One of the “ideals and principles” in the nursing manifesto reads:
- It is our firm conviction that there is a body of knowledge that is specific, if not unique, to nursing’s concerns and interests. We think that this knowledge is grounded in appreciation of wholeness, concern for human well being, and ways in which we accommodate healing through the art and science of nursing. We value theoretical and practical plurality with the centrality of nursing knowledge at the forefront of practice and knowledge development.
Advances in Nursing Science (ANS) has just published-ahead-of-print and article that is a wonderful current-day exploration related to this principle. It is titled “Particularizing the 
General: Sustaining Theoretical Integrity in the Context of an Evidence-Based Practice Agenda” Sally Thorne, PhD, RN, FAAN, FCAHS and Richard Sawatzky, PhD, RN. You can download this article free while it is “ahead of print!” So head to the ANS web site to get your copy now! There is already a very interesting dialogue on the ANS blog about this article! So check it out and add your comments here, or on the ANS blog, or both!
NurseManifest 
Thanks for the link, Peggy. I read the abstract, but couldn’t access the full article. I’m curious about whether/how you are addressing the role of “energy” in healing. I’ve followed Leah Curtin’s thoughts about quantum physics for some time. I also have an English colleague and colleagues in the Holistic Nursing Association who use a concept they call “integrative energy.”
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Hi Peggy,
Seems like it no longer is available…Too bad, I’d like to read it! Leah
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How great to hear form you! The article is still available on the ANS web site at http://journals.lww.com/advancesinnursingscience/Abstract/2014/01000/Particularizing_the_General__Sustaining.4.aspx
But now there is a charge unless you are a subscriber, so get it from a library if this does not work for you! It is a fabulous article!
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I just checked the ANS web site, and the article is indeed available for free download for anyone .. the link is in the right-hand column “view article as PDF” – so check it out again and let me know if you still can’t get it. On energy and healing .. this is not my are of expertise, but I know lots of folks who are connected to NurseManifest are — Carey Clark I am sure would be a wonderful person to connect with on this! Great to hear from you!
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Peggy,
I just read my copy of the Particularizing the General article. While I admit my head is spinning!! the article definitely gave me food for thought. I read it as I prepare to teach a course on “Teaching Nursing Theory” in a Nursing Education doctoral program. I also read it thinking about my own “theories” about language in nursing (and health care in general). I am wondering if my thoughts on language are simply ideology or if there is any hope for making something out of this and effecting change in the language we use in health care. So far I have only found “evidence” from the sociology discipline, which leads me to yet another question and that is whether nursing knowledge is truly unique or unavoidably intertwined with the work of other disciplines that study and work with humans. I look forward to class discussions on this one!!
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Yes! This is a wonderful article. Sally is also very sharp in critique of language! Keep us posted on how your course unfolds!
Sent from my iPhone http://www.peggychinn.com
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