personal paradigm paper

LAMAR UNIVERSITY

JOANNE GAY DISHMAN DEPARTMENT OF NURSING

GRADUATE NURSING STUDIES

MSNC 5310 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

PERSONAL PARADIGM CASE PAPER & GRADING CRITERIA

This paper is your beginning effort to identify concepts from something familiar (your work

experiences). Paradigm cases are those care times and patients you will never forget because

something dramatic happened in your care for them that changed you inside or out.

Definition: A personal paradigm case is a clinical episode that alters one’s way of understanding

and perceiving future clinical situations. These cases stand out in the clinician’s mind: they are

reference points in their current clinical practice. They can easily be communicated if the lesson

is simple (describing how an error might occur or be prevented), but if the knowledge is more

complex and dependent upon many other instances or personal knowledge, it cannot be

translated to another clinician, unless the other clinician has similar personal knowledge.

Paradigm cases are exemplars that become part of the clinician’s perceptual lens and way of

knowing (Benner, 1984, pp. 296-297).

Assignment: Select two (2) paradigm cases from your past clinical experiences that made a

difference in how you practice nursing. The cases should have some commonalities or similar

themes. After both cases are selected and thought about, decide how these cases are alike and are

different (compare and contrast).

 Briefly describe each case.

 For each case, try to identify at least two phenomena/concept(s)

 Compare and contrast the cases: Identify and explain the relationship between the two

concepts.

 How has your practice changed because of these paradigm cases.

Analyzing and synthesizing these cases is a critical beginning to understanding nursing theory.

*Hint: Make your "thinking environment" nurturing for you so you will feel free to let your

thoughts flow. Remember, this is a processing assignment. Your ideas can not be failures -- only

discoveries. The more you discover, the more you will learn that there is always something more

to discover, to know, to explore. The discovery process can be fun, if you give yourself

permission to be creative, to learn, to be aware, to wonder, and to KNOW that learning,

knowing, and thinking can be pleasurable experiences.

LAMAR UNIVERSITY

JOANNE GAY DISHMAN DEPARTMENT OF NURSING

GRADUATE NURSING STUDIES

MSNC 5310 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

PERSONAL PARADIGM CASE PAPER GRADING RUBRIC

Criteria Possible Points Points Earned

1. Briefly describe each case 20

2. For each case, try to identify at

least two phenomena/concept(s)

20

3. Compare and contrast the cases:

Identify and explain the relationship

between the two concepts.

20

4. How has your practice changed

because of these paradigm cases.

20

5. Correct APA and scholarly

grammar style, 3-5 pages in length

not including references and the title

page

20

5. Timely submission, if late 5 points

is deducted for every day late.

Total points 100