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Biography

My philosophy is grounded in caring and was shaped when I was a baccalaureate student. I became intrigued with human intentionality, which I came to understand in nursing as the nurse's intention to care in his or her practice. This fascination provided the impetus for both my masters and doctoral research.

The study of intentionality, with its expression in intention to care, and in living caring, remains a thread that weaves its way through my teaching, research, practice, and service. It is caring intention that makes nurses live nursing. The understanding of intention as an energy and a quantum field, and of aesthetic knowing and other patterns of knowing and thinking as dimensions of nursing intention, are aspects of my central organizing philosophy, perspective, and practice of caring intention as lived in my role as a faculty of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing.

The concept of intentionality centers and grounds my research pathway and practice. The horizon of my studies of this essential attribute in nursing have ranged from a philosophical inquiry into the roots of what is known about intentionality, to basic research measuring the effect that a stored intention brings to bear on the physical properties of water, to phenomenology and the caring intention of nurses.

My nursing practice is centered in a holistic perspective grounded in caring. I am a board certified Advanced Holistic Nurse and certified in several energetic healing modalities. My holistic perspective continues to provide depth and breadth to my understanding of intention in other life processes, including spirituality in healing. This firm grounding continues to provide a natural synthesis of my practice with both teaching and research, as briefly encapsulated below. A natural extension of my interest is vested in global approaches to health, in which cultural beliefs, life rituals, and traditional healing practices promote well-being.

Teaching

  • Introduction to Nursing as a Discipline and Profession
  • Philosophical and Theoretical Foundations of Nursing
  • Advanced Nursing Practice Grounded in Caring
  • Caring for Self
  • Caring: An Essential Domain of Nursing Knowledge
  • Art and Aesthetics in Nursing
  • Nursing Research
  • Nursing Situations in Community
  • Nurse as Scholar
  • Introduction to Holistic Nursing
  • Advanced Holistic Nursing

Research Interests

  • Intentionality and Caring in Nursing
  • Energetic Healing and the Power of Intention
  • Consciousness, Intention, and Spirituality
  • Optimal Healing Environments
  • Influence of Art and Aesthetic Environments on Learning
  • Cultural healing practices and rituals that promote well-being

Recent Publications

Journal Articles

  • Purnell, M. J., & Lange, B. M. (2011). Creating a graduate holistic nursing program. Holistic Nursing Practice, 25(3), 140-146.
  • Lange, B. M., & Purnell, M. J. (2011). Curriculum as environment: A workshop experience. Holistic Nursing Practice, 25(4), 184-191.
  • Locsin, R. C., Campling, A. S., Purnell, M. J., Tulloch, S. P., Kissel, K. A., & Wilson, G. Z. (2010). The lived experience of persons with life-sustaining cardiac devices. International Journal for Human Caring, 14(1), 44-50.
  • Locsin, R, C., McCaffrey, R., & Purnell, M. J. (2009). Nurses' experiences of being cared for in a hospital healing arts space. The UPNAAI Nursing Journal, 5(1), 16-25.
  • Pajunen, G. A., Purnell, M. J., Tiller, W. A., & Dibble, W. E. (2009). Altering the acid-alkaline balance of water via the use of an intention-host device. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(9), 963-968.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2008). Gleaning wisdom in the research on caring. Nursing Science Quarterly, 22(2), 109-115.
  • Barry, C. & Purnell, M. J. (2008). Uncovering meaning through the aesthetic turn: A pedagogy of caring. International Journal for Human Caring, 12(2), 19-23.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2007). Commentary on "Breast Biopsy and Distress: Feasibility of testing a Reiki intervention." Journal of Holistic Nursing, 25(4), 249-251.
  • Locsin, R. C., & Purnell, M. J. (2007). Rapture and suffering with technology in nursing. International Journal for Human Caring, 11(1), 38-43.
  • Purnell, M. J., & Barry, C. (2007). (Issue Eds.). Issue focus: Suffering and healing. International Journal for Human Caring, 11(2).
  • Purnell, M. J., & Mead, L. (2007). When nurses mourn: Layered suffering. International Journal for Human Caring, 11(2), 47-52
  • Barry, C., Blum, C. A., & Purnell, M. J. (2007). Caring for individuals displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma: The lived experience of student nurses. International Journal for Human Caring, 11(2), 67-73.
  • McCaffrey, R., & Purnell, M. J. (2007). From experience to integration: The arts in nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education, 28(2), 22-26.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2006). Development of a caring model for nursing education. International Journal for Human Caring, 10(3), 8-16.
  • Purnell, M. J., Walsh, S. M., & Milone, M. A. (2004). Oncology nursing education: Teaching strategies that work. Nursing Education Perspectives, 25(6), 304-308.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2002). Issue Editor . Why nurses nurse! Intentionality in Nursing. Holistic Nursing Practice, 16(4).
  • Locsin, R. & Purnell, M. J. (2002). Intimate partner violence, culture-centrism, and nursing. Holistic Nursing Practice, 16(3), 1-4.
  • Purnell, M. J., Horner, D., Gonzalez, J., & Westman, N. (2000). The nursing shortage: Revisioning the future. Journal of Nursing Administration, 31(4), 179-186. Blind peer review. Published.
  • Purnell, M. J. (1998). Who really makes the bed? Uncovering technological dissonance in nursing. Holistic Nursing Practice,12(4), 12-22.

