intervention within the Nursing Interventions
Classification (Dochterman & Bulechek, 2000).
Some of the activities listed under this label reflect
King’s (1981) concepts: “establish mutually agree-
able goals; solicit input for client care planning; re-
vise client care plan, as necessary; discuss progress
toward goals; and provide data to facilitate evalua-
tion of client care plan” (p. 460).
Technology
King (1997) is keeping pace with the changing
world of technology by exploring the impact of
nursing knowledge on technology, positing that her
conceptual system provides the structure for
health-care informatics. Specifically, she recom-
mends using her concepts of self, role, power, au-
thority, decisions, time, space, communication, and
interaction with an emphasis on goal-setting and
goal attainment as the theoretical basis for nursing
informatics. With this forward-looking direction
set by the theorist, nurse scholars need to further
evaluate the use of King’s concepts, and possibly,
redefine them in relation to future contexts. For ex-
ample, the concepts of interactions and transac-
tions now occur without visual perceptions in the
emerging area of telenursing.
An essential component in the analysis of
conceptual frameworks and theories is the
consideration of their adequacy (Ellis, 1968).
Adequacy depends on the three interrelated
characteristics of scope, usefulness, and com-
plexity. Conceptual frameworks are broad in
scope and are sufficiently complex to be use-
ful for many situations. Theories, on the
other hand, are narrower in scope, usually
addressing less abstract concepts, and are
more specific in terms of the nature and
direction of relationships and focus.
King fully intended her Interacting
Systems Framework for nursing to be useful
in all nursing situations. Likewise, the
midrange Theory of Goal Attainment (King,
1981) has broad scope because interaction is
a part of every nursing encounter.
Although evaluation of the scope of King’s
framework and midrange theory has resulted
in mixed reviews (Austin & Champion, 1983;262 SECTION III Nursing Theory in Nursing Practice, Education, Research, and Administration
Carter & Dufour, 1994; Frey, 1996; Jonas,
1987; Meleis, 1985), the nursing profession
has clearly recognized their scope and useful-
ness. In addition, the variety of practice ap-
plications evident in the literature clearly
attest to the complexity of King’s work. As re-
searchers continue to integrate King’s theory
and framework with the dynamic health-care
environment, future applications involving
evidence-based practice will continue to
demonstrate the adequacy of King’s work in
terms of nursing practice.References
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