585636
research-article2015
NSQXXX10.1177/0894318415585636Nursing Science QuarterlyParse / Editorial
Editorial
Nursing: A Basic or Applied Science Rosemarie Rizzo Parse, RN; PhD; FAAN1
Nursing Science Quarterly 2015, Vol. 28(3) 181–182 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0894318415585636 nsq.sagepub.com
Keywords applied, basic, nursing
Several issues regarding the future of nursing arose over the past year among participants at international nursing conferences in Asia, Europe, and the United States. What is happening in the discipline and profession of nursing seemed to be a common concern; participants knew that the decisions made now in day-to-day academic and healthcare settings are shaping the future. Many issues were discussed, such as: the proliferation of academic degrees, the use of extant nursing theories to guide research and practice, the changing responsibilities of nurses, the rise of interdisciplinary demands, the influence of nurses on public health policy, ethical dilemmas facing nurses, and other significant items. One major issue that surfaced consistently was whether nursing is a basic or applied science. There did not seem to be clarity regarding the difference between the two or the direction nurse leaders might take the discipline in light of the difference. A basic science is a unique body of knowledge, the name of which calls forth a knowledge-specific recognizable entity. The entity consists of more than one worldview. The worldviews arose from a synthesis of antecedent concepts that created new and different products. Each worldview exposes a specific ontological-epistemological-methodological congruence that is specified in assumptions, postulates, and principles that guide research, education, and practice. The entity exhibits a specific knowledge base and is like no other in that the theories, ethos, and methodologies espoused are embedded in and reflect the phenomenon of concern to the specific basic science. For example, the basic sciences include philosophy, psychology, sociology, chemistry among others. They stand on their own—specific knowledge is their hallmark. Some nurse researchers, educators, and practitioners believe that nursing is a basic science and they consistently promote use of discipline-specific extant nursing theories. Basic science nursing is a recognizable entity. For example, participants at the aforementioned conferences pointed out that in several nurse education programs the value for nursing as a basic science was evident in the curriculum plans at all levels of matriculation; each level explicitly articulated the use of nursing theory as the guide for research and practice. In practice settings, nurse leaders who value nursing as a basic science foster use of the extant theories to guide practice,
policy development, and documentation. It has been found to be useful when an institution is seeking Magnet status. An applied science is an amalgamation of concepts from various sciences and the humanities, with no consistent recognizable unique discipline-specific theories, ethos, or methodologies. Applied sciences then are entities made up of various combinations of theories from other sciences. The applied sciences include architecture, agriculture, economics, nutrition, and social work among others. Research, education, and practice are guided by theories from the basic sciences and humanities. There is a belief that the applied sciences are richer because of the diversity of knowledge from a variety of sources. Many nurse leaders believe that nursing is a conglomerate made up of concepts from biology, psychology, sociology, business, and others. With nursing as an applied science, the term nursing for example conjures a notion of what nurses do in relation to caring for people coincident with physicians, rather than what nurses know as specific to nursing’s own theoretical base. There is evidence of this in academic and healthcare settings. For example, some participants at the aforementioned conferences pointed out that many nurse education programs offer one combined nursing theory and research course at the baccalaureate level and one at the master’s level in which the extant nursing theories are presented and studied. These are not studied as the basis of nursing as a basic science, but usually as part of nursing’s theoretical history. At the doctoral level in most programs the theoretical foundation course consists mainly of theories from other disciplines. Even though the degree is granted in nursing, discipline-specific nursing theory is not fostered as the guide to scholarship. Rather than a concern for knowledge development within the discipline, the focus is on using theories from other disciplines—strong evidence of a belief that nursing is an applied science. What is even more concerning is that federal and other grant-funding agencies are requiring 1
Loyola University Chicago, Pittsburgh, PA
Editor: Rosemarie Rizzo Parse, RN, PhD, FAAN, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Loyola University Chicago, 320 Fort Duquesne Blvd. #25H, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from nsq.sagepub.com by guest on January 15, 2016
182
Nursing Science Quarterly 28(3)
interdisciplinary collaboration among health professionals, and unfortunately extant nursing theories are absent from conceptualizations of the proposed research studies. The pattern of not using nursing theory is also clear in healthcare settings where nurse leaders emphasize evidence-based practice, even though this phenomenon has not yet been fully realized in most settings and is usually bereft of nursing’s unique theoretical knowledge. Some participants at the aforementioned conferences were puzzled by the disparity among leaders regarding the basic-applied science gulf that exists in nursing. Is there a body of knowledge that is recognized as unique to nursing or is nursing an amalgamation of other sciences and humanities? What does this mean for nursing knowledge development and subsequent nursing practice? How does the relentless interdisciplinary movement influence what is happening to nursing knowledge development? The answers to
these questions depend on the values of nurse leaders as they continue to cocreate nursing of the now-future. It was generally believed by the participants that as long as nurse researchers, educators, and practitioners use theories from other disciplines to guide their work, the disparity will exist. This is a call for nurse leaders in research, education, and practice to reflect on what is nursing knowledge and how it should be lived in academia and healthcare settings. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this editorial.
Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this editorial.
