PROFESSION AND SOCIETY

Current Trends in Nursing Theories

Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN1 & Sun Ju Chang, PhD, RN2
1 Professor and Marjorie O. Rendell Endowed Professor in Healthy Nursing Transitions, School of Nursing, The University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA
2 Visiting Scholar and Post-doctoral Researcher, School of Nursing, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Key words
Nursing theory, theory development, history
Correspondence
Dr. Eun-Ok Im, School of Nursing, The University
of Pennsylvania, 418 Curie Blvd. Philadelphia,
PA 19104. E-mail: eunim@nursing.upenn.edu
Accepted January 11, 2012
doi: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2012.01440.x

Abstract
Purpose: To explore current trends in nursing theories through an integrated
literature review.
Organizing Construct and Methods: The literature related to nursing theories during the past 10 years was searched through multiple databases and
reviewed to determine themes reflecting current trends in nursing theories.
Findings: The trends can be categorized into six themes: (a) foci on specifics;
(b) coexistence of various types of theories; (c) close links to research; (d) international collaborative works; (e) integration to practice; and (f) selective
evolution.
Conclusions: We need to make our continuous efforts to link research and
practice to theories, to identify specifics of our theories, to develop diverse
types of theories, and to conduct international collaborative works.
Clinical Relevance: Our paper gives implications for future theoretical development in diverse clinical areas of nursing research and practice.

With advances in nursing research methodology and

technologies, we have seen an increasing number of
nursing research studies funded by federal, nonfederal,
public, and private institutions, agencies, or foundations
(Polit & Beck, 2009). Also, with advances in medical
technologies, we have witnessed tremendous changes in
nursing practice with diversified nurses roles, specialties, and staffing (DeVandry & Cooper, 2009; Effken &
Abbott, 2009). In addition, with an increasing number
of diverse populations in our society, we have witnessed
overwhelming challenges in nursing education and practice to incorporate and respond to various and complex
needs for nursing care (Allen & Ogilvie, 2004; Petit dit
Dariel, 2009). In these ever-changing nursing environments, nursing theories have managed to provide theoretical bases for nursing research and practice.
With evolutions and changes in nursing environments,
theoretical thoughts in nursing have been developed, refined, and evolved in nursing history (McEwen & Wills,
2010; Meleis, 2004). In each evolutionary leap, there
have been notable trends in nursing theoretical works
(McEwen & Wills, 2010; Meleis, 2004). For example,

156

once, nursing focused on development of conceptual

frameworks and grand theories (McEwen & Wills, 2010;
Meleis, 2004), then nursing focused on metatheoretical
arguments (McEwen & Wills, 2010; Meleis, 2004). However, current trends in nursing theory development in
this post-structural period of nursing have rarely been
identified in recent years. Here, trends mean prevailing tendencies or inclinations (Merriam-Webster, 2011).
Thus, current trends in nursing theory development refer
to currently prevailing tendencies or inclinations in nursing theory development. Reviews of the current trends
could provide some insights on what has recently happened in nursing theories and what could be expected in
the future. However, no specific article on current trends
in nursing theory development from the past 10 years
was identified in literature searches through PUBMED,
CINAHL, and PsycInfo. In this article, current trends in
nursing theories are explored through an integrated literature review. First, a brief historical review of nursing
theories is provided. Then, the methods used to review
the literature are described, and the themes reflecting
current trends in nursing theories are discussed. Finally,

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implications for future theoretical development in nursing are proposed based on the findings from the review.

