Middle-Range Theories

Middle-range theories are very important in clinical research because they enable research experts to integrate theories and empirical research. The theories contain different related ideas which focus on limited reality dimensions in the nursing practice. They are developed and integrated into the nursing practice to improve the research and practice processes. They ensure that the evidence collected from the research provides enough guidance in developing the theories that support the improvement of nursing practices. However, external and internal criticism is widely applied in the area to criticize and evaluate the middle-range theories ensuring that they effectively address the problems in the healthcare sector.

The evaluation of middle-range theories using the internal criticism approaches helps determine their importance, historical applications, purpose, and classifications of the theoretical summaries. It ensures that they are effective and can be used to address the different problems affecting people. It is always difficult to test middle-range theories, and criticism must be provided to ensure they fit the criteria and requirements required to address the problems affecting patients and communities. Internal criticism focuses on important concepts within the theory to ensure that the accuracies of the theories are easily understood using experiments and other applications within healthcare settings. It includes studying the philosophical developments of the theory, models, conceptual framework, propositions, domains, processes, paradigms, and meta-paradigms. Evaluating the theory helps validate its effectiveness in bringing out positive results when used in nursing practice. The learning outcomes explored in the weekly discussion clarified how internal criticism is widely used in evaluating middle-range theories in clinical settings.

External criticism is applied in the evaluation process of the middle-range theories to ensure that they are authentic and genuine. Researchers engaged in evaluating the theories help determine that the solutions and interventions they offer in the clinical practices are accurate. Historical studies of the theories provide a clear understanding of the successes and mistakes caused by applying the theory in clinical care and other processes within the healthcare sector. Theoretical works and processes used in developing the theories are evaluated to determine whether knowledge development is effective and beneficial to nursing practices. In this case, the criticism is extended to ensure that the evaluation of the theory helps determine how it can be used to improve health worldwide and not parts of the population. Based on the weekly discussions, external criticism in the evaluation of theories is an important process because it helps determine the relationships of the theories to people, nursing practices, and health outcomes.