Sister Callista Roy Nursing Theory

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A nursing theory can be defined as the concepts and assumptions used to explain, predict and control the practice of nursing. These theories provide a systematic view of the profession by organizing the relationships between all of the phenomena (i.e. events, people, and actions) that are associated with practice (Current Nursing, 2012). Nursing theories serve multiple purposes within the profession such as indicating the direction in which the practice will advance over time by predicting future relationships and occurrences. They establish the foundations for behavior and knowledge by explaining the practice through the models presented and the detailed descriptions of nursing phenomena (Patton, 2004). In addition, these theories can help …show more content…
She was born in Los Angeles in 1939 and volunteered in local hospitals as an adolescent. Roy began her formal education in 1963 at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in nursing (William F. Connell School of Nursing, 2015). She continued her studies at the University of California, Los Angeles where she acquired a master’s degree in pediatric nursing in 1966; Roy returned in 1973 and 1977 to earn a master’s degree and later Ph.D. in sociology (Current Nursing, 2013). During her graduate studies Sister Callista Roy was challenged by nurse theorist Dorothy E. Johnson to create a conceptual model for nursing (Patton, 2004). Roy was inspired by her experience in pediatrics and the ability of children to cope with or react to significant changes in their physical and mental states (Vera, 2014). She continued to develop the basic concepts of her theory throughout her graduate education, and returned to Mount St. Mary’s College as a faculty member in 1966. Roy then began to implement and test her model in 1968 as it was formally adopted into the school’s nursing curriculum (William F. Connell School of Nursing, …show more content…
For example, the Assessment of Behavior and the Assessment of Stimuli, mentioned previously, provide guidelines for identifying the patient’s need, determining what care needs to be provided, how to implement that care, and an evaluation of the care after the fact (William F. Connell School of Nursing, 2013). The theory also describes the methods of goal setting and clinical intervention that depend on a nurse’s ability to think critically, assess the situation and provide care (Cunnigham, 2002). Therefore setting up an organized framework that can be used to teach the practice of nursing without having to be revised upon each new medical advancement as it depends on the nurse’s skill. The adaptation model seems to be most useful in the educational setting as it provides a problem-solving approach to the nursing process that is described by critics as logical and easy to commit to memory (Hooker, 1992). The concepts presented in it also provide the foundation for testable hypotheses and future research such as the application of the model to the changes associated with menopause (Cunnigham, 2002) . The organization of the theory provides a foundation for nursing curriculum while the theory’s contents explains the basic tenants and purpose of the

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