Transitions Theory

"It is very exciting to see all of these studies compiled in one book. It can be read sequentially or just for certain transitions. It also can be used as a template for compilation of other concepts central to nursing and can serve as a resource for further studies in transitions. It is an excellent addition to the nursing literature." Score: 95, 4 Stars. --Doody's "Understanding and recognizing transitions are at the heart of health care reform and this current edition, with its numerous clinical examples and descriptions of nursing interventions, provides important lessons that can and should be incorporated into health policy. It is a brilliant book and an important contribution to nursing theory." Kathleen Dracup, RN, DNSc Dean and Professor, School of Nursing University of California San Francisco Afaf Meleis, the dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, presents for the first time in a single volume her original "transitions theory" that integrates middle-range theory to assist nurses in facilitating positive transitions for patients, families, and communities. Nurses are consistently relied on to coach and support patients going through major life transitions, such as illness, recovery, pregnancy, old age, and many more. A collection of over 50 articles published from 1975 through 2007 and five newly commissioned articles, Transitions Theory covers developmental, situational, health and illness, organizational, and therapeutic transitions. Each section includes an introduction written by Dr. Meleis in which she offers her historical and practical perspective on transitions. Many of the articles consider the transitional experiences of ethnically diverse patients, women, the elderly, and other minority populations. Key Topics Discussed: Situational transitions, including discharge and relocation transitions (hospital to home, stroke recovery) and immigration transitions (psychological adaptation and impact of migration on family health) Educational transitions, including professional transitions (from RN to BSN and student to professional) Health and illness transitions, including self-care post heart failure, living with chronic illness, living with early dementia, and accepting palliative care Organization transitions, including role transitions from acute care to collaborative practice, and hospital to community practice Nursing therapeutics models of transition, including role supplementation models and debriefing models

In the current era where lifelong learning is brought to the fore, higher education can no longer be regarded as an isolated trajectory within one’s educational career as many students face substantial challenges in crafting their professional future. More specifically, the transition from school to higher education and continuing to the labour market are often a difficult hurdles for many students. Almost half of students do not succeed in the first year and often withdraw from education, students are faced with a variety of contexts and may choose to study in a different (international) context, and they are then confronted with structural barriers in finding a (high-quality) job, as evidenced by increasing levels of youth unemployment and underemployment. Higher Education Transitions aims to deepen our understanding of the transitions taking place when students enter, progress and leave higher education to enter the labour market. Drawing on an international team of contributors, this guide includes three conceptual and fifteen empirical studies which include a range of quantitative, qualitative, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Divided into three sections to reflect each important transition phase, topics include: transitions from secondary to higher education; transitions within higher education; transitions from higher education to the labour market. By considering transitions across different phases as a broad and interrelated process, this guide will be essential reading for higher education researchers, policy stakeholders and all those interested in the transitions into higher education and the labour market.

This Open Access book presents feedback from the ‘Territorial Agroecological Transition in Action’- TATA-BOX research project, which was devoted to these specific issues. The multidisciplinary and multi-organisation research team steered a four-year action-research process in two territories of France. It also presents: i) the key dimensions to be considered when dealing with agroecological transition: diversity of agriculture models, management of uncertainties, polycentric governance, autonomies, and role of actors’ networks; ii) an operational and original participatory process and associated boundary tools to support local stakeholders in shifting from a shared diagnosis to a shared action plan for transition, and in so doing developing mutual understanding and involvement; iii) an analysis of the main effects of the methodology on research organisation and on stakeholders’ development and application; iv) critical analysis and foresights on the main outcomes of TATA-BOX, provided by external researchers.

The study of phase transitions is among the most fascinating fields in physics. Originally limited to transition phenomena in equilibrium systems, this field has outgrown its classical confines during the last two decades. The behavior of far from equilibrium systems has received more and more attention and has been an extremely active and productive subject of research for physicists, chemists and biologists. Their studies have brought about a more unified vision of the laws which govern self-organization processes of physico-chemical and biological sys tems. A major achievement has been the extension of the notion of phase transi tion to instabilities which occur only in open nonlinear systems. The notion of phase transition has been proven fruitful in apphcation to nonequilibrium ins- bihties known for about eight decades, like certain hydrodynamic instabilities, as well as in the case of the more recently discovered instabilities in quantum optical systems such as the laser, in chemical systems such as the Belousov-Zhabotinskii reaction and in biological systems. Even outside the realm of natural sciences, this notion is now used in economics and sociology. In this monograph we show that the notion of phase transition can be extend ed even further. It apphes also to a new class of transition phenomena which occur only in nonequilibrium systems subjected to a randomly fluctuating en vironment.

