INTERSECTIONS OF THOUGHT AND PRACTICE
In my experience, when words like "philosophy" and "ethics" come up in casual conversation, eyes glaze over and the conversation either takes another turn or stops altogether!! But when this issue topic was posted as a forthcoming issue topic for Advances in Nursing Science ANS,), it brought forth a substantial number of manuscripts-many of which have close connections to the "real" worlds of nursing practice and research. It is no surprise to me that nurses make this important and essential link between the world of thought and the world of practice. Nurses are extremely "practical." I often have graduate students describe in some detail how difficult it is for them to grasp abstract and theoretical concepts and ideas, only to find that in actuality, they fully grasp theoretical meanings, and actually use theoretical ideas in practice. Until the theory course in which we have had these discussions, they had not recognized that what they did and how they thought were so integrally intertwined.
Philosophy in its most fundamental meaning is the thinking that underpins human behavior and experience. This fundamental meaning is evident in this issue of ANS, and the articles in this issue bring to light the importance of the study of philosophy in understanding our practices as nurses and researchers. Several of these articles illustrate how a deliberately assumed pattern of thought can shape and mold practice. Others illustrate the influence of hidden or implicit patterns of thought on human experience. Still others illustrate the tensions that exist between different world views, and between that which we seek in our practice and that which is actually practiced.
The response to this issue topic also represented to me the extent to which nurse scholars are engaging in work that has profound, simultaneous implications for nursing knowledge development and the evolution of nursing practice. We received an unusually large number of manuscripts for this issue topic, prompting a major shift for the journal to both print and online publication. The publisher joined me in wishing to provide a publication avenue for as many of the eligible manuscripts for this important issue as possible, and initiated online publication for ANS. You will find the full list of titles and brief abstracts in the table of contents for both the print and online articles, and all of these articles are fully indexed for accessibility. All of the manuscripts underwent the customary peer review process required for publication in ANS, and all of the manuscripts were carefully revised in response to the recommendations of reviewers. Our "mental model" of scholarly publication may not have yet fully incorporated online publication, but this model is stretching, and will be shaped by the continuing quality of work that has characterized ANS since its founding in 1978. This avenue for publication not only provides for publication of works that cannot be incorporated into print but also makes these important works more fully accessible to readers worldwide.
To further support online publication, the publisher has introduced online access to individual print subscribers to ANS. Instructions for free access are available at the journal's Web site http://www.advancesinnursingscience.com. I hope you will visit, and use, both the ANS print and online issues, which are archived as far back as 1995. Contact me at [email protected] with your comments and responses; I look forward to hearing from you!!
Peggy L. Chinn, PhD, RN, FAAN