2002 Research Study: An Emancipatory Study of Nursing Practice

Photo: the team presented our study in 2003 at the Caring Conference in Boulder, Colorado

The general purposes of this study were to 1) elicit significant stories that reveal what it is

like to practice nursing today, and 2) to awaken an emancipatory response that can shape the future of nursing.

The specific research purposes were to:

1. Explore nurses perceptions of the circumstances of their work life through stories that reveal deep meanings concerning the practice of nursing in today’s context; and
2. Describe the processes by which nurses conceive of and create change in these circumstances.

Research Team

The research team is a group of nurses who teach nursing in various Universities. We also each have different kinds of connections to nursing practice.

• Peggy L. Chinn, RN, PhD, FAAN, at the University of Connecticut (USA). Peggy is the coordinator, and all requirements for human rights approval have been met through the University of Connecticut.
• W. Richard Cowling, RN, PhD, at Virginia Commonwealth University (USA).
• Sue Hagedorn, RN, PhD, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (USA).
• Marlaine Smith, RN, PhD, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (USA).
• Adeline Rafael, RN, PhD, Western Ontario University (Canada).
• Elizabeth Berrey, PhD, RN, MedCentral College of Nursing (Ohio, USA).
• Carey Clark, RN, MSN, PhD. San Francisco State University.

Original Proposal

The proposal for this study was approved by the University of Connecticut IRB. The proposal includes a description of the method. (Download the 2002 Study Proposal).

Study outcomes

Reflections by Adeline Falk-Rafael

A  fictionalized story is drawn from 13 of the stories submitted for the study.

13 Stanzas by Marlaine Smith

Poetic stanzas nspired by each of the 13 stories submitted for the study.

Nurse 65X89 by Carey Clark

A fantasy tale that takes the reader into the realm of a nurse’s reality!

Art by Richard Cowling