Benner and the critics: promoting scholarly dialogue.

The research and theorizing of Patricia Benner and colleagues have been very influential in nursing around the world. In recent years, however, her work has been challenged on both methodological and philosophical grounds, primarily from critical-hermeneutic and postmodernist perspectives. Critics have identified concerns about Benner's work, including sample limitations, decontextualized exemplars, the exclusion of social and political concerns, the problematic issues of experience and interpretation, and the unacknowledged position of the researcher. This article attempts to synthesize those critiques, and offers a comprehensive framework for constructive dialogue. Disciplinary maturity and scholarly integrity require critical reevaluation of influential texts and research programs.

Dilemmas of caring in a corporate context: a critique of nursing case management.

Nursing case management is widely acclaimed within the nursing literature as a form of advanced practice, beneficial for both clients and payers. However, case management programs involve potential conflicts between client goals and system goals, especially in relation to for-profit managed care systems. Early nursing discourse tended to minimize those conflicts, but more recent literature has begun to address role conflicts and ethical challenges. Feminist and critical-theory perspectives are used to examine nursing case management in the contexts of capitalism and sexism, thereby illuminating recurrent dilemmas within the profession. The ability of nursing case management to resolve those dilemmas is questioned.