Intro To Nursing Theory and History Philosophy of Science

Introduction to Nursing Theory
History of Nursing Theory
1. The history of professional nursing began with Florence Nightingale.

2. Nightingale is considered to be the first nursing theorist
3. The curriculum era addressed the question of what content nurses should study to learn
how to be a nurse.
4. In the research era, nurses increasingly sought degrees in higher education and began to
participate in research.
5. The research era and the graduate education era developed in tandem. Master’s degree
programs in nursing emerged across the country to meet the public need for nurses for
specialized clinical nursing practice.
6. In the theory era, understanding of research and knowledge development increased, it
became obvious that research without conceptual and theoretical frameworks produced
isolated information. Rather, there was an understanding that research and theory
together were required to produce nursing science.
7. The theory utilization era has restored a balance between research and practice for
knowledge development in the discipline of nursing.
Significance of Nursing Theory
At the beginning of the twentieth century, nursing was not recognized as an academic discipline
or a profession. How does nursing theories helped nursing to be recognized as a discipline and
as a profession?
Before we identify its significance, let us differentiate discipline and profession. A discipline is
specific to academia and refers to a branch of education, a department of learning, or a domain
of knowledge. A profession refers to a specialized field of practice, founded upon the theoretical
structure of the science or knowledge of that discipline and accompanying practice abilities.
Nursing is a professional discipline, a field of study, focused on human health and healing
through caring (Smith, 1994). The knowledge base of the discipline consists of diverse
components such as nursing science, art, philosophy, and ethics. Nursing science comprises the
conceptual models, theories, and research findings specific to the discipline. As in other sciences
such as biology, psychology, or sociology, the study of nursing science requires a disciplined
approach.
Significance for the Discipline
1. Development of knowledge and nursing science as a basis for nursing practice

2. Organize curricula in nursing programs
Significance for the Profession
1. Theory-based evidence for practice is beneficial to patients in that it guides systematic,

knowledgeable care.
2. Tool for the reasoning, critical thinking, and decision making required for quality nursing
practice
History and Philosophy of Science
“Why should nurses be interested in the history and philosophy of science? The history and philosophy
of science is important as a foundation for exploring whether scientific results are actually
truth. As nurses our practice should be based upon truth and we need the ability to interpret the
results of science. Nursing science provides us with knowledge to describe, explain and predict
outcomes. The legitimacy of any profession is built on its ability to generate and apply theory.”
(McCrae, 2011, p. 222)
 The development of nursing science has evolved since the 1960s

 Being a scientific discipline means identifying nursing’s unique contribution to the care
of patients, families, and communities.
 Epistemology is concerned with the theory of knowledge in philosophical inquiry.
 Two competing philosophical foundations of science – rationalism
Rationalism
Rationalist epistemology (scope of knowledge) emphasizes the importance of a priori reasoning

as the appropriate method for advancing knowledge. A priori reasoning utilizes deductive logic
by reasoning from the cause to an effect or from a generalization to a particular instance.
Reynolds (1971) labeled this approach the theory-then-research strategy.
An example in nursing is to reason that a lack of social support (cause) will result in hospital
readmission (effect). In rationalist point of view, you can never prove that all individuals without
social support have frequent rehospitalizations since there might be one individual that presents
with no rehospitalization.
Empiricism
The empiricist view is based on the central idea that scientific knowledge can be derived only
from sensory experience (i.e., seeing, feeling, hearing facts). This approach, called the inductive
method, is based on the idea that the collection of facts precedes attempts to formulate
generalizations, or as Reynolds (1971) called it, the research-then-theory strategy. Empiricists
view phenomena objectively, collect data, and analyze it to inductively proposed theory (Brown,
1977).
Example: “An elderly patient has been in a trauma and appears to be crying. The nurse on
admission observes that the patient has marks on her body and believes that she has been abused;
the orthopedist has viewed an x-ray and believes that the crying patient is in pain due to a
fractured femur that will not require surgery only a closed reduction; the chaplain observes the
patient crying and believes the patient needs spiritual support. Each observation is concept laden.”

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Intro To Nursing Theory and History Philosophy of Science

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Introduction to Nursing Theory

History of Nursing Theory

1. The history of professional nursing began with Florence Nightingale.

Significance of Nursing Theory

Significance for the Discipline

1. Development of knowledge and nursing science as a basis for nursing practice

1. Theory-based evidence for practice is beneficial to patients in that it guides systematic,

 The development of nursing science has evolved since the 1960s

Rationalist epistemology (scope of knowledge) emphasizes the importance of a priori reasoning

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