[NPInfo] Jeff's Theory on Nursing Theory

Mon Jan 22 11:51:54 PST 2007

please take me off you mailing list

Audrey Van Voorhis <avvarnp at msn.com> wrote:  Pat, 

I agree with you 100%. When I was in grad school a fellow student was bitching about being thought of as inferior to MDs and a wise instructor just looked at her and said "we are well trained in what we do-If someone asked you to design a building could you do it or if someone asked you to do open heart surgery could you do it, conversely ask an open heart surgeon about fibroids, irregular menstrual bleeding etc and they would look at you as if you were speaking Martian-therefore never, ever feel you are inferior to anyone in the medical field. Just be the best at what you are being trained to do and throw in all the years of nursing and you will be better than best." I refer back to that dialogue many times especially with the women's health students that I precept. 

I have my own women's health care practice and I would say, without exaggeration, that more than half of my patients come to me because I take the time to listen and explain what is going on. 

Audrey Van Voorhis, MN ARNP
Bainbridge Women's Health Care
Bainbridge Island, WA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Pat Camillo 
To: NP Info 
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 8:26 AM
Subject: Re: [NPInfo] Jeff's Theory on Nursing Theory

WOW - what a great discourse.....so glad for the NP students on this list 
because I am certain
that this kind of dialogue is not a popular one in their programs. My 
original inspiration for starting this post
was the statement that docs were more intelligent than NP's. I'm not sure 
that most docs could engage in this kind of discussion
and make much sense. So I would say that in terms of intelligence - we 
should not undersell ourselves :).

As far as theory goes......yes, many of our nursing theorists have put into 
words what we already know and practice
whether that be a total person approach, self care, therapeutic use of self, 
the individual's responsibility for their health etc. etc.
BUT, theory is not just about describing or proposing what we DO.....it also 
provides a framework for research where
our practice and the reasons we do things in the way that we do can be 
tested. And yet, because theory and research
create such strong, negative feelings among practicing nurses - very little 
of this actually gets done. SO for instance, although
nurses have recognized and appreciated the spiritual dimensions of healing 
in a persons life....it was Harvard that had the
academic curiosity and the theoretical framework to research the impact of 
prayer on women with breast cancer.
Their work hit the headlines while we nurses are still moaning about needing 
more medical knowledge.

I've said it before and I'll say it again......if you need more medical 
knowledge - get a book, go to a conference and fill in the gaps.
It's not difficult.........then you can join a very large community of 
practitioners who focus on meeting only the medical needs
of the people they serve. In my world, women are increasingly disgusted with 
these practitioners........

If you decide you want to focus on what nursing can bring to health care 
.....read Notes on Nursing by Nightingale and then
perhaps a little Parse or Neuman......you may not like them but they "get 
it"........at least in my practice, this is the approach that
women are looking for......and if they can't find it in an NP practice, they 
will go down the road to the naturopath and pay
hundreds of dollars out of pocket, to get the kind of care they want and 
need.

Just some thoughts after a morning of ashtanga yoga :)

Pat

Pat Camillo PhD,RN,APN,C
Certified Nurse Practitioner in Women's Health,
Gerontology and Menopause
Carmenta Health
1 Kalisa Way Suite 103
Paramus, New Jersey 07652
(201) 265-9042

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shelby Havens" >
To: "NP Info" >; "'NP Info'" >
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 10:12 AM
Subject: [NPInfo] Jeff's Theory on Nursing Theory

> Jeffy wrote:
>
> I think I got one thing right. There is no meat (no substance) to go
> with the potatoes of nursing theory. Nursing is holistic. It seeks to 
> restore
> and then promote health on a continuum (Nola Pender) (sorry, Nola, it 
> didn't
> take a doctoral degree to think up the thought that our aim is to take 
> patients
> from collectively sick to individually sick to individually well, to
> collectively well. We call that public health Service, you call it 
> "theory").
> OK, rest the hackles. It didn't take a semester to state the obvious. 
> Nursing
> theory seeks to predict what behavior will be observed, how a patient will
> react to stimuli? Huh? I contend it isn't worth the time it takes to write
> that down.
> ************************************************************
>
> I totally agree that a great deal of Nursing Theory is fluff. Nice to 
> ponder at times, but not for long. As a psychiatric ARNP, I say that I use 
> Peplau's Theory of Interpersonal Relations whenever I am put on the spot 
> and asked what Nursing Theory I use. Other than that, I never think about 
> it.
>
> It didn't take a lot of smarts for H. Peplau to come up with the idea that 
> psychiatric nurses engage in the "therapeutic use of self" in their 
> practice. It's just common sense, really. Duh!
>
> Here's the bottom line, for me at least. You can't get a field plowed by 
> turning it over in your mind! I say nurse practitioner students should 
> spend less time reading theory books and more time learning clinical 
> practice.
>
> But that's just my opinion. That and $1.40 will get you a grande cup of 
> French Roast at Starbucks today.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Shelby Havens, ARNP
> Gainesville, Florida
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.nurse.net/mailman/listinfo/npinfo
> *****************************
> 

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