Role Theory: A framework to investigate the community nurse role in contemporary health care systems
Kim Brookes
Clinical Nurse Consultant, St George Hospital, Sydney South East Illawarra Area Health Service, School of Nursing, University of Western Sydney, Sydney NSW
Patricia M Davidson
Centre of Cardiovascular and Chronic Care, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney NSW; Curtin University, Perth WA
John Daly
Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health; WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney NSW
PP: 146
Abstract
Nurses' perceptions of their role are influenced by societal attitudes, government policies and trends in professional issues. Dynamic factors in contemporary health environments challenge traditional nursing roles, in particular those of community nurses. Role theory is a conceptual framework that defines how individuals behave in social situations and how these behaviours are perceived by external observers. This paper reviews the role theory literature as a conceptual framework to explore community nurses' perceptions of their role. Three theoretical perspectives of role theory have emerged from the literature review:
- social structuralism
- symbolic interactionism and
- the dramaturgical perspective.
These philosophical perspectives provide a useful framework to investigate the role of community nurses in the contemporary health care system.
Keywords
role theory, conceptual framework, community nurses, models of care
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