Editors –

Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN
Afaf Meleis, RN; PhD; DrPS(hon); FAAN; LL

Year First Published – 2021

Major Concepts (Book Sections)

• Theoretical Origins and Structure
• Transitions and Health
• Self-Care
• Caregiving
• Health/Illness Response
• Moving Forward

Brief Description

This book fills the gap in the literature on nursing theories by presenting the background information on situation specific theories such as philosophical bases and current status of situation specific theories and providing a collection of situation specific theories that have been developed. It provides specific guidelines for nursing research and practice, essentials for PhD and DNP students to complete the requirements for their degrees (e.g., dissertation, QI project). In addition, this book can be used in theory courses in other graduate nursing programs that require theoretical bases for their comprehensive exam or scholarly project (e.g., MSN, NP).

Throughout nursing history, nursing theories have evolved within the contexts of changing and emerging theoretical needs of nursing discipline. Subsequently, several different types of nursing theories have been proposed, developed, and used in nursing education, research, and practice. Situation specific theories could be easily adopted and used in nursing practice and research due to their foci on specific populations or particular fields. Since situation specific theories were firstly proposed in 1990s, they became a major part of nursing theories in the past two decades, making this book appeals to all levels of nursing students.

– from publisher’s description

About the Editors

Eun-Ok Im

• Professor & Mary T. Champagne Professor, School of Nursing, Duke University.
• Associate Dean for Research Development and Regulatory Affairs, School of Nursing, Duke University.
• President-elect, The Asian American Pacific Islander Nurses Association.
• Senior Editor, Journal of Transcultural Nursing.
• Teaches PhD theory and philosophy classes.
• Wrote several articles and book chapters on Transitions Theory.
• Wrote several meta-theoretical papers related to situation specific theories, middle range theories, theory evaluation, and current trends in nursing theories.
• Wrote several papers on feminist thoughts and feminist research in nursing.
• A seasoned researcher who has been funded by the NIH for the past two decades.

Afaf Ibrahim Meleis (1942 –  )

Education
PhD in medical and social psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 1968)
MA in sociology, University of California, Los Angeles (1966)
MS in nursing, University of California, Los Angeles (1964)
BS in nursing, University of Alexandria, Egypt (1961)

Experience
Dr. Meleis has held faculty positions at the University of California, Los Angeles (1966-1971), the University of California, San Francisco (1971-2002), and the University of Pennsylvania (2002-present). She served as Dean, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, from 2002 to 2014.

(from Im, E-O. (2010). Transition theory. In M. R. Alligood & A. M. Tomey (Eds.), Nursing theorists and their work (7th ed., pp. 416-433). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.)