Commentary: Conceptualising nursing theory and practice within a local cultural and professional context: a methodological example to inform theory development

Résumé fourni par la source

There is nothing more satisfying for me than reviewing an academic paper that challenges the professional establishment a little.This paper manages to do that, in my view, in three key ways.Firstly, it caught my attention in terms of challenging the historical context and the Anglo-Saxon influence on contemporary nursing.The paper provides us with a good overall background to the issue, allowing the reader to gain a fuller understanding of the historical development of the profession's theoretical underpinnings which have been dominated, in the main, by an Anglo-Saxon paradigm which has had global implications.Being an Irish Celt, any Anglo-Saxon challenge usually gets my full attention; however, I feel the authors could have focused their critique much more on the British influence on nursing which still persists in most contemporary global healthcare systems.Many countries continue to base their nurse education and practice on the Nightingale model.This influence is evident in the structure of nursing curricula, the emphasis on clinical training, and the professional ethos that values discipline, order and compassion -all hallmarks of the British nursing tradition and most of which has influenced many Nursing Theorists.Even our most prominent professional organisation, the International Council of Nurses (ICN), founded in 1899 by Ethel Gordon Fenwick, a British nurse, reflects British nursing ideals.The ICN's mission to advance nursing standards globally echoes the principles established by Nightingale and her successors (International Council of Nurses, 2023).What I found intriguing in this paper is how it seems to be that American Nursing theory has mostly influenced the Italian nursing profession and not the British colonial models, with nursing concepts like Henderson's wholly adopted into the Italian nursing curriculum and education system without any adaptation.The authors do a great job highlighting that 'one size does not fit all' and that most foreign contributions do not align with the local Italian cultural and professional context.They highlight the American emphasis on individualism, autonomy and one's health vs the Italian emphasis on family and community health as a perfect example.

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