- Nursing theory should define the boundaries of
nursing. - “Nursing theory is too important an enter-
prise to be undertaken without the strictest
rules of scientific discovery and explanation....
It is the researcher who should challenge the
cherished ideas and find the data that will sup-
port or refute the theorist’s claims. The practi-
tioner must provide the ultimate test of
relevance to the theorist’s work. Unless the the-
ory can be interpreted by the nurse who reaches
the patient wherever nursing is practiced, theory
will remain a questionable entity...theory
should teach nurses what they are” (1988a, pp.
20–21). - It is essential that concepts that are shared from
other disciplines are accurately reproduced
and used appropriately (1996). The sharing of
concepts from other disciplines has enhanced
nursing scholarship and provided nurses with
the knowledge and skills to provide holistic
care. - “At every level where theory is taught...the
content of courses in nursing theory ought to
excite what Brunner (1985) called the effective
surprise, where the combination of recognition
and discovery adds new dimensions to nursing
practice” (1995, p. 12). - “[I]t is imperative that there be a variety [of
nursing theories]—for there is no global theory
of nursing that fits every situation” (1995, p. 13). - “Not everything that is accepted as theory now
can—nor should—survive, but ‘serious intel-
lectual inquiry’ will create new theories, and
nursing can only prosper when it does” (1995,
p. 14).
In summary, Levine proposed that nursing the-
ory is an adjunctive science, that it provides for the
development of the intellectual component of
nursing essential for understanding the why of
nursing actions, is tested through use by practition-
ers, is not universal in the sense that there is no
one global theory of nursing that will fit all
situations, and should be refined and further devel-
oped by new researchers. She noted that some the-
ories might be time limited and new theories would
be developed. Levine’s work continues to encour-
age the intellectual pursuits of “her” students. We
learn and grow as we continue to review and rein-
terpret her work in preparation for the future of
nursing.
Alligood (1997) first made the Theory of
Conservation explicit. The Theory of Conservation
is rooted in the concept of conservation and is
based on the assumption that all nursing actions
are conservation principles (Levine, 1973).
Conservation is natural law that is fundamental to
many basic sciences. The purpose of conservation
is “to keep together,” which means “to maintain a
proper balance between active nursing interven-
tions coupled with patient participation on the one
hand and the safe limits of the patients’ abilities to
participate on the other” (Levine, 1973, p. 13). The
Theory of Conservation is based on the universal
principle of conservation, which provides the foun-
dation for the conservation principles in the model.
Conservation assures wholeness, integrity, and
unity.
The conservation principles form the major
propositions (Levine, 1973, pp. 13, 444, and 446):- The individual is always within an environment
milieu, and the consequences of his awareness of
his environment persistently influence his be-
havior at any given moment. - The individual protects and defends himself
within his environment by gaining all the infor-
mation he can about it. - The nurse participates actively in every patient’s
environment, and much of what she does sup-
ports his adaptations as he struggles in the
predicament of illness. - Even in the presence of disease, the organism re-
sponds wholly to the environment interaction in
which it is involved, and a considerable element
of nursing care is devoted to restoring the sym-
metry of response—symmetry that is essential
to the well-being of the organism (Levine,
1969b, p. 98).
The Theory of Therapeutic Intention was devel-
oped to provide a way to organize nursing inter-
ventions out of the biological realities that nurses
had to confront (Fawcett, 1995). The biological re-
alities faced by nurses include areas of concern that
focus on living organisms; their structure, form,
function, behavior, growth, and development; and
relationships to their environment and organisms
like and unlike themselves. Given the biological
realities of health, illness, and disease, nurses are or-
ganizing interventions across the life span, in a va-
riety of settings, and based on the principles drawn
from nursing and other disciplines (epidemiology,
106 SECTION II Evolution of Nursing Theory: Essential Influences