Nursing Science Quarterly

The author presents ideas from Parse’s humanbecoming paradigm, including living quality as the stuff of a life. The following question is explored: In what way could listening be important to living the core knowings of living quality? Three ways of viewing listening as connected to living quality are presented: listening as silence, listening as dialogue, and listening as ethics.

The conundrum of using data pertinent to a study that were gathered after an official interview ceased is considered in this column. First, details of a proposed study on losing a partner will be provided followed by a snippet of a dialogue with one participant. Then the conundrum of whether or not to use the data is explored and a conclusion reached through consideration of standards for qualitative research.

The politics of academia involve intricate human relationships that are political in nature as nurse leaders and scholars struggle to advance nursing science with complex leading-following situations. This article begins a dialogue of considering potential meanings for what it means to be political within competing interest groups in academia, and within the discipline of nursing. What is most important in the struggle for identity and what possibilities surface when potential competing interests in academia collide? The ethical tenets of humanbecoming and the leading-following model are used to illustrate issues surrounding academic integrity and possibilities for the advancement of nursing scholarship in future generations.

Many people, depending on different times of the year, become exhausted hearing about politics. Yet, politics can no more be avoided than traffic on a freeway. It always exists. Nursing education then is also infused with politically-driven ideas and trends which can influence program success and quality. The author focuses on and explores some of the ever-present politically charged issues involving degree requirements for nurses, general political issues for nursing programs, and promotion and tenure. The author concludes with a discussion on Parse’s teaching-learning model as a means for nurse educators to transcend political turmoil.

The author presents the humanbecoming family model with family living with dementia. A brief overview of the humanbecoming paradigm is presented followed by a discussion about the humanbecoming family model, true presence, and living the art of humanbecoming. A description of the Smith family living with dementia illustrates living the art of humanbecoming.

The author argues that the ever-growing body of nursing science should be the basis for both research and practice. Understanding the philosophical and scientific base of the discipline would ideally be required for both advanced practice and research.

The authors discuss the psychological factors associated with weight loss maintenance and the use of Pender’s health promotion model as a guide for the construction of clinical interventions to address these factors. The psychological factors include internal drive for weight maintenance, ongoing self-monitoring, long-term flexibility, positive mood and emotions, appropriate goals, and management of external stimuli. Nurse practitioners can help combat obesity trends through caring for patients in a holistic manner. Periodic psychological needs-assessments for patients who desire to maintain weight loss may further promote long-term success in weight management.

Bulimia nervosa is a crippling and chronic disorder, with individuals experiencing repeated binge-purge episodes. It is not widely understood by society. The use of the Roy adaptation model for the management of bulimia nervosa is examined in this article. Nursing models are utilized to provide a structure for planning and implementation of patient management. The Roy adaptation model focuses on the importance of individuals as able to adapt well to their changing surrounding environments. This model can be useful in managing patients with bulimia nervosa.

The purpose of this research study was to explore adaptation in new registered nurses using the Roy adaptation model as the guiding conceptual framework. This quantitative study employed a random sampling of new nurses in the state of North Carolina. Personal attributes of the new registered nurses and characteristics of their work setting were modeled with four measures considered suitable proxies for adaptation. Being in a formal orientation period significantly supported the new nurses’ overall adaptation. This may represent the benefit of social support, including education, which seems to facilitate adaptation.

Imogene King’s Theory of Goal Attainment provides a schema for nurses interested in functional status. However, the lack of a uniform definition for functional status has hindered development of a concise understanding of this phenomenon. Functional status is particularly important to nurses who are concerned with the safety and wellbeing of clients. With healthcare’s increased focus on client-family-centered care it is important to develop innovative approaches for evaluating functional status that incorporate the client-family perspective. King’s focus on mutual decision-making is an underutilized resource that can provide great insight into the study and understanding of functional status.

This introduces the guest author’s column on perspectives on the development of leaders in science. The need for leadership in science is discussed and a model for the development of science leaders in nursing is outlined.

In this article, there is a leadership discussion related to the development of leaders in nursing science–a topic rarely discussed. Given the recent dramatic shifts in funding as well as changes in methods of inquiry and data models, there is a clear need for individuals in nursing science who can not only negotiate the turbulent waters of funding but can also lead teams of others, and the discipline, to generate and translate knowledge that will truly be useful to providers, patients, and families. This requires leaders in science who can challenge the prevailing views and traditional paths to excellence held sacred by some.

In this this essay, the author addresses the close connection between mixed methods research and nursing practice. If the assertion that research and practice are parallel processes is accepted, then nursing practice may be considered “invisible mixed methods research,” in that almost every encounter between a nurse and a patient involves collection and integration of qualitative (word) and quantitative (number) information that actually is single-case mixed methods research.