EDITORIAL
Vol 16 No 3 - November 2000


In July, when I agreed to write this editorial, I had several thoughts in mind, and made a few notes about what I might say. At that time it was the middle of winter and there were 60 days or so until the start of the Olympic Games.
Now, as I make sense of my notes and my thoughts, Spring is here, and the games have begun.
The Olympic Games are a poignant reminder of the spirit of unity which admits diversity. There can be no doubt that the efforts and achievements of our sporting heroes will be admired and celebrated. So what is there to celebrate in the efforts and achievements of nurses and nursing in New Zealand. A great deal. Let me give you two examples.
This year I have been involved in teaching a group of registered nurses in an area away from where I live. These nurses have, for the last three years, undertaken study to complete a Bachelor of Nursing degree, and they will graduate in December. They are not alone in their pursuit of knowledge; but I want to pay special tribute to them, as I know what remarkable things they have done to maintain their study, while at the same time juggling (mostly) full time employment, families and various life events. Their achievements are something to celebrate.
Another part of my employment responsibilities includes the teaching of registered nurses undertaking postgraduate studies. Increasing education and training opportunities exist for nurses, with nursing practice as a clear focus and component. Exciting stuff. There is a new wave of nurses with a different perspective, developed from combining their clinical expertise with research and scholarly inquiry to advance their nursing practice. Something else to celebrate. Yet I know that individuals within both the above groups have at
times felt the sting of marginalisation. Why is it that colleagues who choose to pursue knowledge - whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level are often undervalued and sometimes even regarded with derision. Where is our confidence in accepting diversity and difference in nurses and nursing?
I won’t digress to try to answer that question. However I do know, there is still a prevalent view that knowledge, such as that gained during a course of study, is not useful to nurses. This stance perpetuates the tension between theory and practice, and marginalises academic and scholarly activity. You recognise what I mean - the socalled “theory-practice” gap. Kim Walker (2000) suggests that this is part of an anti-academic ethos that exists as a result of the long apprenticeship tradition in nursing.
It would be unfortunate if nurses were to continue, despite evidence to the contrary, to believe that the acquisition of knowledge through academic study is not useful in terms of the reality of clinical situations in which they work. That there are links between theory and practice or practice and theory is irrefutable. We only need to look at what nurses have written and published in this journal, and others, for such evidence.
I have no doubt that scholarly activity and clinical practice are interdependent. Soulmates, I guess would be the closest description I could use, in the sense that together they are the essence of nursing and one cannot flourish without the other. Rather than dividing nursing their co-existence should be a strengthening and binding force.
Nursing should be celebrating the thinking that produces diversity, encouraging and respecting difference. After all, we are the architects of our own destiny. But only if we want to be.


Elaine Papps RGON, PhD, FCNA (NZ)
Editorial Board Member
DUNEDIN


Reference
Walker, K. (2000) Why philosophy? In J. Daly, S.Speedy, D. Jackson (Eds.). Contexts of Nursing. Sydney: MacLennan and Petty.