title: Shaping the future of nursing: developing an appraisal framework for public engagement with nursing policy reports.
abstract: It is accepted that research should be systematically examined to judge its trustworthiness and value in a particular context. No such appraisal is required of reports published by organizations that have possibly even greater influence on policy that affects the public. This paper explores a philosophical framework for appraising reports. It gives the reasons why informed engagement is important, drawing on Popper's concept of the open society, and it suggests a method for appraisal. Gadamer's concept of the two horizons and Jauss's reception theory offer a methodological framework to enable the individual citizen, whether professional or lay, to engage in debate about policy that affects him or her. By way of a worked example, the framework is applied to two international reports on nursing. Conclusions suggest that nursing policy should be subjected to robust interrogatory appraisal by both profession and public for a democratic debate and creative discourse. Although this analysis is related to international nursing policy, it has a wider relevance and application beyond nursing.
authors: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Marston, Oxford, UK.
authors: Ann
authors: A
authors: Bradshaw
mesh_terms: D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D005544:Forecasting; D006291:Health Policy / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009729:Nursing / Q000639:trends*; D015399:Nursing Research; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D012107:Research Design / Q000639:trends*; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Gadamer; Jauss; Popper; appraisal; nursing; policy; reports