A Historical Review of Nursing Theories

From the early stage of nursing discipline as a profession, theories have been the fundamental part of nursing. As a new discipline, theorists began to determine
the theoretical basis of practice and to define the person receiving nursing care, the goal or purpose of nursing, and nursing intervention, and nurses roles (Meleis,
1997). In the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, several theorists, including Peplau, Abdellah, Orlando, Wiedenbach,
Hall, Henderson, Levine, Rogers, Orem, King, Neuman,
and Roy, developed theories that could uniquely explain
the epistemological and ontological questions on nursing to provide an independent conceptual framework for
nursing education and practice. These theories could be
characterized by a functional view of nursing and health
(McEwen & Wills, 2010).
The late 1960s and 1970s were dominated by metatheoretical arguments to determine what is meant by theory,
what are the structural components of theories, and how
theories should be evaluated and analyzed (Meleis, 2004;
Peterson & Bredow, 2004). During this period, grand theories were criticized for their lack of explicated propositions and empirical testing (McKenna, 1997). With these
metatheoretical arguments, there were advances in nursing theories by two events (Meleis, 2004). One is the requirement of a theory base to nursing curricula by the
National League for Nursing, and the other is the formation of two theory groups (nursing theorists conference group and nursing theory think tank). This is also
the period of time when Dickoff and James (1968) introduced practice theory; they criticized the lack of attention
to meanings and to the true significance of experience in
nursing theory development when deriving or borrowing
a theory from other fields.
From mid-1970 to the 1980s, with a shift of focus from
nursing education to nursing research, arguments on the
necessity of substantive theories in nursing have evolved
to answer the question on the central concept in nursing
(Meleis, 2004). Alligood and Tomey (2001) even named
this period the theory era. All concept analysis and concept development methodswhich were proposed during
the period of the 1980s and 1990s by a number of nursing scholars including Walker and Avant (2004), Rodgers
and Knafl (2000), Schwartz-Barcott & Kim (2000), and
Haase, Leidy, Coward, Britt, and Penn (2000)show how
deeply nursing was interested in finding out substantive
or central concepts of nursing (Rodgers & Knafl, 2000).
Also, there still existed metatheoretical discussions on
relationships between theory and practice and between
theory and research (Peterson & Bredow, 2004).
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During the periods of the 1990s and 2000s, with the introduction of two new types of nursing theoriesmiddlerange theories and situation-specific theoriesnursing experienced changes in its theoretical bases (Meleis, 2004).
Although some earlier theoretical works could be categorized into middle-range theories, this was the period
when a few middle-range theories that were explicitly
claimed to be middle-range theories were proposed. The
middle-range theories that were published during this period include the theory of mastery by Younger (1991),
the theory of uncertainty by Mishel (1990), the theory of unpleasant symptoms by Gift (2004), the theory of self-efficacy by Resnick (2004), the theory of resilience by Haase (2004), and transitions theory by Meleis
et al. (2000). The idea of situation-specific theories also
emerged in the 1980s and later matured with actual development of situation-specific theories (Im, 2005; Im &
Meleis, 1999; Meleis, 1997). With advances in nursing research methods and an increasing number of nursing researchers, nursing began to require theoretical bases that
could be easily operationalized into nursing research, and
situation-specific theories were proposed as the theories
that could provide closer links to research (Meleis, 2004).
Also, with advances in nursing practice using new technology and knowledge, nursing also began to require theoretical bases that could be easily translated into nursing
practice, and middle-range theories and situation-specific
theories were claimed to be the ones that could be easily
translated to nursing practice (Im & Meleis, 1999).
The current stage of nursing theories is depicted as diversity in thought by Meleis (2004). Diverse perspectives
for development of theories include post-empiricism, critical theory, post-modernism, post-constructivism, feminist, hermeneutics, etc. (Aranda & Jones, 2010; Kagan,
Smith, Cowling, & Chinn, 2010). A number of theories
are also proposed in various areas in nursing, including
critical care, oncology, womens health, pediatrics, family
care, etc. (Halabi, Majali, Carlsson, & Bergbom, 2011; Peters & Templin, 2010). In theoretical development, multiple methods of theorizing, including Wilsonian methods
of concept development, Rodgers evolutionary concept
development method, integrative approach to theory development by Im, and the grounded theory method, have
been used (McEwen & Wills, 2010; Meleis, 2004; Rodgers
& Knafl, 2000; Walker & Avant, 2004). However, there
has been virtually no investigation on current trends in
nursing theories in recent years.

