snpmurray's Full Review: Lorraine Olszewski Walker Rn and Kay Coalson Avant...
It is a common experience to almost all of us to believe we have recognized a pattern in something that no-one has ever noticed before. If you believe that your observations can explain phenomena and direct action in a useful way, you may have the makings of a theory on your hands.
Should you be a professional nurse, you will be making observations that concern patients. If you feel you may be able to direct nursing actions in a useful way, you have a nursing theory on your hands. But how do you communicate this?
The careful and thorough development of your theory can be systematized. Walker and Avants’ book lays out that system for you very clearly.
This work is appropriate to undergraduate nurses interested in the composition and history of nursing theory. It is appropriate to graduate study nurses who are constructing and analyzing theories and preparing dissertations and research.
The authors give us little information regarding themselves from which we may judge their fitness to have written this book. They are both professors of nursing in Texas, and, judging by the references cited in this book, publish sporadic papers in this field. The book itself is in its fourth edition, and is widely cited in the literature regarding theory development and is well regarded, at least academically.
I myself found this book easy to read, easy to use and easy to understand. The material they are dealing with is not necessarily straightforward. To achieve such clarity of message is a credit to the authors. Let me describe for you what the book gives you, and describe its commendable presentation.
The authors begin by presenting the context for the work. We are presented with a succinct overview of the growth and evolution of the philosophy of nursing theory. This chapter provides a historical perspective for nursing theory, as well as a developmental one. We are all familiar with at least some theorists (Florence is surely the most universally recognizable at least to the lay public) but the level of theory that they worked with, and the reason for it are laid out here. We are being prepared for the shift in thinking to come. To construct theories systematically, we must first take them apart and see what they are made of!
It is strikingly apparent on reading this chapter that the authors write with great clarity. They move smoothly from idea presentation to idea analysis so as to be easily followed in all cases. It is equally apparent that little idle chat is to be entered into. Almost every single statement, assertion and dissection in the text is backed up by a citation, correctly referenced at the end of the chapter. Tabulations are well spaced out and clear. Subheadings are large, bright and frequent. Finding the information you need is easy to do due to these frequent headings. This is important, since if you plan to use this book as the guide to theory development it can be, you will be doing a lot of flipping around!
The remainder of the book looks in detail at every phase of the process of constructing a theory - from the first conceptualization, through writing the statements that relate concepts in the theory, to bringing it all together in a final synthesis. Each of the phases is broken down into tiny, easily digestible pieces that are clearly headed. Recent and seminal research is quoted throughout.
The end of each of the chapters in the body of the book ends with a practice exercise. Obviously, this would be of little use unless you are working with the assistance of some form of a tutor, as the exercises are not later discussed with an appendix. Working on one’s own these exercises can (and do) still illustrate the end product of each respective stage of theory development. The exercises endeavor to have the reader either produce or sometimes critically evaluate a theory segment.
Summaries conclude each chapter, tying together what has been covered. The summary also directs the reader to literature where the phase of theory development under discussion has been exemplified. Very nicely done.
Actually the whole book is very nicely done. It was a pleasure to use this text, and I will be seeing a lot of it in coming years!
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