Downloaded from nsq.sagepub.com by guest on January 15, 2016
research-article2015
NSQXXX10.1177/0894318415585636Nursing Science QuarterlyParse / Editorial
Editorial
Nursing: A Basic or Applied Science Rosemarie Rizzo Parse, RN; PhD; FAAN1
Nursing Science Quarterly 2015, Vol. 28(3) 181–182 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0894318415585636 nsq.sagepub.com
Keywords applied, basic, nursing
Several issues regarding the future of nursing arose over the past year among participants at international nursing conferences in Asia, Europe, and the United States. What is happening in the discipline and profession of nursing seemed to be a common concern; participants knew that the decisions made now in day-to-day academic and healthcare settings are shaping the future. Many issues were discussed, such as: the proliferation of academic degrees, the use of extant nursing theories to guide research and practice, the changing responsibilities of nurses, the rise of interdisciplinary demands, the influence of nurses on public health policy, ethical dilemmas facing nurses, and other significant items. One major issue that surfaced consistently was whether nursing is a basic or applied science. There did not seem to be clarity regarding the difference between the two or the direction nurse leaders might take the discipline in light of the difference. A basic science is a unique body of knowledge, the name of which calls forth a knowledge-specific recognizable entity. The entity consists of more than one worldview. The worldviews arose from a synthesis of antecedent concepts that created new and different products. Each worldview exposes a specific ontological-epistemological-methodological congruence that is specified in assumptions, postulates, and principles that guide research, education, and practice. The entity exhibits a specific knowledge base and is like no other in that the theories, ethos, and methodologies espoused are embedded in and reflect the phenomenon of concern to the specific basic science. For example, the basic sciences include philosophy, psychology, sociology, chemistry among others. They stand on their own—specific knowledge is their hallmark. Some nurse researchers, educators, and practitioners believe that nursing is a basic science and they consistently promote use of discipline-specific extant nursing theories. Basic science nursing is a recognizable entity. For example, participants at the aforementioned conferences pointed out that in several nurse education programs the value for nursing as a basic science was evident in the curriculum plans at all levels of matriculation; each level explicitly articulated the use of nursing theory as the guide for research and practice. In practice settings, nurse leaders who value nursing as a basic science foster use of the extant theories to guide practice,
policy development, and documentation. It has been found to be useful when an institution is seeking Magnet status. An applied science is an amalgamation of concepts from various sciences and the humanities, with no consistent recognizable unique discipline-specific theories, ethos, or methodologies. Applied sciences then are entities made up of various combinations of theories from other sciences. The applied sciences include architecture, agriculture, economics, nutrition, and social work among others. Research, education, and practice are guided by theories from the basic sciences and humanities. There is a belief that the applied sciences are richer because of the diversity of knowledge from a variety of sources. Many nurse leaders believe that nursing is a conglomerate made up of concepts from biology, psychology, sociology, business, and others. With nursing as an applied science, the term nursing for example conjures a notion of what nurses do in relation to caring for people coincident with physicians, rather than what nurses know as specific to nursing’s own theoretical base. There is evidence of this in academic and healthcare settings. For example, some participants at the aforementioned conferences pointed out that many nurse education programs offer one combined nursing theory and research course at the baccalaureate level and one at the master’s level in which the extant nursing theories are presented and studied. These are not studied as the basis of nursing as a basic science, but usually as part of nursing’s theoretical history. At the doctoral level in most programs the theoretical foundation course consists mainly of theories from other disciplines. Even though the degree is granted in nursing, discipline-specific nursing theory is not fostered as the guide to scholarship. Rather than a concern for knowledge development within the discipline, the focus is on using theories from other disciplines—strong evidence of a belief that nursing is an applied science. What is even more concerning is that federal and other grant-funding agencies are requiring 1
Loyola University Chicago, Pittsburgh, PA
Editor: Rosemarie Rizzo Parse, RN, PhD, FAAN, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Loyola University Chicago, 320 Fort Duquesne Blvd. #25H, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from nsq.sagepub.com by guest on January 15, 2016
182
Nursing Science Quarterly 28(3)
interdisciplinary collaboration among health professionals, and unfortunately extant nursing theories are absent from conceptualizations of the proposed research studies. The pattern of not using nursing theory is also clear in healthcare settings where nurse leaders emphasize evidence-based practice, even though this phenomenon has not yet been fully realized in most settings and is usually bereft of nursing’s unique theoretical knowledge. Some participants at the aforementioned conferences were puzzled by the disparity among leaders regarding the basic-applied science gulf that exists in nursing. Is there a body of knowledge that is recognized as unique to nursing or is nursing an amalgamation of other sciences and humanities? What does this mean for nursing knowledge development and subsequent nursing practice? How does the relentless interdisciplinary movement influence what is happening to nursing knowledge development? The answers to
these questions depend on the values of nurse leaders as they continue to cocreate nursing of the now-future. It was generally believed by the participants that as long as nurse researchers, educators, and practitioners use theories from other disciplines to guide their work, the disparity will exist. This is a call for nurse leaders in research, education, and practice to reflect on what is nursing knowledge and how it should be lived in academia and healthcare settings. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this editorial.
Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this editorial.
Downloaded from nsq.sagepub.com by guest on January 15, 2016