Methods
To determine current trends in nursing theories, an integrated literature review was conducted using multiple
databases, including PUBMED, CINAHL, and PsycInfo.
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Figure 1. A summary of the literature search

and retrieval procedures.

The databases were searched during the past 10 years

(20012011) to approach current trends in nursing
theories. A total of six articles were retrieved through
the databases with the key words nursing and grand
theory. Thus, the search for grand theories was extended using key words with the names of 14 grand
theorists, including Abdellah, Hall, Henderson, Johnson,
King, Levine, Neuman, Orem, Pepalu, Peterson and
Zderad, Rogers, Roy, Trevelbee, and Wiedenbach (alphabetical order). A total of 257 articles in English related
to grand theories were included for this review. Then, a
total of 277 articles in English were retrieved with the
key words nursing and mid-range theory or middlerange theory, and 84 among them that were identified
to be related to middle-range theory were included for
this review. With the key words nursing and situation
specific theory, a total of 101 articles in English were
retrieved, and only 13 that were identified to be related
to situation-specific theory were included for this review.
With the key words nursing and grounded theory,
a total of 4,267 articles were retrieved, and 1,636 that
were related to grounded theories were included for this
review. Finally, with the key words nursing and concept analysis, 3,329 articles were retrieved, and 327 articles were included for this analysis. In summary, a total of 17,549 articles were retrieved, and 2,317 articles
were identified to be eligible for this review. The literature search and retrieval procedures are summarized in
Figure 1.

158

All the retrieved articles were sorted by theory type

(e.g., grand theories, middle-range theories, situationspecific theories, grounded theories, and concept development or analysis). Then, each of the articles was reviewed if they actually presented a theory or a theoretical
discourse. If they presented a theory or a theoretical discourse, they were reviewed in terms of purpose of theorizing, types of theorizing, sources of theorizing, and linkages to research or practice. The review categories were
purposefully chosen from the components of the integrative approach to theory development by Im (2005)
to identify trends in theorizing. Purpose of theorizing
and types of theorizing were chosen from the first
step of theorizingchecking the assumptions of theory
developmentbecause the assumptions are usually based
on the purpose and types of the theory that a theorist wants to develop. Sources of theorizing was chosen from the second step of exploring the phenomenon
through multiple sources. Linkages to research or practice was chosen from the third step of theorizing because
theorizing process is usually initiated, processed, and integrated through research or practice.

Findings
The current trends in nursing theories that were found
in this literature review could be categorized into six
major themes: (a) foci on specifics; (b) coexistence of
various types of theories; (c) close links to research;

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(d) international collaborative works; (e) integration to

practice; and (f) selective evolution. These themes of current trends in nursing theories are discussed in detail as
follows.

Foci on Specics
The first trend identified in this literature review was
foci on specifics. Regardless of the types of theories,
the main focus of the reviewed theoretical works was
given to specifics of the theories. First of all, the efforts
to develop and/or refine specific concepts in the theories were frequently noticeable in the theoretical works
that were reviewed, especially in grand theories. Rather
than approaching and further developing nursing theories as a whole, the theoretical works tended to aim at
details and test associations among specific concepts in
the theories. For example, Phillips (2010) discussed a specific concept of Rogers theory, universality, within the
context of science and religion, and DeSanto-Madeya and
Fawcett (2009) concentrated on a specific concept of the
Roy adaptation model, the adaptation level, in their
theoretical work.
With recent interests in linking theories to research
projects, some efforts to develop derivative middle-range
theories from a grand theory or from a concept analysis were also noticeable. DeSanto-Madeya and Fawcett
(2009) developed a middle-range theory concept of adjustment from Roys adaptation model. Simmons (2009)
developed a middle-range descriptive theory of clinical
reasoning in nursing from a concept analysis of clinical
reasoning using Rodgers evolutionary model of concept
analysis. These efforts could be interpreted as the influences of our emphasis on research in nursing academia
with advances in research industries in general and
high dependency on research funding for tenure and
promotion (Munhall, 2001).
Several articles on development of instruments to measure specific concepts of the theories were also identified,
which might reflect our trials to closely link nursing theories to research. Barone, Roy, and Frederickson (2008)
reviewed and critiqued the instruments that are being
used in research studies using Roys adaptation model.
Radwin and Cabral (2010) tested psychometric properties
of the Trust in Nursing Scale that was developed based
on the middle-range theory of patient-centered nursing
care.

