Theoretical and Ethical Basis of Advanced Nursing Practice

  

 Current events in the world surrounding COVID-19 give us a spell-binding view of government officials attempting to protect the populace, while medical personnel use all available techniques for saving lives. The ethical dilemma grows as people demand to try ‘whatever works,’ while scientists cling to standards of practice, with theory and ethics being plastered all over the daily news. As scientists and medical professionals, we cling to theory and ethics to keep us grounded in a world looking to us for the answers. Yet, even as the best minds in the world put their ideas to work in meeting the needs of the people, as nurses, it dawns upon us that in the history of modern medicine, never has there been such need to examine the theoretical and ethical basis of advanced nursing practice as now. This paper explores nursing theory in the light of nursing metaparadigm, grand and middle range nursing theories, complexity science, and ethical principles.