Nursing, Caring, and Complexity Science: For Human ... - Axon

8 NURSING, CARING, AND COMPLEXITY SCIENCE
Table 1.2 (Continued)
Concept
Self-organization
Simple rules
Diversity
Definition
CAS have the ability
to influence their
structure and direction
by creating new
patterns through
interactions with other
systems.
Underlying CAS are
rules that govern the
behavior of interacting
agents over time
using feedback
and algorithms.
These rules, when
discovered, will lead
to a unity of the life
sciences. The CAS
evolves creative
possibilities through
learning as a whole.
Agents or elements in
the CAS are varied
and unique, and these
differences are critical
for system health.
Correspondence
to Nursing Theories
Rogers’ principle of helicy and
Barrett’s theory of power as knowing
participation in change: Change is
continuous, dynamic, and creative,
and humans participate knowingly
in the process of change; humans
participate knowingly in change
through awareness, choice, freedom
to act intentionally, and involvement in
creating change.
Newman’s ideas of transformation
through pattern recognition; shifts
occur as client recognizes own
patterning.
Davidson found that in complex
human–environment interrelationships
choice is important for well-being.
Turkel and Ray describe the selforganizing
characteristics of the work
environment occurring as forces of
economic accountability and need for
relationship converge.
Roy’s scientific assumption: Systems
progress to a higher level of
complexity and self-organization.
Turkel and Ray describe a search
for unity in relational complexity, a
dialectic synthesis that resolves the
tension between economics and
caring.
Ray defines caring as the energy by
which choice is facilitated to bring
order (healing or well-being) out of
chaos (disease, need, pain, or crisis).
Rogers described increasing diversity
as a manifestation of patterning.