Models of nursing applied in clinical practice: integrative review

Los modelos de enfermería aplicados en la práctica clínica: revisión integrativa

Objective. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze the literature on nursing models applied to clinical practice. Method. Integrative literature review regarding the nursing models applied to clinical practice, under the Ganong proposal, with an observation window of 20 years that included the review of 17 databases by using the search tool Descubridor. Results. The review of 44 documents showed that nearly half of them were papers based on a reflective analysis or a literature review.  Most of the studies were descriptive.  Most of the papers were published in the last decade and in English. The content identified four categories including the general applications of conceptual models in the nursing practice; why they should be implemented; How to implement the models; and finally, who should undertake the leader role in this implementation. Conclusions. The conceptual models applied to clinical practice are useful, important and they allowed innovation in the nursing practice.  The use of conceptual models help nurses to meet the expectations of society with professional autonomy and with a better service.  They contribute to the development of nursing knowledge and can generate solid contributions to innovate care in response to user needs. The use of models should be strengthen in nursing research in order to qualify continuously the nursing practice in its different roles.