China’s recent growth has called attention to the power-transition theory, which contends that the danger of a major war is the greatest when a rising dissatisfied challenger threatens to overtake a declining satisfied hegemon. Steve Chan questions this prevailing view by analyzing the extent of ongoing power shifts among the leading powers, exploring the portents for their future growth, and seeking indicators of their relative commitment to the existing international order. To better understand the strategic motivations of ascending and declining states, insights are drawn from prospect theory and past episodes of peaceful and violent transition (such as the end of the Cold War and the outbreak of the First and Second World Wars). He concludes that China is unlikely to instigate a confrontation with the US, and that whilst military conflict over the Taiwan Strait is possible, this is more likely to be due to China’s inability to prevent US involvement than its willingness to provoke the US. This book places China in a comparative and historical context, in which inquiry is informed by the experiences of other major powers and pertinent theories in international relations, such as those on extended deterrence, preventive war, and democratic peace. Its comparative and theoretical orientation and its contrarian perspective will be of great interest not only to students and scholars of international relations and Chinese politics, but also to policy makers and professionals.

How have developments in literary and cultural theory transformed our understanding of narrative? What has happened to narrative in the wake of poststructuralism? What is the role and function of narrative in the contemporary world? In this revised, updated and expanded new edition of an established text, Mark Currie explores these central questions and guides students through the complex theories that have shaped the study of narrative in recent decades. Postmodern Narrative Theory, Second Edition: • establishes direct links between the workings of fictional narratives and those of the non-fictional world • charts the transition in narrative theory from its formalist beginnings, through deconstruction, towards its current concerns with the social, cultural and cognitive uses of narrative • explores the relationship between postmodern narrative and postmodern theory more closely • presents detailed illustrative readings of known literary texts such as Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and now features a new chapter on Coetzee's Elizabeth Costello and Slow Man. Approachable and stimulating, this is an essential introduction for anyone studying postmodernism, the theory of narrative or contemporary fiction.

Theory of Phase Transitions: Rigorous Results is inspired by lectures on mathematical problems of statistical physics presented in the Mathematical Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest. The aim of the book is to expound a series of rigorous results about the theory of phase transitions. The book consists of four chapters, wherein the first chapter discusses the Hamiltonian, its symmetry group, and the limit Gibbs distributions corresponding to a given Hamiltonian. The second chapter studies the phase diagrams of lattice models that are considered at low temperatures. The notions of a ground state of a Hamiltonian and the stability of the set of the ground states of a Hamiltonian are also introduced. Chapter 3 presents the basic theorems about lattice models with continuous symmetry, and Chapter 4 focuses on the second-order phase transitions and on the theory of scaling probability distributions, connected to these phase transitions. Specialists in statistical physics and other related fields will greatly benefit from this publication.

Three-time recipient of the AJN Book of the Year Award! Praise for the third edition: “This is an outstanding edition of this book. It has great relevance for learning about, developing, and using middle range theories. It is very user friendly, yet scholarly." Score: 90, 4 Stars -Doody's Medical Reviews The fourth edition of this invaluable publication on middle range theory in nursing reflects the most current theoretical advances in the field. With two additional chapters, new content incorporates exemplars that bridge middle range theory to advanced nursing practice and research. Additional content for DNP and PhD programs includes two new theories: Bureaucratic Caring and Self-Care of Chronic Illness. This user-friendly text stresses how theory informs practice and research in the everyday world of nursing. Divided into four sections, content sets the stage for understanding middle range theory by elaborating on disciplinary perspectives, an organizing framework, and evaluation of the theory. Middle Range Theory for Nursing, Fourth Edition presents a broad spectrum of 13 middle range theories. Each theory is broken down into its purpose, development, and conceptual underpinnings, and includes a model demonstrating the relationships among the concepts, and the use of the theory in research and practice. In addition, concept building for research through the lens of middle range theory is presented as a rigorous 10-phase process that moves from a practice story to a conceptual foundation. Exemplars are presented clarifying both the concept building process and the use of conceptual structures in research design. This new edition remains an essential text for advanced practice, theory, and research courses. New to the Fourth Edition: Reflects new theoretical advances Two completely new chapters New content for DNP and PhD programs Two new theories: Bureaucratic Caring and Self-Care of Chronic Illness Two articles from Advances in Nursing Science documenting a historical meta-perspective on middle range theory development Key Features: Provides a strong contextual foundation for understanding middle range theory Introduces the Ladder of Abstraction to clarify the range of nursing’s theoretical foundation Presents 13 middle range theories with philosophical, conceptual, and empirical dimensions of each theory Includes Appendix summarizing middle range theories from 1988 to 2016