Healing Pattern: A Natural Kind in Nursing?

Abstract

This article focuses on the philosophical notion of natural kind to explore healing pattern as a relevant and natural process in nursing science and practice. A goal in doing this is to facilitate continued empirical investigation of and evidence for nursing's ontological claim about the existence of a healing pattern. I review various accounts of natural kind, with applications to nursing and the healing pattern. I conclude with directions for future inquiry to provide more definitive evidence and explanation of the healing pattern.