Paradigm of theory development in nursing
According to Lim-Saco (2019), the paradigm of theory development in nursing faces many issues in the 21st century, mainly due to conflicting ideological perspectives of the philosophy, theoretical perspectives, and empirical evidence. Thus, while the theoretical spectrum in nursing is on an upward trajectory, the challenges threaten to impede these developments as the subsequent discussions will show. First, the state mentioned above of imbalance creates a “profession at crossroads” issue that significantly affects the way theories are developed(Roy, 2018) notes. In more specific terms, the paradigm of evaluation of the theories developed using the multidimensional perspectives therein brings about a state of conflicting ideas about the validity of the theory in practice (Reed, 2017). To illustrate, once a particular theory is developed, the philosophical evaluation standards may disagree with the empirical perspectives despite the theoretical perspective regarding the same phenomena supporting the theory’s new paradigms. As such, the result is a complication of how the theory is evaluated and subsequently adopted in nursing practice. Thus, it is accurate to hypothesize that this imbalance created by the differences in ideological perspectives regarding the theory poses the most significant challenge in the 21st century.
My Christian worldview affects my theory development because, in some ways, some of the theorized perspectives such as Reproductive health technologies, conflict with my beliefs. In more precise terms, while the empirical scientific evidence may suggest that certain techniques such as Embryo implants in post-menopause mothers are safe, my Christian beliefs conflict with the approach. Consequentially, this adversely affects my theory development regarding the phenomenon and how it should apply in nursing practice. In brief, my Christian worldview, to some degree, limits the scope of the theories that I may develop towards expanding the health care services, especially in areas where my beliefs conflict with the theories developed.
