“Archives are essential for the collective memory of humanity and preparing for the future.”
(Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, 2023).
As we celebrate a new year, it is a pleasure to visit the official NANDA® International Archives in the Burns Library at Boston College. During this period of organizational progress, there is great value in remaining connected to our foundational scholars and the research that has informed the development, refinement, dissemination, and use of standardized nursing diagnostic terminology. The Archives are maintained by a team of librarians whose invaluable work creates “places of discovery that can spark the imagination and enable us to travel across time – and, with the digitization of physical materials, even across space.” (UNESCO, 2023).
The Archives are a place where visitors can rediscover the history of standardized nursing language, beginning in 1973 when Dr. Mary Ann Lavin and Dr. Kristine Gebbie convened the First National Task Force to Name and Classify Nursing Diagnosis in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Marjory Gordon, a Professor at Boston College, served as the first chairperson of the “Task Force of the National Conference Group on Classification of Nursing Diagnoses”.
The Archives include documents that highlight many critical moments in the history of the field, including when Dr. Gordon formed the Massachusetts Conference Group for the Classification of Nursing Diagnosis in 1975, one of many initiatives established across the United States to promote the discussion, development, and use of nursing diagnosis. The international expansion of work on standardized nursing languages led to the formation of the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA), with Dr. Gordon as the first President.
Connecting the Field’s Founders and its Future
In 2017, the Boston College Connell School of Nursing and NANDA-I partnered to create the Marjory Gordon Program for Clinical Reasoning, Knowledge Development, and Nursing Language. The Marjory Gordon Program promotes international participation and mentorship in knowledge development, scholarship, and inquiry related to nursing diagnosis and standardized nursing languages. One of the Program’s contributions to the field is its management of the NANDA International Archives. The librarians at the Burns Library regularly expand these archives as NANDA International and the Marjory Gordon Program evolve.
The NANDA International Archives include:
- Original communications between NANDA-I leadership and other nursing organizations within and outside the United States, as well as nurse leaders from across the world.
- The Nursing Diagnosis newsletter;
- Records of NANDA-I Fellows, Award Recipients, and NANDA Board members;
- materials from the Marjory Gordon Program at Boston College;
- digitized interviews and presentations, and other data.
Last June, attendees at the 51st NANDA-I Conference at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal were treated to a sneak peek of the NANDA International Archives at Boston College. On behalf of Dr. Dorothy A Jones and the Marjory Gordon Program for Clinical Reasoning, Knowledge Development, and Nursing Language at Boston College, Dr. Natalie Borg presented a video introduction to the expansive NANDA International Archives held at the Burns Library at Boston College.
Your Role in Preserving the History of Standardized Nursing Language
We invite the international community to explore this rich, unique collection. The Archives contain “the raw materials from which untold stories, knowledge, and new insights are (re)constructed and transmitted,” allowing visitors to potentially “reveal, often in unexpected ways, who we are and how we have acted, and to help us shape a better and more informed present and future.” (UNESCO, 2023).
This growing archive contains more than 10 linear meters and 200 gigabytes of materials broken down into three categories: conferences, executive records, and publications. Those interested in learning more about the archives’ holdings can review the Collection Overview. The library also features, as separate collections, the Marjory Gordon papers and the Massachusetts Conference Group for the Classification of Nursing Diagnosis records.
Scholars and researchers interested in accessing archival materials remotely or in person can direct their questions to the Burns Library website.
Materials can be donated to these NANDA archives by contacting csongordon@bc.edu.
Comments (0)
Leave a comment