leader, etc.)

o Informatics (e.g. data management, etc.)

o Healthcare policy (e.g. application to local, state, national, or global healthcare concerns, etc.)

o Nurse practitioner

· Present 2 (two) examples illustrating the above information. Professional examples may come from a student’s own practice experiences or from the scholarly literature. Keep each example succinct (about 1 – 3 paragraphs). If the example is from the student’s experience, identify this as the source by using the first person in describing the example.

References from nursing literature are required.

Conclusion 6 6 This section includes the following elements:

· Summarizes presented information regarding theory in general and its use within the nursing profession

· Summarizes the selected nursing theory.

· Presents self-reflection regarding what was learned from writing this assignment.
Paper Specifications 5 5 · A nursing theory was used.

· A Similarity Index of “blue” or “green” was achieved.

· A minimum of 4 (four) scholarly nursing references were used.

· A dictionary, required textbooks for this course and lesson information were not used as scholarly references.

· The paper (excluding the title page and reference page) was at least 5 pages, but no more than 7 pages.

· References are current – within a 5-year time frame unless a valid rationale is provided and the instructor has approved them.
APA Format 8 8 Title page, running head, body of paper, and reference page must follow APA guidelines as found in the 6th edition of the manual. This includes the use of headings for each section or topic of the paper [one deduction for each type of APA style error].
Citations in Text 5 5 Ideas, and information that come from readings must be cited and referenced correctly. Permission to use references older than 5 years must be obtained from faculty.
Writing Mechanics 5 5 Rules of grammar, spelling, word usage, and punctuation are followed and consistent with formal written work as found in the 6th edition of the APA manual.
Total 100 100 A quality assignment will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.