Concept Synthesis Paper on Personal Nursing Philosophy
Overview
You are required to submit a scholarly paper in which you will identify, describe, research, and apply the concepts that underlie your personal philosophy for professional nursing practice.
This will help you identify your own values and beliefs about the established metaparadigms and metatheories of the discipline. It will also help you identify and articulate concepts relevant to your specific practice. This paper is intended to be an exercise in clarification and organization of your professional foundation. You are also required to provide a list of assumptions from personal nursing practice that illustrate the concepts and framework of your theory.
Your paper should follow a format that includes:
•    Nursing Autobiography: A brief (1 page) discussion of your background in nursing.
•    The Four Metaparadigms: Identification, discussion, and documentation from the literature of your perspective on the basic four metaparadigms/concepts of patient, nurse, health, and environment.
•    Two Practice-Specific Concepts: Identification, discussion, and documentation from the literature of your perspective on at least two other concepts specific to your own practice.
•    List of Propositions: A numbered list of at least five propositions or assumption statements that clearly connect the concepts described.
Consider the following questions as you complete your various tasks related to this assignment.
1.    How do I define and employ the four basic metaparadigms of nursing theory in my professional practice?
2.    What are the major concepts I employ that are unique to my professional practice?
3.    What philosophies and theories from the literature of nursing and other disciplines/domains are consistent with these concepts?
4.    How are the concepts of transcultural nursing, the health promotion model, skill acquisition, role theory, and change theory specifically integrated into my philosophy and practice?
5.    What research supports these theories and concepts?
6.    How do I integrate role and change theory into my professional practice and how may these theories be applied to the organization in which I practice?
The paper is to be thoroughly researched and well documented, with relevant material from the nursing theorists presented incorporated into the paper. Use the current edition of the APA Manual throughout the paper. Sources should focus on references from nursing theory but may also include conceptual and theoretical material from other professional domains. The paper, excluding references or appendices, is to be limited to 5-7 pages. Writing should be succinct and well organized, as it is impossible for the facilitator to evaluate form and content separately.
Your philosophy/framework is to be given a title that is appropriate to its content and emphasis.
Grading of the paper will be based on the following:
Grading Criteria:    Maximum Points
Nursing Autobiography
The nursing autobiography included personal experiences in the field of nursing.    8
Provided an account of the current professional role of the student.    8
Included factors that guided decision making.    8
Quality of Essay
Enlisted the four metaparadigms.    8
The essay included a definition of the four metaparadigms of nursing with reference to professional practice.    8
The essay mentioned how the metapardigms were employed in nursing practice.    8
The essay enlisted two practice-specific concepts.    8
The essay included clinical examples for each of the chosen concepts.    8
The clinical examples illustrated the concepts in a manner, which further clarified the students’ use of the conceptual material.    8
The essay demonstrated consistency between concepts, assumptions, and clinical application.    8
The essay identified and discussed students’ perspective on two other concepts specific to their practice.    8
The essay included a numbered list of at least 5 propositions or assumptions.    8
The concepts were connected and integrated to reveal a meaningful sequence.    8
The essay demonstrated clarification and organization of the students’ professional foundation.    8
The essay demonstrated evidence of critical thinking in analysis and response.    8
The essay demonstrated understanding and integration of lecture material, reading assignments, and sources consulted.    8
Essay was well written, well organized, and articulate.    8
Presentation Criteria
The paper clearly demonstrated understanding of theoretical principles (i.e., concept development, definitions, assumptions, etc.)    3
The paper revealed clarity, organization, and articulation of ideas.    3
The paper showed that ideas were well-documented.    3
The paper revealed the breadth of research effort.    2
The paper demonstrated appropriate use of APA format in references and citations.    3
Total    150
Format
Your project paper should be in Microsoft Word 2010. Follow the current APA style. Your paper should be double-spaced, Times New Roman, and in 12 pt. font.