The nature of philosophy of science, theory and knowledge relating to nursing and professionalism

Abstract

It appears that nursing has devoted an extravagant amount of concentration to the subject of professionalism and professionalization. Consequently, it has created and persists to create some proportion of controversy amid nursing authors, particularly in the Western World at the present time. According to Silva, philosophy, knowledge and theory are intrinsically linked. These notions are important to consider independently and to clarify their relationships, if nursing's knowledge base is to be built on a strong foundation. Perhaps then, if nursing wishes to continue on the trail of professionalization, nurses need to return to and reconsider its foundations and accomplishments. The aim of this discussion paper is to explore the nature of the philosophy of science, knowledge and theory and their interrelationships, with particular reference to professionalization by considering where nursing has come from and consequently the way forward to ascertaining professional status.

Integration of Nursing Education, Practice, and Research Through Community Partnerships

“…Conversely, the theoretical, conceptual, and evidence base of nursing do not impact the delivery of nursing services at individual, organizational, and policy levels. 6 Without integration of research and practice, nursing is incapable of building a meaningful knowledge base for evidencebased education and practice. 1 Despite more than a decade of calls for reformation and the introduction of new educational technologies such as online learning, nursing education has changed little from an authoritarian approach in which reliance on didactic lecture predominates.…”

How Prepared are Malaysian Nurses for Online Distance Learning?

“…The whole person must be considered, with respect to the family and community, in his/her care, not just the disease. Today's nurses are expected to provide nursing care across the "traditional boundary (Rutty, 1998)." This means that nurses must be competent to provide nursing care in the hospitals as well as in the clients' home and anywhere (e.g.…”

“…In most parts of the world nursing education has undergone changes in order to be relevant with the times (Rutty 1998, Le Storti, Cullen, Hanzlik, Michiels, Piana, Ryan & Johnston, 1999Perala, 2001;Freeman, Voignier & Scott, 2002). It is inevitable that nursing educ ation in Malaysia will be heading in the same direction to ensure that the new graduates as well in-service nurses are prepared to work in the changed healthcare system.…”

Specialist palliative care nursing and the philosophy of palliative care: a critical discussion

“…Through the early part of the 20 th century nursing borrowed from the mechanistic biomedical model of knowledge development. However some have to support the complexity of nursing practice (Rutty, 1998). In an attempt to move away from a nursing model based of bio-medically derived reductionist principles, nursing theorists (Carper, 1978) The use of of the illness for an individual patient in a social context (Kennedy, 1998).…”