Nursing Knowledge: Science, Practice, and Philosophy

Nurses who conduct research have a longstanding interest in questions of nursing knowledge. Nursing Knowledge is a clear and well-informed exposition of the philosophical background to nursing theory and research. Nursing Knowledge answers such fundamental questions as: How is nursing theory related to nursing practice? What are the core elements of nursing knowledge? What makes nursing research distinctive as nursing research? It examines the history of the philosophical debates within nursing, critiques the arguments, explains the implications and sets out to rethink the philosophical foundation of nursing science.
Nursing Knowledge begins with philosophical problems that arise within nursing science. It then considers various solutions with the help of philosophical ideas arguingargues that nurses ought to adopt certain philosophical positions because they are the best solutions to the problems that nurses encounter. The book argues claims that the nursing standpoint has the potential to disclose a more complete understanding of human health than the common disease-and-dysfunction views. Because of the relationship to practice, nursing science may freely draw theory from other disciplines and nursing practice unifies nursing research. By redefining theory and philosophy,With a new philosophical perspective on nursing science, the so-called relevance gap between nursing theory and practice can be closed.
The final chapter of the book ‘redraws the map’, to create a new picture of nursing science based on the following principles:
Problems of practice should guide nursing research
Practice and theory are dynamically related
Theory research must provide the knowledge base necessary for nurse interventions, training, patient education, etc.
Nursing research should develop midrange theories and its results are nursing theory is strengthened when it uses theories confirmed by is integrated with other disciplines
Key features
Clear and accessibly written
Accurate and philosophically well-informed,
Discusses philosophical problems in contexts familiar to nurses
Systematically examines the philosophical issues involved in nursing research
Examines epistemology (how we know what we know), theory development, and the philosophical foundations of scientific methodology.
Develops a new model of nursing knowledge