Coexistence of Various Types of Theories

As mentioned above, a total of 257 articles related
to grand theories, 84 related to middle-range theory,
13 related to situation-specific theory, 1,636 related to
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grounded theories, and 327 related to concept analyses

were retrieved using multiple databases for this analysis.
Figure 2 summarizes the percentage of the articles related to specific types of theories in the total number of
the reviewed articles. As these numbers and percentages
show, the most prominent current trend in nursing theories is coexistence of various types of theoretical works.
Interestingly, many of the articles on concept development and analysis came from doctoral students. Considering that concept development and analysis is taught
in doctoral programs across nations, it is understandable
that doctoral students are continuously interested in finding out, analyzing, or developing central and substantive
concepts related to their research phenomenon. For example, Plummer as a doctoral student conducted a concept analysis of quality of life in contemporary nursing
theory with Molzahn, who is a professor and the dean of
school of nursing in the University of Alberta (Plummer
& Molzahn, 2009). Mattheus (2010) did a concept analysis of vulnerability related to oral health in early childhood using Rodgers evolutionary method as a doctoral
student. Wang conducted a concept analysis of womens
toileting behavior related to urinary elimination by using
Walker and Avants method with her mentor (Wang &
Palmer, 2010).

Close Links to Research

Many of the articles reviewed in this analysis were
based on findings from research projects, either a systematic literature review of studies using a specific nursing
theory or a specific research study conducted by the authors. At the early stage of nursing discipline, nursing
theorists tended to develop theories mainly from their
own experience and intuition in education or practice,
and existing theories from other fields (Meleis, 2004). In
other words, research findings were rarely used to develop a theory. Then, with advances in nursing theories,
theorists began to give their attention to research findings to develop a nursing theory. Yet, most of the articles
published in the past 10 years, regardless of the types of
theoretical work, are now based on multiple sources of
theorizing, including research findings. A systematic literature review becomes essential in most of the theoretical
works, and findings from a specific research study are frequently used in the theoretical works. Furthermore, most
of the articles on middle-range theories and situationspecific theories are directly linked to research findings
of the studies by the authors. For example, Clingerman
(2007) used her research findings from a study among
migrant farm worker women as a source for theorizing her situation-specific theory. Im (2010) developed
a situation-specific theory of Asian immigrant womens
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8.5
8
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
GT

4.5
4

MRT

3.5

SST

GDT

2.5

CA

2
1.5
1
0.5
0

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Figure 2. Percentages of the articles related to specic types of theories in the total number of the reviewed articles.
Note. GT=Grand Theory; MRT=Middle Range Theory; SST=Situation Specic Theory; GDT=Grounded Theory; CA=Concept Analysis

menopausal symptom experience in the United States

by using research findings from a multi-ethnic Internet
study on menopausal symptoms. Because of easy applicability of middle-range theories and situation-specific theories to research phenomena or nursing practice phenomena, this trend could be natural in these two types
of theories.
A plausible reason for this trend would be an increasing emphasis on research funding in nursing academia.
Compared with the 1960s and 1970s, nursing research
has become an essential part of nursing academia; how
much research funding a faculty member can get is now
an imperative component of the tenure and promotion
process (Munhall, 2001). Because of this emphasis on research, the linkage of nursing theories to research has become more important than ever. This may be the reason
that most nursing researchers are also looking for theories
that can be easily applicable to their research.