Books and Chapters in Books

  • Locsin, R. C., Purnell, M. J., Tanioka, T., & Osaka K. (2011). Human-humanoid relations, complexity, and nursing. In M. Ray, M. Turkel, & A. Davidson (Eds.), Nursing, caring, and complexity for human-environment well-being (pp. 345-360). NY: Springer.
  • Locsin, R. C. & Purnell, M. J. (Eds.). (2009). A contemporary nursing process: The (un)bearable weight of knowing persons. (530pp.). NY: Springer.
  • Purnell, M. J. & Payne, L. (2009). Evaluating resources for inquiry and practice of nursing. In M. E. Parker & M. Smith (Eds), Nursing theories and nursing practice (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis. E-chapter.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2009).Phoenix arising: Synoptic knowing for a synoptic practice of nursing. In R.C. Locsin & M. J. Purnell (Eds.), A contemporary nursing process: The (un)bearable weight of knowing persons (pp. 3-16). NY: Springer.
  • Locsin, R. C., & Purnell, M. J. (2008). Rapture and suffering with technology in nursing. [Reprint]. In R. C. Locsin & M. J. Purnell (Eds.), A contemporary nursing process. The (un)bearable weight of knowing persons (pp. 415-428). NY: Springer.
  • Purnell, M. J., & Locsin, R. C. (2009). Epilogue. In R. C. Locsin & M. J. Purnell (Eds.), A contemporary nursing process: The (un)bearable weight of knowing persons (pp. 505- 508). NY: Springer.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2009). Nursing as caring: A model for transforming practice. In M. R. Alligood (Ed.), Nursing theorists and their work (7th ed., pp. 393-415). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2006). Evaluating resources for inquiry and practice of nursing. In M. E. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories and nursing practice. (2nd ed.) Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2005) Nursing as caring: A model for transforming practice. In A. R. Tomey & M. R. Alligood (Eds.), Nursing theorists and their work. (6th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2005). Inside a Trojan horse: Technology, intentionality, and metaparadigms of nursing. In R. Locsin (Ed.), Technological competency as caring in nursing: A model for practice (pp. 42-68). Indianapolis, Indiana: Center Nursing Press, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2001). The language of nursing: A technology of caring. In R. Locsin (Ed.), Advancing technology, caring, and nursing. Westport, CT: Auburn.
  • Purnell, M. J. (2000). Evaluating resources for inquiry and practice of nursing. In M. E. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories and nursing practice. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.

Honors/Awards

  • Master Teacher Award, Florida Atlantic University 2011-2013
  • Excellence in Undergraduate, Florida Atlantic University 2006-2007
  • Teaching Award

Education