Pragmatism and change: some implications for nurses, nurse managers and nursing

'Change' is a concept currently enjoying much debate and analysis within nursing. Most of this debate and analysis has occurred on a purely academic level: academic examinations of change, however, do not necessarily help nurses understand the mechanisms behind change nor, more importantly, do they necessarily help nurses manage change any better. There is, as such, an argument for the adoption of a more pragmatic approach to change. This paper takes such an approach. The author argues that a greater understanding of change can be gained by examining some of the more fundamental characteristics of change, by comparing and contrasting successful and unsuccessful examples of change and by viewing change as a fluid rather than static entity. A pragmatic approach also reveals the potential of action research as an aid to the understanding of change and as a tool for implementing change in the three distinct spheres of nursing considered: the cognitive-behavioural (personal) sphere, the discipline-wide (professional) sphere and the organizational (managerial) sphere.