Middle Range Theory for Nursing, Second Edition

2009 AJN Book of the Year Award Winner!

Designated a Doody's Core Title!

Middle Range Theory for Nursing is a textbook designed for theory and research courses in master's and doctoral programs. As described in the 2d edition of the Encyclopedia of Nursing Research, middle range theory "is a basic, usable structure of ideas, less abstract than grand theory and more abstract than empirical generalizations or micro-range theoryÖ. Middle-range theories are developed and grown at the intersection of practice and research to provide guidance for everyday practice and scholarly research rooted in the discipline of nursing."

In this revised and updated second edition, the authors will revise the eight theories that were examined in the first edition with published research and practice updates along with any changes in the basic concepts and models. Seven new theories will be added. Each theory is presented by the theorist in a consistent format: purpose of the theory; basic concepts; relationships among the concepts, the model; use of the theory in nursing research and/or practice; conclusions; references.

Theories new to the second edition


• Symptom Management (Dodd et al.)
• Caring (Swanson)
• Embodied Language (Liehr et al.)
• Cultural Self-reliance (Lowe)
• Caregiver Stress (Tsai)
• Clinical Decision Making (Chase)
• Moral Reckoning (Nathaniel)

Mary Jane Smith, PhD, RN, FAAN, earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from University of Pittsburgh and her doctorate from New York University. She has held faculty positions at the following nursing schools: University of Pittsburg, Duquesne University, Cornell University-New York Hospital, and The Ohio State University. Currently, Dr. Smith is a professor of nursing at West Virginia University School of Nursing; she has been teaching theory to master's and doctoral nursing students for over 4 decades.

Patricia R. Liehr, PhD, RN, graduated from Ohio Valley Hospital, School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She completed her bachelor's degree in nursing at Villa Maria College, her master's in family health nursing at Duquesne University and her doctorate at the School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore. She did postdoctoral education at the University of Pennsylvania as a Robert Wood Johnson scholar. Currently, Dr. Liehr is a professor emerita of nursing at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University; she has taught nursing theory to master's and doctoral students for over 3 decades.