Nurse scholar Karen J. Foli has had an unconventional trajectory. She has written everything from mysteries to thrillers to peer-reviewed journal manuscripts and Food and Drug Administration documents. She conceptualized and disseminated two middle-range theories, one surrounding parental postadoption depression and one surrounding nurses' psychological trauma. Foli's research has revealed a new type of nurse-specific trauma, insufficient resource trauma, which calls for efforts at the organizational level. Winner of several book of the year awards, she is now working on a third middle-range theory. Dr. Foli shares her journey and encourages nurses to give theory a shot.
Keywords: insufficient resource trauma; nursing theory; postadoption depression; psychological trauma; substance abuse.