NUR 3420 Module 3 Peplau Theory Application Example

Course	NUR-3420 Contemporary Nursing Practice
Module	Module 3
Paper type	Nursing theory application paper
Length	About 1,199 words, 7 pages
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Thomas Edison State University
Program	Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for NUR 3420 Module 3

Four Phases at One Donor Chair: Applying Peplau's Interpersonal Relations Theory to a First-Time Plasma Donor Who Fears Fainting

Student Name

Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Thomas Edison State University

NUR-3420: Contemporary Nursing Practice

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title names the theory, the population and the clinical problem, so the mentor knows before reading that this is an application rather than a biography of the theorist. A long, specific title is acceptable in APA 7 student papers as long as it is centered and bold on the title page.

Four Phases at One Donor Chair: Applying Peplau's Interpersonal Relations Theory to a First-Time Plasma Donor Who Fears Fainting

Nursing theory is easy to summarize and harder to use. The assignment for this module asks for an application, so this paper takes one theory, Hildegard Peplau's theory of interpersonal relations, and follows it through one ordinary encounter in the plasma center where I work: a first-time donor who arrives frightened of needles and convinced that fainting is likely. I chose Peplau because her theory treats the relationship between nurse and patient as the place where nursing happens, and a donor center is a setting where the relationship is short, repeated and often the only thing standing between a nervous person and a bad first experience. The donor described here is a composite drawn from several encounters, not a single person.

The Theory in Brief

Peplau (1988) saw nursing as a healing exchange between two people, nurse and patient, who get to know and respect each other while working on a problem they come to share. The relationship moves through overlapping phases. Orientation is the stage where someone asks for help and the nurse clarifies what the trouble is and what help exists. In identification, the patient begins to respond selectively to the people who can help. In exploitation, a word Peplau used in its older sense of making full use, the patient uses the services offered. Resolution closes the relationship once the need has been met, ideally leaving the person better able to manage alone. Across these phases the nurse takes up six roles as needed, among them the stranger at first contact, the teacher and resource person once questions start, and at other times the counselor, the leader or the surrogate.

Alligood (2022) notes that Peplau's work was among the first to frame nursing as an interpersonal science, and that its practical value lies in giving the nurse a way to see anxiety as information. Peplau held that mild anxiety can help a person learn, while severe anxiety narrows perception until learning stops. That idea is the hinge of this application, because the frightened donor's problem is not the needle. It is how much the fear will narrow what the donor can take in during the first twenty minutes.

What this page is doingThe theory section is short and accurate, and it ends by choosing the one concept the rest of the paper will use. That choice is what turns a summary into an application. Mentors in Contemporary Nursing Practice often deduct points for theory sections that run longer than the application itself.

Orientation: The Nurse as Stranger and Resource

The donor, whom I will call D., arrived on a weekday morning with a friend who donates regularly. At screening D. said, half joking, that they would probably pass out. Their pulse was 104 and they were gripping the edge of the counter. In Peplau's terms, D. was in orientation: they had identified a felt need, the compensation and perhaps the friend's approval, but did not yet understand the process or trust anyone in the room. My first role was the stranger, which Peplau described as offering the same respect and courtesy one would offer any stranger, without assuming familiarity.

I moved to the role of resource person by answering the question D. had not quite asked. Research suggests the fear is common and inflated: France and France (2018) surveyed more than a thousand adults and found that people overestimated the risk of fainting during donation by more than twenty times, and that those with greater fear of having blood drawn estimated even higher risk. I did not quote the study to D., but I gave the same information in plain terms. Most people never faint, the machine returns fluids, and staff watch every chair. D.'s shoulders dropped slightly, and their pulse at recheck was 96.

What this page is doingHere the paper shows the phase, the nurse role and the evidence together, which is the core skill the module tests. The study is reported accurately, with its sample and finding, and then translated into what the nurse actually said. That translation is the evidence that theory guided practice.

