THEORY ANALYSIS PAPER
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Theory Analysis Paper
Elizabeth Buckles
Nursing Theory and Advanced Practice 502-B01
Liberty University
THEORY ANALYSIS PAPER
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Theory Analysis Paper
As professionals, healthcare workers do their best to incorporate the
most up to date evidence-based practices into their patient care. How do
they know that the information they are getting is accurate or even logical?
Healthcare professionals can examine and critique nursing theories through
theory analysis in a subjective and objective point-of-view. This process is
key to further the nursing profession. In this paper, the Neuman Systems
Model will be examined and evaluated using the Walker and Avant
approach. Theory analysis is the systematic examination of the theory for
meaning, logical adequacy, usefulness, generality, parsimony, and
testability (Walker & Avant, 2019).
Neuman Systems Model
Betty Neuman, the nurse who developed the grand nursing theory of
the Neuman Systems Model, was born in 1924 in southeastern Ohio. She
worked in hospitals during the 1940s and 1950s as a registered nurse, went
on to get a Bachelor’s in Nursing from UCLA in 1957, a Master’s in Nursing
from UCLA in 1966, and a PhD in clinical psychology from Pacific Western
University in 1985 (Reed, 1993). Neuman began a program of post-master’s
work for psychiatric nurses in the field of mental health in the late 1960s,
which was the first program in the nation in that specialty. She first
published her theory in 1972 under the title “A Model for Teaching the
Total Person Approach to Patient Problems” (McEwen & Wills, 2019). Betty
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Neuman’s systems-based approach focuses on human needs and relief from
stress in the nursing care of vulnerable patients (McEwen & Wills, 2019).
Origins
The origins of a theory come from initial development; what made the
theorist choose to develop this particular theory? To determine the origin,
the analyst investigates what prompted its development, whether the theory
is inductive or deductive in form, and whether evidence exists to support or
refute the theory (Walker & Avant, 2019). Neuman developed this theory
while working in the mental health field, although she had a background in
other specialties by this time as well. The goal was to identify patient
stressors and use nursing interventions to provide individualized patient
care.
Meaning
The meaning of a theory has to do with the theory’s concepts and how
they relate to each other (Walker & Avant, 2019). By carefully exploring the
language of the theory, the meaning behind it can be revealed. The Neuman
Systems Model is a holisticCand system-based approach to nursing that
focuses on the response of the patient system to actual or potential
environmental stressors and the use of primary, secondary, and tertiary
nursing prevention intervention for retention, attainment, and maintenance
of patient system wellness (Petiprin, 2016). This theory adheres to the
metaparadigm concepts of nursing along with additional concepts that
Neuman created. Some of the major concepts of this theory include basic
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structure, degree of reaction, flexible and normal lines of defense, lines of
resistance, reconstitution and stability, stressors, and wellness/illness. Basic
structure is defined as a person’s energy resources including normal body
temperature, genetics, organ strength, that are common to all organisms
(McEwen & Wills, 2019). The degree of reaction is the amount of system
instability resulting from stressor invasion of the normal line of defense
(McEwen & Wills, 2019). The normal line of defense is defined as an
adaptational level of health developed over time and is the standard for
wellness-deviance determination (McEwen & Wills, 2019). Flexible lines of
defense are the outer, protective boundary that surrounds and protects the
normal line of defense from the invasion of stressors (McEwen & Wills,
2019). Lines of resistance are defined as protection factors that are
activated when stressors have penetrated the normal line of defense,
causing a reaction symptomology (McEwen & Wills, 2019). Reconstitution is
the return of maintenance of system stability, following treatment of
stressor reaction (McEwen & Wills, 2019). Stressors are environmental
factors that have the potential for disrupting system stability and can result
in either a positive or negative outcome (McEwen & Wills, 2019). Wellness
is the condition in which all systems are in harmony, whereas illness is the
disharmony among the parts and subparts of the client system (McEwen &
Wills, 2019). In the Neuman’s theory, a human being is a total person as a
client system and the person is a layered, multidimensional being made up
of five subsystems: physiological, which refers to the physiochemical
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structure and function of the body; psychological, which refers to mental
processes and emotions; socio-cultural, which refers to relationships, and
social/cultural expectations and activities; spiritual, which refers to the
influence of spiritual beliefs; and developmental, which refers to those
processes related to development over the lifespan (Petiprin, 2016).
Nursing interventions for primary prevention include reducing patient
stressors and strengthening lines of defense. Secondary prevention is
defined as early intervention and treatment of symptoms. Tertiary
prevention includes rehabilitation and return to normalcy.
Logical Adequacy
Does the theory make sense? That is the basic question to ask to
determine logical adequacy. There are no obvious fallacies in this theory,
and although it cannot be explicitly tested, parts of the theory can stand on
their own. If Neuman’s theory were not logically adequate, it would not be
so widely accepted as a basis for nursing programs worldwide.
Usefulness
If a theory does not add significantly to the body of knowledge,
provide insight into a phenomenon, or help the scientist make better
predictions into the future, then it is not a useful theory (Walker & Avant,
2019). The Neuman Systems Model has proven incredibly useful in the field
of nursing over the course of decades. The Neuman Systems Model is in
place in numerous states of the United States and internationally in
countries as diverse as Taiwan and the Netherlands (McEwen & Wills,
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2019). This nursing theory can be applied to virtually any healthcare
specialty, from surgery to public health teaching.
Generalizability and Parsimony
How widely the theory can be used in explaining or predicting
phenomena reflects the criterion of generalizability or transferability
(Walker & Avant, 2019). A parsimonious theory explains a complex
phenomenon simply and briefly without sacrificing the theory’s content,
structure, or completeness (Walker & Avant, 2019). This theory has so many
concepts, assumptions, and relationships, that it is not easily defined or
explained. For these reasons, it is not considered to be parsimonious. As
time goes on and the theory continues to be re-defined and clarified, in the
future it could be broken down enough to be considered somewhat
parsimonious.
Testability
In order for a theory to be valid, it must be testable at least in
principle (Walker & Avant, 2019). Although the Neuman Systems Model
cannot necessarily be tested entirely on its own, pieces of the theory can be
tested individually. One particular study done in 2014 used the Neuman
Systems Model to develop and implement nursing interventions to reduce
the potential for cardiovascular problems in Filipino Americans (Angosta et
al., 2014).
Conclusion
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In this paper, Betty Neuman’s Human Systems Model was analyzed
using Walker and Avant’s method of theory analysis. Origin and meaning of
the theory were stated. Basic concepts that make up the Systems Model
were identified and defined. In conclusion, the Betty Neuman Human
Systems Model is a grand level theory that changed the way nursing can
identify and treat patients with interventions based on their individual lines
of defense and response to stressors. It still remains as useful today as it did
almost 50 years ago.
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References
Angosta, A. D., Ceria-Ulep, C. D., & Tse, A. M. (2014). Care Delivery for
Filipino Americans Using the Neuman Systems Model.
Nursing Science
Quarterly
,
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(2), 142–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318414522605
McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2019).
Theoretical basis for nursing
. Wolters
Kluwer.
Petiprin, A. (2016).
Betty Neuman
. Nursing Theory. https://nursing-
theory.org/nursing-theorists/Betty-Neuman.php.
Reed, K. S. (1993).
Betty Neuman: the Neuman systems model
. Sage
Publications.
Walker, L. O., & Avant, K. C. (2019).
Strategies for theory construction in
nursing
. Pearson.
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