Many people view theory development as a long process that requires much time to develop but such claims have not been verified. According to Schroeder et al. (2019), the theory of development is often regarded as a time wastage process that has to go through various stages before it is verified. Experts’ criticism is one of the crucial stages in theory development; the formulated theory has to survive the criticism to be fully verified. When building a theory, there is a need to have the views of the experts incorporated in regards to the revision of the original theory. A theory that can survive experts’ criticism is the only one that has been verified to operate on any given field. This is an indication that theory can be accepted in one field and be rejected in the other especially when experts from that field (Gass et al., 2020). The development of theories in the nursing profession has led to the development of important benchmarks used in nursing practice for the benefits of nurses, patients, and employers. Nursing based theories should have general world understanding as well as a knowledge base on the field. This paper will describe the process of developing human becoming theory including the theorist analysis of ideas and principles associated with the developed theory. The paper will further discuss the application of developed theory in various nursing practices.
Development of the Theory
The process of theory development has four distinct stages including theorizing, syntax, testing of theory, and finally the evaluation of the theory. My theory of human becoming has been associated with various social science ideas which indicates that the theory is contextual. According to the theory, the nursing practice goal should focus on life quality as lived by a patient or an individual (Olney, 2017).
Step One: Theorizing
One of my main goals of nursing practice is to develop interventions that can improve the quality of a patient’s life, an indication that nursing depends on the biomedical model where an individual is perceived by a nurse as a machine. Since a machine may have faulty parts, a patient too has faulty parts. Through the application of the biomedical model, the nurses’ intervention in improving patient’s healthcare outcomes involves fixing the patient’s faulty parts. My claim directly links up with actual nurses’ role which to improve the health outcomes of the patient. The argument implies that if the patient knew, strength, and will, they would be in a position to fix themselves without nurses’ help. Therefore, nurses only come in because the patients lack knowledge, strength, and will. Because the patients care so much about their lives, their desires should be incorporated in the treatment process; patients take part in living their lives. In my opinion, nurses should focus on patient-centered care rather than nursing-centered care, nurses should have a keen interest in patients’ desire when offering treatment. Due to the need to shift from nursing based care to patient-based care, the human becoming theory is important in diverting nurse attention to patient desire. The theory was initially called man-living theory before it was changed to human becoming theory. According to the theory, the patient ought to have the liberty to have a choice on what they want with their lives.
Second stage: Developing Syntax
In this stage, a total of three descriptive and theme ideas were developed. The themes and ideas were developed in association with the relationship between patient and nurse. The three themes guiding the theory formulation include rhythmicity, meaning, and transcendence. The primary principle of the theory incorporates the theme of meaning which asserts that “structuring meaning is the imaging and valuing of language” (Gorgolewski et al., 2016). It implies that a person can only participate in developing what is fit for him or her. The theme of meaning is what guides the nurses to major on life quality as per the patient requirement. The rhythmicity theme is integrated into the second principle of human becoming theory. The principle states that “configuring rhythmical patterns is the revealing-concealing and enabling-limiting of connecting –separating” (Kabigting, 2019). It implies that the interaction of an individual with the surrounding environment largely depends on the rhythm pattern developed to make the process entirely mutual. Lastly is the transcendence theory is incorporated in the third principle stating that “contranscending with the possible is the powering and originating of transforming”. It implies that an individual life goes with what is current. Descriptive ideas include freedom, illimitability, and mystery. All these ideas are to the advantage of the patient, for instance, the idea of freedom implies that the patient should be granted the freedom to decide what he or she want with his or her situation
State Three: Theory Testing
“The human becoming theory” has been of great importance in the nursing practice, it is accepted in various health institutions. As far as the highlighted themes are concerned, the nurses have the opportunity to plan their nursing caretaking keen notice of patients’ desires and priorities. Precisely, my role as a nurse is to provide healthcare service to the patient under their care and situation based on choices. According to Foster and Furness (2018), the human becoming theory is corresponding with nursing intervention since it supports nursing practices that promote positive health outcomes thus making it important in the nursing field
Stage Four: Theory Evaluation
Modern nursing care promotes the use of the evidence-based practice. The human becoming theory has had applications in several institutions in several countries across the world. In circumstances in which this theory has been applied, it has been. For example, the theory has been applied in clinical nursing intervention particularly a case where a woman suffering from pneumothorax was treated in Taiwan. Besides that, the theory has been adopted by Health Sciences Centers to promote patient-centered care
Conclusion
In conclusion, human becoming theory evaluation has indicated that the theory is useful in the nursing profession; evidence indicates the possibility of better patient’s health outcomes in cases where patient-centered care has been applied. The theory facilitates the need to have the patient’s desires and situations incorporated in the clinical nursing intervention. As a nurse, I realized that the theory has positively contributed to the development of patient-centered care.