Marjorie Batey was born in Hamburg Iowa. She received her high school diploma
from St. Patrick’s Academy in Sidney, Nebraska; her nursing diploma from Sacred
Heart Hospital School of Nursing in Spokane, Washington, her Bachelor of Science
in Nursing from the University of Washington, Seattle; her Master of Science
(Psychiatric Nursing) from the University of Colorado in Boulder, and her Doctor
of Philosophy (Sociology) from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Dr. Batey has worked in many roles – as a staff nurse in California, and
Seattle; a Residence Nurse in the Women’s Residence Halls at the University of
Washington, an Instructor in Psychiatric Nursing at the University of Colorado
School of Nursing in Denver; as a Research Assistant in the Behavioral Science
Institute at the University of Colorado in Boulder; as the Project Director of
Nursing Research Programs for the Western Commission for Higher Education
(WICHE) in Boulder, before coming to the University of Washington School of
Nursing as a Nursing Instructor in 1956... sounds like the Cherry Ames series!
Marjorie V. Batey was one of the key people in the development and growth of
nursing research, specifically at the University of Washington School of
Nursing, but also for the Western region. She provided conceptual and
infrastructure frameworks that continue to influence nursing science throughout
the nation and the world. She was one of the founders of the Western Society for
Research in Nursing, along with two icons of nursing – Jo Eleanor Elliott and
Katherine Hoffman. This society and its research conferences was one of the
strategies of a grant from the Federal Division of Nursing to the Western
Interstate Commission for Higher Education in Nursing (WICHEN), a regional
consortium of universities in 13 states, to increase the quantity and quality of
nursing research projects. These conferences and their related publication,
Communicating Nursing Research, continues to this day as part of the
Western Institute of Nursing. Dr. Batey edited the first ten volumes of
Communicating Nursing Research from its inception in 1968 until she retired
in 1993. Her careful editorship set high standards for the reporting of nursing
research.
Dr. Batey obtained one of the early federal grants for research development from
the Division of Nursing (Department of Health, Education and Welfare), from
which the formal infrastructure for the University of Washington research effort
developed. She was the first director of the University of Washington School of
Nursing Office for Nursing Research, and her publication on this endeavor has
been influential as other schools of nursing throughout the nation established
offices and centers to facilitate research. She also used her understanding of
organizational sociology to frame a national study of national research
infrastructure in nursing, publishing that report with the Division in the late
1970's.
In 1972, Dr. Batey became the first chair of the ANA Council of Nurse
Researchers. Her efforts were instrumental in mobilizing national concern for
nursing research. Her work included development of a legislative network that
led to release of funds for nursing research that had been impounded during the
Nixon administration.
Dr. Batey served as a mentor of the early Research in Nursing and Patient Care
Committee of the Division of Nursing. In her tenure on this committee she
contributed to shaping the science through classic publications such as
Conceptualizing Nursing Research. Retained by the Division of Nursing to
evaluate the Faculty Research Develop Grants impact on nursing research
development, Dr. Batey found that emphasizing the development of individual
scholars was ineffective in developing the science of nursing. Instead, she
found that the academic environment would flourish only if it became more
supportive of faculty research. She emphasized the importance of creating
conditions essential for a research-oriented subculture to thrive, the need for
a normative shift among faculty of schools of nursing from emphasizing not only
education, but also research.
Dr. Batey’s emphasis on conceptual and theoretical frameworks for nursing
science are reflected in her seminal papers in the nursing research literature
in the formative years of the science. In addition, her careful work with her
colleague Dr. Frances Lewis in conceptual analysis of key concepts of
professional practice continue to influence research today.
Marjorie Batey has educated thousands of students in research methods, having
taught graduate students at the University of Washington since the late 1960's
when she completed her PhD in Sociology.
Marge created an office to support nursing research at the University of
Washington. During her tenure, the office grew from supporting a few small
efforts within the school to supporting an entire faculty with the ultimate
outcome of having the highest number of National Institutes of Health funded
grants and the largest dollar amounts of NIH grants awarded to any school of
nursing in the country!
Although she is an emeritus professor now, Dr. Batey continues to support the UW
School of Nursing with her consultation and emotional support. Dean, Nancy
Fugate Woods, in her support letter said, “Without her early influence on the
school, it is hard for anyone to imagine the School of Nursing at the University
of Washington would have its current level of research activity. More
importantly, it would be hard to imagine that we would be contributing to the
development of new knowledge for practice.”
Inducted 2004
