Three-time recipient of the AJN Book of the Year Award!
The fourth edition of this invaluable publication on middle range theory in nursing reflects the most current theoretical advances in the field. With two additional chapters, new content incorporates exemplars that bridge middle range theory to advanced nursing practice and research. Additional content for DNP and PhD programs includes two new theories: Bureaucratic Caring and Self-Care of Chronic Illness.
This user-friendly text stresses how theory informs practice and research in the everyday world of nursing. Divided into four sections, content sets the stage for understanding middle range theory by elaborating on disciplinary perspectives, an organizing framework, and evaluation of the theory.
Middle Range Theory for Nursing, Fourth Edition presents a broad spectrum of 13 middle range theories. Each theory is broken down into its purpose, development, and conceptual underpinnings, and includes a model demonstrating the relationships among the concepts, and the use of the theory in research and practice. In addition, concept building for research through the lens of middle range theory is presented as a rigorous 10-phase process that moves from a practice story to a conceptual foundation. Exemplars are presented clarifying both the concept building process and the use of conceptual structures in research design. This new edition remains an essential text for advanced practice, theory, and research courses.
New to the Fourth Edition:
- Reflects new theoretical advances
- Two completely new chapters
- New content for DNP and PhD programs
- Two new theories: Bureaucratic Caring and Self-Care of Chronic Illness
- Two articles from Advances in Nursing Science documenting a historical meta-perspective on middle range theory development
Key Features:
- Provides a strong contextual foundation for understanding middle range theory
- Introduces the Ladder of Abstraction to clarify the range of nursing’s theoretical foundation
- Presents 13 middle range theories with philosophical, conceptual, and empirical dimensions of each theory
- Includes Appendix summarizing middle range theories from 1988 to 2016
Mary Jane Smith, PhD, RN, FAAN, earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from University of Pittsburgh and her doctorate from New York University. She has held faculty positions at the following nursing schools: University of Pittsburg, Duquesne University, Cornell University-New York Hospital, and The Ohio State University. Currently, Dr. Smith is a professor of nursing at West Virginia University School of Nursing; she has been teaching theory to master's and doctoral nursing students for over 4 decades.
Patricia R. Liehr, PhD, RN, graduated from Ohio Valley Hospital, School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She completed her bachelor's degree in nursing at Villa Maria College, her master's in family health nursing at Duquesne University and her doctorate at the School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore. She did postdoctoral education at the University of Pennsylvania as a Robert Wood Johnson scholar. Currently, Dr. Liehr is a professor emerita of nursing at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University; she has taught nursing theory to master's and doctoral students for over 3 decades.
