Scientific Properties of Chaos in Nursing

Author: Nicholas Terela

Field of Study: Nursing

Faculty Mentors: Melissa Sutherland, Jodi Sutherland, Rosemary Collier

Easel: 25

Timeslot: Morning

Abstract: Chaos, a subset of complex adaptive systems science, is a universal phenomenon which exhibits properties traditionally studied within meteorology, mathematics, and physics. Chaos has a scientific meaning, as identified by meteorologist Edward Lorenz, showing that there is underlying order in apparently random events. However, these properties have rarely been discussed within the field of nursing. The purpose of this research is to parallel the properties of chaos to actions one must take within the field— properties such as determinism, aperiodicity, and nonlinearity. Nurses can engage in meaningful relationships with their patients, regardless of a seemingly-inevitable outcome; each patient’s scenario is unique, let alone each day on the clock; nothing resembles a straight line in the healthcare world, split between physical and electronic, care areas and medical records. This approach seeks to encourage the field of nursing toward adaptability and ingenuity, as traditional hospital based systems are based on all-too-linear processes.