The Roles and Functions of Nursing

Abstract

THE speakers yesterday tried to provide a conceptual frame-work within which we could look at problems arising out of the preparation of nurses and out of the system of health care delivery. Clearly the first step is to identify what the problems are and how they relate to one another. So often we refer to our problems in an isolated fashion as though they existed as separate and independent entities. In our frame-work we tried to see how our structural, learning, and practise problems were interrelated and how they generated interactant effects. Such a framework is important in preventing us from looking at problems and issues as dead ends and thus not capable of solution. In other words, if we respond to a problem in ways such as the following: "the system is problematic and I as an individual can't deal with systems" or "the situation doesn't allow me to operate as I would like" or "other groups are too difficult to change" or "the others don't really want to change and I do," then it seems to me we abdicate our responsibility to improve the situation. We work ourselves into a corner from which there is no exit. The statements may be true and rational but because of inadequate breadth of conceptualization there are no possible solutions. We must feel that there are solutions to these problems if we are to raise new issues and ideas and evolve new positions and experimental programs aimed at solution. People who have developed new things and have been creative have only done so because they have believed in and were committed to the idea that things can be changed and problems can be solved by individuals. We have found it relatively easy over the years to identify some of the apparent problems but have usually assumed the validity of these with insufficient evidence. We often fail to identify clearly the interrelationship among areas of difficulty, to label these appropriately and to become really committed to finding solutions. If we consider ourselves among the group of