International Collaborative Works

A prominent finding in this literature review was
that many of the reviewed articles were written by international authors, and that they were in most cases
coauthored by senior authors in the United States. For
example, there were a number of articles on concept analyses from international perspectives. Welford,
Murphy, Wallace, and Casey (2010) in Ireland did a con160

cept analysis of autonomy for older people in residential

care and proposed six attributes of autonomy. Shephard
and Woodgate (2010) in Canada did a concept analysis of cancer survivorship in children and young adults
using Walker and Avants method and provided a conceptual framework that could assist nurses in their efforts to attain the common goal of successful survivorship in childhood cancer survivors. Also, Chen, Chang,
Chyun, and McCorkle (2005) evaluated the dynamics
of nutritional health within the context of Roys adaptation model in Taiwan and reported that the nutritional health of community-dwelling elders was associated with depressive symptoms, functional status, oral
health, and income. Emmanuel and St. John (2010) in
Australia did a concept analysis of maternal distress using Rodgers evolutionary concept analysis method based
on a literature review. Coetzee and Klopper (2010) in
South Africa did a concept analysis of compassion fatigue
within nursing practice and reported several categories
of compassion fatigue (risk factors, causes, process, and
manifestations). An increasing number of international
exchanges of nursing scholars and students are prominent in nursing academia, which may be the reason for
this trend of international collaborative works. These may
also indicate that nurses throughout the world are trying to find out nursings central and substantive concepts,
which would certainly incorporate international perspectives that have been frequently missing in previous development of nursing theories.
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Integration to Practice
Another noticeable trend was nurses trials to integrate theories into their practice. Simmons (2009) linked
Orems self-care theory to nursing practice in hemodialysis, and Wilson and Gramling (2009) applied Orems
self-care theory to burn care. Furthermore, in some articles, two or more theories were integrated to explain
a nursing phenomenon in a specific practice setting.
Maloney (2009) combined Neumans system model and
Lzazauss stress, coping, and adaptation model to explain
loneliness, self-esteem, cognition, physical functioning,
and nursing home satisfaction as predictors of depression in older adults at a nursing home setting. Caldwell
(2010) used both Levines conservation of energy model
and Nagis disablement model to determine the effects of
an exercise program on cancer-related fatigue in breast
cancer care. These could be interpreted as our long-due
efforts to link nursing theories to nursing practice and
to develop prescriptive theories that could guide nursing practice. This trend may indicate that our discipline
is now up to the stage that actually links our theoretical
basis to nursing care.

Selective Evolution
Most of the reviewed articles related to grand theories focused on four grand theorists or theories: (a)
Neumans system model (15.6%), (b) Orems self-care
theory (16.3%), (c) Rogers theory of unitary human
beings (13.6%), and (d) Roys adaptation model (37.4%).
For example, Eaton, Davis, Hammond, Condon, & McGee
(2011) used Neumans system model to explain the coping strategies of families of hospitalized psychiatric patients; Bakan and Akyol (2008) applied Roys adaptation
model to provide an education, exercise, and social support intervention for heart failure in their experimental
study; and Larsson (2008) used Rogers theory of unitary human beings in the hermeneutic phenomenological study. We labeled this finding as selective evolution
because only these selective theories have been further
developed, refined, and evolved through further research
studies or applications to nursing practice throughout the
past 10 years. This tendency of selective evolution could
be explained by the fact that major concepts of these specific theories such as stressor, self-care, human, and adaptation are closely linked to nursing phenomena. Also, the
major concepts of the theories have been widely accepted
as nursing concepts in many specialty areas or in particular societies such as Rogerian schools of thought. Interestingly, the evolution of middle-range theories and
situation-specific theories took a different path; many of
the articles related to both middle-range theories and
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situation-specific theories still tended to focus on development of the theories rather than applying the theories
to nursing research or practice.

