Conceptual Nursing in Practice

Since 1990 there has been considerable development in research in nursing practice which uses a model of nursing. This is due to many reasons. However, the aims of this book remain the same as for the first edition -to present the reader with current reports of studies in nursing practice which use a model of nursing as their base. I will also criticize the research methods that the studies use, to give the reader an indication of the credi­ bility of the findings, as well as commenting on the popularity of the model in different countries and cultures. A development that is possible since the last edition is the ability to give some indication of why the model of nursing was used; in other words what was the author's intention in studying nursing practice in depth with the use of a model. This will give some indication of the impli­ cations of the authors' work; I will develop this point further in the Introduction to this edition. Therefore this edition is not simply an updating of further studies published since 1990. Since the last edition there has also been some comment on the models that I included. I am grateful to Margaret Clarke (1991) and others who have pointed out that Neuman's model should be included, and there is therefore a chapter devoted to this in this edition.