In Brief:
The Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms has been used to guide research, but no formal critique of the theory has been published since 2000. This paper comprehensively analyzes and evaluates the theory using Fawcett and DeSanto-Madeya's framework. Although its semantic clarity, semantic and structural consistency, and parsimony could be improved, the theory demonstrates good social and theoretical significance, testability, and empirical and pragmatic adequacy; the theory demonstrates that nurses should focus on multiple rather than individual symptoms. www.advancesinnursingscience.com
