Helen Erickson Response
The following is a letter I wrote to Bailey Mason, a student studying MRM for the first time. It has a brief statement regarding environment under question #2. You'll note that my comments are all in CAPS, thus are in response to her questions.
Hope everyone is having a good day!
Best always,
Helen
Helen Erickson wrote:
Hello Bailey, I'm delighted that you think that MRM is "out of the box" thinking! It was derived from practice; perhaps that is why. I'm going to answer your questions below, using CAPS.
Bailey Mason wrote:
Dr. Erickson, Thank you so much for the CV you sent to our group. We are excited to add it to the biographical information we have gathered. We were searching the internet rather than the books. We have chosen this theory to present because we feel it is creative and "out of the box" thinking .We want to present it as such. We are going to show clips of the movies The Rainman and Patch Adams to illustrate parts of the theory. THIS SHOULD BE FUN! We also thought it would be wonderful to have some actual quotes from you commenting on your theory. We have submitted some question for your review and comment. Would you kindly comment on the questions with a two or three sentence answer .However please feel free to expound as much as you feel necessary. We are certainly conscious of you time and do not want to impose any more than necessary. The questions are as follows:
1. What was your major origin of thoughts and influences of the theory?
THE THEORY WAS DERIVED FROM YEARS OF PRACTICE, LIFE EXPERIENCES AND NUMEROUS INTERACTIONS WITH MY FATHER-IN-LAW, MILTON ERICKSON. REMEMBER, (SEE PREFACE IN THE BOOK) THAT I WAS TAUGHT BY A FACULTY TO LOOK FIRST AT THE PERSON'S FACE, THEN THE BODY, THEN THE EQUIPMENT. THIS WAS REINFORCED BY MY FATHER IN LAW WHO TOLD ME THAT TO BE ABLE TO REALLY HELP PEOPLE, YOU HAD TO MODEL THEIR WORLD. FINALLY, AFTER PRACTICING FROM SUCH A BELIEF SYSTEM/PHILOSOPHY FOR YEARS, I DECIDED TO LABEL AND ARTICULATE WHAT I KNEW TO BE 'TRUE'. THAT IS WHEN THE BOOK, MRM, BECAME A REALITY.
2. Your definition of nursing, person, health and society /environment.
NURSING IS AN INTERACTIVE, INTERPERSONAL PROCESS WITH THE CLIENT. THE CLIENT CAN BE A PERSON, GROUP, FAMILY OR COMMUNITY. NURTURING AND FACILITATING CLIENTS IN BUILDING, MOBILIZING AND USING RESOURCES IS THE ROLE OF THE NURSE. UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE CLIENT'S CURRENT STATE OF BEING IS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE NURSE TO NURSE THE CLIENT. THE NURSE'S GOAL IS TO PROMOTE MAXIMUM HOLISTIC HEALTH THROUGH CONTINUOUS ADAPTATION, GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. NURSING OCCURS IN ANY SETTING WHERE CLIENT SEEK PROFESSIONAL CARE.
THE PERSON IS A HOLISTIC, DYNAMIC SYSTEM CONTINUOUSLY INTERACTING WITH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS WITH A DRIVE TOWARD SELF-ACTUALIZATION. THE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT CONSISTS OF FOUR SUB-SYSTEMS THAT ARE INTERSECTED BY AN INHERENT ENDOWMENT AND A SPIRITUAL DRIVE. THE PERSON IS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF INFORMATION; INFORMATION IS DRAWN FROM SELF-CARE KNOWLEDGE. SELF-CARE KNOWLEDGE PROVIDES INFORMATION REGARDING SELF-CARE RESOURCES AND SELF-CARE ACTIONS.
THE INTERNAL (WITHIN THE CLIENT) AND EXTERNAL (AROUND THE CLIENT) ENVIRONMENTS ARE CONTINUOUSLY INTERACTING, PRODUCING STRESSORS AND RESOURCES. SOCIETY ESTABLISHES NORMS WHICH INFLUENCE THE CLIENTS INTERPRETATION OF STRESSORS, ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL RESOURCES.
I ALSO SUPPORT EUDAEMONISTIC HEALTH, WHICH IS AN AGGREGATE OF CLINICAL, ROLE-PERFORMANCE
AND ADAPTATION HEALTH. HOWEVER, EUDAEMONISTIC HEALTH EMPHASIZED WELL-BEING, MISSION
AND PURPOSE IN LIFE AND ABILITY TO MOVE TOWARD TRANSCENDENCE.
THESE ARE BRIEF DEFINITIONS, WITHOUT MUCH EXPLANATION, BUT SHOULD HELP YOU UNDERSTAND
THE EMPHASIS IN MRM.
3. Compare your theory to the nursing theory.
I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR HERE SINCE MRM IS MY THEORY!
4. Is there a current nursing research study using your theory as a framework and how is the theory used to guide the methodology.
THERE ARE MANY CURRENT STUDIES. SINCE MRM WAS DEVELOPED USING A RETRODUCTIVE PROCESS, THE METHODOLOGY IS BASED ON THE QUESTION. SOME ARE TESTING BASIC OR EXTRAPOLATED CONCEPTS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WHICH REQUIRES QUANTITATIVE METHODS; OTHERS ARE USING TRIANGULATION SINCE MRM PROPORTS SELF-CARE KNOWLEDGE AS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF INFO, THEN QUALITATIVE METHODS ARE RECOMMENDED. CONTENT ANALYSIS HAS BEEN USED TO STUDY CLIENT'S COMMENTS AS AN EXAMPLE.
5. What are further areas for research and study concerning this theory.
IT IS LIMITLESS! FOR EXAMPLE, JUDI HERTZ IN ILLINOIS HAS DEVELOPED A TOOL CALLED THE PERCEIVED ENACTMENT OF AUTONOMY TOOL FOR THE ELDERLY. SHE IS DOING SOME REALLY INTERESTING WORK TO DETERMINE HOW HER QUANTITATIVE TOOL RELATES TO VISUAL ANALOG SCALES OF PERCEIVED HEALTH RATING. WHEN YOU HAVE A GRAND THEORY WITH SO MANY MID-RANGE THEORIES DERIVED FROM IT, PLUS YOU HAVE A PARADIGM (MODEL FOR PRACTICE) SPECIFIED, THE POTENTIAL FOR RESEARCH IS ENDLESS.
Any comment or quotes we can take to the class from you.
CLARIFY WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT PEOPLE, ABOUT NURSING, AND ABOUT YOUR LIFE PURPOSE. FINDING MEANING IN YOUR JOURNEY; LEARN FROM EXPERIENCES AND MOST OF ALL, BE TRUE TO YOURSELF.
GOOD WISHES TO YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES!
HELEN ERICKSON
Thank you so much for your kind courtesies extended to us. We would like to send a copy of our presentation to you on its completion. Respectfully, Carlyn Bailey Mason