Identification: Choosing Whom to Trust

Identification began when D. asked whether I would be the one to put the needle in. Peplau described this phase as the point where the patient responds selectively to the persons who seem able to help, and where patients may act dependently, independently or interdependently with the nurse. D. was leaning toward dependence. Rather than promise to stay at the chair for the entire procedure, which I could not do with a full floor, I introduced the phlebotomist who would perform the venipuncture by name, told D. that I would check on them at the start of the return cycle, and explained what the return cycle would feel like.

This was a deliberate choice between two of Peplau's roles. Acting as a surrogate, the person the patient leans on in place of someone else, would have reduced D.'s anxiety for the moment but left them dependent on me for every future visit. Acting as a teacher, I could transfer some of the control to D. I showed D. how to tense the leg muscles for a few seconds at a time, a technique known as applied muscle tension, and explained that it can help keep blood pressure up. D. practiced it twice at the chair before the needle went in.

What this page is doingShowing the nurse choosing between roles, and explaining why, demonstrates critical thinking about the theory rather than a mechanical walk through its parts. A rubric row on analysis or synthesis usually rewards exactly this kind of reasoned choice.

Exploitation: Making Full Use of the Help Offered

Exploitation, in Peplau's sense, is the phase in which the patient uses what the relationship offers. During the first return cycle D. reported tingling around the mouth and a cold feeling in the arm. Both are common during plasmapheresis, and D. had been told to expect them. Because D. had been taught what the sensations meant, they reported them early and calmly instead of panicking. The phlebotomist slowed the return rate per the procedure, and I reinforced the muscle tension practice. D. completed the donation without a reaction requiring intervention.

The evidence supports attention to first-time donors in particular. An industry-wide surveillance analysis by Schreiber et al. (2021), covering roughly four months of United States source plasma collections, showed first-time donors reacting at several times the rate of repeat donors, with hypotensive events the most frequent category. Thorpe et al. (2025) found that donors who more strongly believed donation would make them dizzy or anxious donated less often over the following year. Read together, the studies suggest that the interpersonal work of the first visit is not only kindness; it shapes whether a donor has a safe first experience and whether they return.

What this page is doingTwo studies are synthesized in one paragraph, and the final sentence states what they mean together. Synthesis of sources is often the highest weighted row in a theory application rubric, and it is the move most first drafts skip.

Resolution and Evaluation

Resolution came at the post-donation check. D. said the experience was easier than expected and asked how long to wait before returning. I gave the hydration and meal advice the center uses and told D. to mention the fear at their next visit so staff could offer the same preparation. In Peplau's framework, the relationship ended with D. more able to manage the experience independently, which is the goal of the phase. Evaluating the encounter honestly, the theory helped me notice that my urge to promise constant presence would have served my comfort more than D.'s. Its limitation in this setting is time: Peplau's phases assume a relationship that develops over days, and a donor encounter compresses them into minutes, so the phases overlap more than her original descriptions suggest.

Applying the theory changed one habit. I now ask first-time donors one open question at screening about what they expect the donation to feel like. The answers tell me within seconds whether anxiety is mild enough to help learning or severe enough to block it, and that is the distinction Peplau made central to the nurse's work.

What this page is doingThe conclusion evaluates the theory, including a limitation specific to the setting, and reports a change in practice. Mentors frequently reserve the top band of the rubric for papers that critique the theory's fit, not just praise it.

References

Alligood, M. R. (2022). Nursing theorists and their work (10th ed.). Elsevier.