Conclusions
In this article, current trends in nursing theories were
determined through an integrated literature review of
the articles on nursing theories that were published in
the past 10 years. As the findings indicated, there were
certain trends that could be identified through the literature review, which reflects the status quo of nursing
theories in our ever-changing environments. The recent
theoretical works focused on specifics, such as development and refinement of specific concepts, development of derivative middle-range theories, development
of instruments to measure individual concepts of theories, and efforts to link theories to respective practice areas. All types of theoretical works coexisted. The theories
were closely linked to nursing research projects. Many
of the nursing theories were developed based on international partnership. Multiple theories were integrated
to explain or to be applied to a specific nursing practice
area. Selective theories were further developed, refined,
and evolved through research projects and applications
to nursing practice. These findings, however, need to be
carefully interpreted because this review is limited to the
articles published during the past 10 years and because
the review criteria were purposefully selected to reflect
the integrative approach to theory development.
Based on these findings, we want to conclude this article with the following suggestions for future nursing theory development. First, we believe that the trends of focusing on specifics in theoretical works, close linkage to
research, and integration to practice are positive in the
sense that the close linkage to research could provide
solid grounds for theoretical development in nursing and
that the specifics could facilitate and strengthen the linkages between theories to research and practice. The solid,
close, and circular relationships among theory, research,
and practice have been emphasized for advances in nursing science from the early stages of the nursing profession
(Meleis, 2004; Peterson & Bredow, 2004). Now we may
be at the point of coexistence of theory, research, and
practice. Although the priority of nursing science tends
to be weighted to research these days, the coexistence of
these three components of nursing science is essential for
advances in nursing science. We need to continue our efforts to link research and practice to theories and to work
on the specifics that could be easily translated into our
research and practice. Furthermore, with a recent emphasis on translational research in the National Institutes
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of Health funding (Woolf, 2008), practice-based research

and translational research could contribute to further development of nursing theories by strengthening the linkages of nursing research and practice.
Second, coexistence of all types of theories is also positive because it is essential for our discipline at multiple levels. Grand theories will play an important role in
defining our discipline; middle-range theories will play an
essential role in nursing research; and situation-specific
theories will play an imperative role in nursing research
and practice with diverse populations and situations, especially for those who are underserved in current healthcare systems. Concept development and analysis will contribute to further identification of central or substantive
concepts in nursing. Thus, we need to continue our efforts to develop diverse types of theories.
Finally, with advances in transportation and communication, international partnership will be essential for
nursing to survive in this ever-changing world. This trend
of international cooperation in nursing theories should
be positively accepted and utilized for understanding diversities and complexities of nursing phenomena from
various international perspectives. The international collaboration would add important perspectives to nursing
theory development that have frequently been missing
in precedent development of nursing theories.

Acknowledgments
The author acknowledges thoughtful review, feedback,
and support of Dr. Afaf I. Meleis in the development of
ideas and preparation of this manuscript.

Clinical Resources
r King international nursing group: http://www.

r
r
r
r
r
r
r

162

kingnursing.org/
Madeline-Leininger.com: http://www.madeleineleininger.com/en/index.shtml
Transcultural Nursing Society: http://www.
tcns.org/
Afaf Meleis: http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/
faculty/profile.asp?pid=853
Newman systems model: http://www.
neumansystemsmodel.org/
Nola J. Pender: http://www.nursing.umich.edu/
faculty-staff/nola-j-pender
Society of Rogerian Scholars: http://www.
societyofrogerianscholars.org/
Sr. Callista Roy: http://www.bc.edu/schools/son/
faculty/featured/theorist.html

Im & Ju Chang

r
r
r
r

Nursing theory: http://nursing-theory.org/index.

php
Middle-range theory for nursing: http://www.
springerpub.com/samples/9780826119162
chapter.pdf
Mayo Clinic Library: http://www.mayo.edu/
library/theorists-roy.html
Transitions: A nursing concern: http://repository.
upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&
context=nrs&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%
2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%
26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dtransitions%2520theory%
252C%2520upenn%26source%3Dweb%26cd%
3D1%26ved%3D0CCAQFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%
253A%252F%252Frepository.upenn.edu%
252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%
253D1008%2526context%253Dnrs%26ei%
3DfrPGTuiZGsj30gGQrpEe%26usg%
3DAFQjCNEZBf0R5v77pVsVbOD570dzDJVyA#search=%22transitions%20theory%2C%
20upenn%22
Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science. Nursing Theory and Research: http://www.sandiego.
edu/nursing/research/nursing theory research.php

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