Peter Draper: Nursing theory in British nursing (and beyond..?)

Thirty years ago Draper identified a need for British nurses to:

"... have more confidence in themselves as practitioners, researchers and theoreticians. We must put aside the argument that nursing practice based on models derived from individual nurses own beliefs about people and life will lead to confusion in the client's mind and impede recovery, and instead use the implicit theoretical notions that guide the practice of every nurse as a starting point for the development of theory which explores, explains and enhances the reality of British nursing." pp.14-15.

"The resulting theory will achieve relevance from its grounding in the phenomena and data it seeks to explain, and although it may not have the power to account for nursing in all of its complex reality, it will be more likely to form an adequate curriculum framework than will deductively based theory." p.15.

Draper, P. The development of theory in British nursing: current position and future prospects. J Adv Nurs. 1990 Jan;15(1):12-5.