Seven Types of Middle-Range Theories and Situation-Specific Theories

 

Nursologist Jacqueline Fawcett conceptualizes seven fundamental patterns of knowing, highlighting distinctions in socio-political and spiritual knowing. She regards the seven fundamental patterns of knowing in nursology as middle-range or situation-specific theories of nursology. A brief overview of the seven types of nursological theories is given in this table.




Type of Theory  
Description


Empirical theories
Nursological science, developed by means of empirical nursological research as descriptions of people and situations, explanations of relations between variables, or predictions about the effects of nursologists’ interventions on outcomes; the science of nursology.


Aesthetic theories
Nursological art, developed by means of envisioning the individual’s situation to understand the importance of that individual’s behavior at a particular time; the art of nursology.


Spiritual theories
“[H]uman beings’ perceiving and appreciating of nonmaterial spiritual qualities and experiences that provide meaning and purpose, awareness of a greater reality, and uplifting of the human spirit” (Willis & Leone-Sheehan, 2019, p. 62); the spiritual component of nursology.


Ethical theories
Nursological ethics, developed by means of values clarification and dialogue about beliefs and values; the moral component of nursology. 


Personal knowing theories
Nursologists’ interpersonal relations, developed by means of thinking and reflecting about how the individual nursologist expresses his or her authenticity in relationships with patients; the self and the other in nursology.


Sociopolitical  theories
Nursological politics and policies, developed by means of paying attention to all relevant voices in healthcare situations so to describe the social, cultural, and political contexts of nursologist-patient interactions and of all healthcare settings; the politics and policies of nursology.


Emancipatory  theories
“The human capacity to be aware of an critically reflect on the social, cultural, and political status quo and to determine how and why it come to be that way” (Chinn & Kramer, 2018, p. 5); the praxis of nursology




Additional Sources
Archibald, Mandy M. (2012). The holism of aesthetic knowing in nursing. Nursing Philosophy: An International Journal for Healthcare Professionals, 13, 179–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-769X.2012.00542.x

Bonis, S. A. (2009). Knowing in nursing: a concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65, 1328–1341.

Boykin, A., Parker, M. E., & Schoenhofer, S. O. (1994). Aesthetic knowing grounded in an explicit conception of nursing. Nursing Science Quarterly, 7(4), 158–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/089431849400700407

Carper, B. (1978). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. ANS. Advances in Nursing Science, 1(1), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1097/00012272-197810000-00004

Carper, Barbara A. (1979). The ethics of caring. ANS. Advances in Nursing Science, 1, 11–19.