Duration Experience: A Useful Theoretical Construct for Nursing Theory and Research

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Time, as both an external measure developed by man and an internal experience of man, has been of intellectual interest since ancient times. The Egyptians and Greeks both developed elaborate systems of time keeping and wrote extensively about time (Fraser, 1966). The notion that all events take place in time led to the eventual postulation that time was a homogeneous a-priori notion that served as the stage for the action of events (Kant, 1934). This position further developed into an interest in the nature of temporal experience and its relationship to other human activities. Conceptual structures have been proposed that attempt to explain phenomena with reference to rhythmic patterning (Rogers, 1970). The experience of duration within the context of Rogers_ conceptual model for nursing has great promise, and an attempt will be made here to show the relationship between the experience of duration and the Rogerian conceptual framework. To bring these apparently disparate areas together, it is first necessary to discuss some of the ideas proposed by Rogers (1970).