The interface of philosophy, theory and practice

International Conference on Nursing & Emergency Medicine

December 02-04, 2013 Hampton Inn Tropicana, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Beverly J. Whelton

Accepted Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

These relationships are expressed through an exposition of the philosophical foundations of, theoretical components, and applications into practice of the scholarly work of Imogene King. Her systems implement the systems theory of van Bertalanffy: the personal system captures the human person as understood from Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas; the interpersonal system reflects the space within which nurses intervene in patient care; and social systems provide insight into community and institutions within which nursing functions to move individuals, families and communities towards health. King?s Theory of goal attainment captures insight into the human person as rational and free. The inherent dignity of the human person requires respect for individual autonomy. Human freedom is based on knowledge. With health-care knowledge of how to care for one?s self to preserve, restore or recover health capacity the individual is enabled to contribute values and choose culturally sensitive healthy behaviors. Nurses and patients act, interact, and transact agreements in the formation of mutual goals. Mutual goal setting respects the human capacities of reason and will. Health plans based on mutual agreement encourage improve compliance and increase evidence based outcomes supporting successful clinical practice behaviors.

Biography :

After working clinically for fifteen years with an A.D. in Nursing and a B.A. in Biology, Beverly J. Whelton obtained an MSN and taught nursing for five years. She then returned to the classroom as a student to inquire into the foundations of practice and research with human subjects. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Philosophy with a dissertation in philosophy of the human sciences from The Catholic University of America (1996). During the years of acquiring her Ph.D. and before acquiring a full-time position, she practiced nursing in acute home care and taught in undergraduate philosophy and graduate level Philosophy of Science at The Catholic University of America and University of Maryland. She lectures nationally and internationally on human life itself as a foundation for practice. In March 2009, she presented ?Humanity, the Natural Foundation for Ethical Standards: An Aristotelian- Thomistic look at Death of the Donor in Organ Retrieval,? at the conference, The Ethics of Organ Transplantation, University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas. Her chapter ?The Nursing Act is an Excellent Human Act: A Philosophical Analysis Derived from Classical Philosophy and the Conceptual Framework and Theory of Imogene King,? appeared as the second chapter in the graduate level text, Middle Range Theory Development Using King?s Conceptual System. Her publications have appeared in Linacre Quarterly, Nursing Philosophy, Nursing Science Quarterly, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, and WVNurse. She serves as the Book Review Editor and is on the Editorial Board of the international journal Nursing Philosophy. She currently teaches at Wheeling Jesuit University include Logic, Philosophy of the Human Person, Ethics, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics, Women and Philosophy, and ?Ethics for Health Care? (WJU?s Distance learning course for practicing health-care professionals). With Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins she teaches refugees in Kenya and Malawi ?Person and Conduct.? She has served as president of Sigma Theta Tau International, Omicron Mu Chapter, and is currently Vice President of The International Philosophy of Nursing Society (IPONS).