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Published on: February 16, 2011
Development of a Theory of Wisdom-in-Action for Clinical Nursing
Susan A Matney1, Kay Avant, Lauren Clark
1Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, Utah and College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (Dr Matney); School of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio (Dr Avant); School of Nursing, University of California Los Angeles (Dr Clark); and College of Nursing and Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City (Dr Staggers).
Abstract:
Nurses published dialogues on wisdom; yet, a conceptual model is unavailable. We present the development process for a theory of wisdom-in-action for clinical nursing developed in 3 phases: (1) a deductively derived model using derivation and synthesis; (2) inductively, a constructivist grounded theory captured the experience of wisdom in nursing practice; and (3) the 2 theories were synthesized into a nascent theory. The theory describes 2 antecedent dimensions, person-related and setting-related factors, and 2 types of wisdom, general and personal. The theory provides a framework for translating wisdom in nursing practice, depicting both the science and art of nursing.
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