Understanding General Systems Theory

Understanding General Systems Theory
This theory was developed by biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy in 1936. He felt the need for a theory to guide research in several disciplines because he saw striking parallels among them. His hunch was that if multiple disciplines focused their research & theory development efforts, they would be able to identify laws & principles which would apply to manysystems. This would allow scholars & scientists to make sense of system charactieristics such as wholeness, differentiation, order, equifinality, progression & others. With a common framework, scientists could better communicate their findings with each other & build upon each other's work. He believed that over time, what was discovered would come to be applicable to life in general.

More than50 years later, the work in understanding systems has evolved to the point that we incorporate many of the concepts into our everyday language. We speak of a health care system, a family system, body systems, information systems, banking systems, political systems, etc. One of the reasons we do this is because the amount of knowledge & information available has increased tremendously during thistime period. We cannot know all there is to know. We seek some way of ordering what we encounter to avoid being overloaded with information. We focus in on small areas of knowledge rather than trying to comprehend the whole.

Whether we like it or not, nurses are enmeshed in many systems. It is to our benefit to gain some basic understanding of how systems work. We can more effectively care forpatients, families and communities when we do understand. We can more effectively bring about desired changes in our workplace if we are able to step back & consider how best to accomplish this within our workplace system. What is a system?
Rapaport defines a system as an "entity which can maintain some organization in the face of change from within or without."

Ryan defines a system as "a setof objects or elements in interaction to achieve a specific goal."

What examples of systems can you think of? What is the function of a system?

The function of any system is to convert or process energy, information, or materials into a product or outcome for use within the system, or outside of the system (the environment) or both. Indeed, if a system is to survive, it must save some of theoutcome or product to maintain the system.







Levels of Complexity

Wren believes there are 9 levels of complexity for systems. These are described in the following table.



| | | |
|Level of Complexity |Example|Characteristics |
|Level 1 |Structural Framework |The organizational chart |
|Level 2 |Clockwork |Dynamic, moving, predictable, must be |
|| |controlled externally |
|Level 3 |Cybernetic device such as thermostat |Dynamic, predictable, capable of |
| | |self-regulation within certain limits. ||Level 4 |The cell |Open, dynamic, programmed for self-maintenance|
| | |under changing external conditions |
|Level 5 |The plant system |Open, dynamic,...