Date of Award

5-1990

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Audrey McLane

Abstract

The concept of social support has continually developed through the multidimensional foundations within nursing, medicine, sociology, psychology and behavioral sciences. The essential building blocks of the conceptual definitions of social support are the theoretical and practical approaches of study utilized within the domain of social support. The purpose of this essay is to increase the staff nurses' awareness of issues related to social support and its clinical applicability. The conceptual definitions and functions of social support comprise multidimensionality. Researchers must recognize each dimension and tap into these characteristics so that measurement is related to theoretical perspectives. The structure of social support and its relation to patients' health status, individual perceptions and their health-care providers must be assessed and clarified within the health-illness continuum. Actual social support experiences from this author's practice have been included in this essay to provide clinical applicability of the theoretical concepts of social support. This review of contemporary scientific literature focuses on the multidimensional conceptual definitions and functions of social support; as well as offers nursing professionals a synthesized conceptual definition of social support with clinical applicability and future social support research.

Comments

An Essay submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Nursing. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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