Book Reviews: MARRINER-TOMEY, A. (1989). Nursing Theorists and Their Work, 2nd ed. St. Louis: Mosby

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68645/2/10.1177_089431849000300211.pd

Qualitative theory testing as mixed-method research

While the concept of mixed-methods research is more usually associated with combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, this paper outlines a study that mixed methods by undertaking qualitative theory testing and derivation when examining the relationship between health promotion theory and hospital nursing practice. Thus, it is concerned with relating the metatheoretical aspects of the debate and not with the pragmatic aspects of the research and concomitant methods. A deductive–inductive–deductive design, based on the theory–research–theory strategy of Meleis (1985), tested, revised and developed for nursing established health promotion theory using theory-testing criteria. To complement the methodological mix, the study also used the theory (i.e. a health-promotion taxonomy) as a framework to contextualise the findings rather than generate theory in the way associated with interpretative inquiry. While inconsistent with the traditional view linking theory testing with quantitative, objective epistemology, the process enabled a theoretically robust health-promotion taxonomy to be synthesised and advanced for use in nursing in relation to a paradigm of social thought

Nursing in Slovenia: a consideration of the value of nursing theories

This paper is concerned with the utility of nursing theories in Slovene nursing. Slovene nurses cannot realistically expect help from randomly and uncritically selected nursing theories in the development of education curricula and further, should not blindly accept them in practice. This is essentially because existing theories have often been developed to help nurses from other countries work in different health and nursing environments. Slovene nurses can use different theories from other countries, but they need to be evaluated and tested in Slovene health and nursing environments before they are utilised. If not, they run the risk of being merely a professional/cultural imperialism imposed on Slovene nurses by those from other countries, therefore adding little advantage