Transcending the Limits of Method: Cultivating Creativity in Nursing

Abstract

In this article the author suggests that by nurturing the development of creativity in individual nurses and cultivating a culture of creativity in the profession, our knowledge and practice as a discipline could be strongly enhanced. This cultivation process, however, requires that we move beyond “using” theory to develop methods of practice. Such an approach to theory serves to solidify and constrain practice and inhibits the full contribution of nursing theory and knowledge. Drawing on the work of philosophers in the pragmatist tradition, the author considers how we might redescribe form to better support the creative process and ultimately enhance the development and contribution of nursing knowledge and theory.