France, C. R., & France, J. L. (2018). Fear of blood draw is associated with inflated expectations of faint and prefaint reactions to blood donation. Transfusion, 58(10), 2360-2364. https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.14934

Peplau, H. E. (1988). Interpersonal relations in nursing. Macmillan Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10109-2

Schreiber, G. B., Becker, M., Fransen, M., Hershman, J., Lenart, J., Song, G., & Simon, T. (2021). Plasmavigilance: Adverse events among US Source plasma donors. Transfusion, 61(10), 2941-2957. https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.16612

Thorpe, R., Thijsen, A., & Masser, B. (2025). Whole-blood and plasma donor beliefs about the health impacts of donation and effect on donation frequency: A survey study. Transfusion, 66(2), 367-375. https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.70054

NUR 3420 Module 3 instructions, in plain terms

The Module 3 directions in NUR-3420 usually ask you to select a nursing theory or model, explain its main concepts briefly, and apply it to a situation from your own practice. Some terms name the theory list you may choose from and others leave it open, so check the assignment page and the readings your mentor posted. Most versions want the application to dominate: the explanation of the theory should be short, and the larger share of the paper should show how the concepts guided what you noticed, decided and did. Many sections also ask for an evaluation of the theory's usefulness and limits in your setting. Plan for scholarly sources beyond the theorist's own work, and follow APA 7 for the title page, headings and references.

How this NUR 3420 Module 3 example is built

The example opens by naming the theory and the case and explaining why Peplau fits a donor setting. A brief theory section sets out the phases and roles and then picks anxiety as the single concept the rest of the paper will use. The four body sections follow the phases in order, and in each one the nurse role is named, the action is described and a source is attached where evidence supports the action. The identification section shows the nurse choosing between the surrogate and teacher roles, which gives the paper a clear analytic moment. The exploitation section combines two studies into one claim. The resolution section evaluates the theory honestly, notes that its phases compress in a short encounter, and reports one practice change.

NUR 3420 Module 3 rubric: what earns full marks

Theory application papers are usually graded on four things. First, accuracy: the concepts must be described correctly and attributed to the theorist's own work. Second, application: each concept should be connected to something specific in the case, and the mentor will look for named roles, phases or propositions rather than general statements about caring. Third, use of evidence: sources should support the nursing actions, not only the theory, and the strongest papers synthesize two or more studies into one point. Fourth, evaluation: the top band of most rubrics asks whether you judged the theory's fit, strengths and limits. Organization, clarity and APA formatting carry the remaining points. Your Moodle rubric shows how your section divides these weights.

Common NUR 3420 Module 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them

The most common way to lose points here is to spend two pages on the theorist's life and one paragraph on the case. Keep the theory section to about a fifth of the paper. Another frequent error is choosing a theory because it sounds impressive and then forcing the case to fit; a narrow, everyday encounter often shows a theory better than a dramatic one. Students also forget to evaluate the theory, which costs the highest band. If you use a patient example, make it a composite and remove any identifying detail. Peplau, Orem, Watson and Kolcaba are all common choices, so make your case specific enough that the paper could only be yours. Ask the desk for a custom application built on your own theory and setting if you need one.

Write yours, or have the desk draft it

This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

More NUR 3420 and Bachelor of Science in Nursing sample papers

NUR 3420 Module 3 questions, answered

Where can I find a free NUR 3420 Module 3 sample paper?

You are reading one. The full theory application paper sits above, from the student title page down to the reference list, with a note beside every sheet. It applies Peplau's theory to a composite plasma donor, so treat it as a model for structure and choose your own theory and case.

Which nursing theory is easiest to apply in NUR-3420?

There is no easy theory, but theories built around a relationship or a self-care need, such as Peplau or Orem, map neatly onto a single patient encounter. Pick the theory that explains something you actually did, and the application section will almost write itself.

Do I need to cite the theorist's original book?

Many mentors want at least one primary source, meaning the theorist's own work, plus a secondary text such as Alligood. If the original is hard to find, a reissued edition is acceptable. Cite the edition you read and do not cite secondary summaries as if they were the original.

Can I use a patient from my own unit as the case?

You can base the case on practice, but present it as a composite and remove names, dates, ages that identify, and unusual details. State in the paper that the case is a composite. This protects patient privacy and still lets you show how the theory guided real decisions.

How long should the theory summary be in the Module 3 paper?

Aim for one or two paragraphs. The assignment tests application, so most of your word count should describe the case through the theory's concepts. A long summary is the most common reason papers in this module land in the middle of the rubric.