The theory application scenario is the application of a specific theory to a clinical scenario. First, the paper involves determining the phenomena with its concepts. Secondly, the paper provides in-depth analysis of the theory and its concepts and then the student will apply the theoretical concepts to the concepts of the clinical situation. The purpose of this assignment is to: 1. Identify and apply theoretical principles from a middle range nursing theory to the concepts of a phenomenon or situation in ones clinical practice 2. Conduct a comprehensive database search using appropriate controlled vocabulary and limiters and expanders to locate scholarly references related to the theory and phenomenon; and 3. Critically analyze and apply the theoretical principles to the clinical situation. The student identifies an area of interest in his or her practice and writes a short summary or scenario describing the nursing phenomenon or situation. Concepts of the phenomena are identified. One middle range theory that pertains to or explains the phenomenon is then identified. Concepts of the theory that pertain to the phenomena are identified. The student performs a search of a selected bibliographic database to locate references pertaining to the concepts of the phenomena and theory. The student retrieves the most appropriate articles located through the search and discusses the clinical situation in light of the information from the journal articles and the theory. Primary sources are to be accessed. The assignment concludes with a discussion of the concept, phenomenon, theory, and how it applies to his or her practice. The paper content should be 5-7 pages (excluding title page, reference page, and appendix) and should be double spaced. Content exceeding 7 pages will not be graded. The paper must be submitted in the current version of the APA format. If the paper is submitted in any other format, it will not be graded and will receive a grade of 0. Consider your experience when going to work in a clinical setting. Nurses don’t say, today I am going to use XXX theory. Reality is they first encounter the patient and then based upon the situation, determine if there is a theory that can be applied. Patient first, theory second. For this assignment, it may be tempting to have a theory in your mind and then try to adapt it to the nursing situation you select. This is theory first, patient second – certainly, this is not the way to apply theory to nursing situations. So for this assignment, your nursing situation should come first. 1. Keep the intro and clinical scenario brief. Remember, these two sections are only 2 point so don’t use all the space for this part of the paper. 2. Make sure you provide a rational as to why you selected the theory. 3. The concepts you identify should derive from within the clinical scenario you describe. These concepts should be supported by the nursing theory and used to develop the interventions later on. 4. One of the major part of the paper is the theory application and integration of literature (4 points). Make sure the articles you select are within the past 5 years, are research articles as opposed to literature review articles, text book info, or editorials. The 2 research articles (make sure they are research articles and NOT literature reviews or commentary type articles) need to be clearly highlighted in this sections, and used to support the next section. You need to understand how other nursing professionals applied the theory – this should help you to see how you could possibly apply the theory. Then you need to apply the theory in your own unique way with your unique scenario. 5. Nursing interventions and applications (9 points). The research findings from the 2 articles need to be integration into and supportive of the interventions you develop. ***Please Note – Do NOT use educating the patient as an intervention. You need to go beyond this! This is the most important section of the paper where you bring together phenomena from a nursing situation, nursing theory, research findings and practice. The majority of this paper needs to address this section. 6. Develop a strong conclusion to include what you have learned from this activity, recommendations for research, practice, education and health policy. Make the concluding statements dynamic. How will you approach challenging diagnostic and treatment patient situations as an advanced practice nurse? What tools and approaches will you employ to ensure your diagnosis and treatment is the best nursing has to offer? The theory application paper provides you with the opportunity to UNDERSTAND and USE a critical nursing process you will need for advanced practice – bringing together underlying concepts and phenomena, coupled with evidence-based research, and guided by nursing theory – in order to properly guide your practice, especially when dealing with "gray areas". So, for the theory application paper, please do not approach this as just another assignment. Dig into your past and identify a challenging nursing situation and use this paper as an opportunity to become familiar with this process. Merely stating that ones intervention will be to educate the patient is insufficient. Although a vital activity, patient education can be a passive approach with few nurses following up on its effectiveness. Try to dig into underlying concepts a little deeper. Link this to current evidenced-based research articles to see what experts suggest for possible interventions. Use judgment to determine if your selected theory can guide this process. In the end, based upon what you have found (concepts, research and theory), develop possible interventions unique to your nursing scenario. By doing so, this assignment should be enriching and exciting serving as a foundation for your nursing career in advanced practice. ***The clinical scenario I would like to use is: I was working on an oncology unit and had 72 year old patient named Renee. The patient had been experiencing shortness of breath and coughing, after a ct scan she was diagnosed with lung cancer with metastasis to the liver. She had a history of breast cancer over 20 yrs. ago, had a double mastectomy, and multiple rounds of chemotherapy The patient was talking about how much she hated the chemotherapy treatments and that she would never do it again.For the last 20 years she was in remission and enjoying her life traveling and spending time with her grandkids. She said that she though she was out of the woods with cancer and was shoked and very upset that the cancer had returned. She decided not to have any treatment this time due to her experience in the past, she said it almost killed her so it was not an option for her.
