Letter to the Editor

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To the editor:

We congratulate Chaffee and McNeill on the publication of their article, “A Model of Nursing as a Complex Adaptive System” (Nursing Outlook 2007;55:232-241). The development of a new conceptual model of nursing always is a cause for celebration of the advancement of our knowledge. We are, however, concerned that Chaffee and McNeill did not place their conceptual model within the context of or show an evolution from relevant existing nursing conceptual models. We refer readers to Holden’s¹ concept analysis of complex adaptive systems. She explained the relevance to nursing of the concept, complex adaptive systems, by tracing the “rich tradition” of systems thinking in nursing and pointed out that nurse theorists, including Dorothy Johnson, Imogene King, Martha Rogers, and Callista Roy, have developed conceptual models of nursing that reflect systems thinking. Holden concluded, “This rich tradition in nursing that has emphasized connections and interactions within a systems paradigm continues today. Complexity science merely represents the next stage in understanding how systems operate.”¹

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Reference 

1. Holden LM. Complex adaptive systems: Concept analysis. J Adv Nurs. 2005;52:651–657
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