Generating Theory from Practice nursing as disipline Essay

Generating Theory from Practice nursing as disipline - Essay Example Therefore, a scientific and philosophical paradigm of nursing practice is presented further on, representing previous and modern approaches to nursing practice. The outline of the paper is the following: A. Introduction B. General discussion 1) What is nursing? 2) Scientific paradigms in nursing; 3) Reflective practice in nursing; 4) The role of theory in nursing practice; 5) A correlation between theory and practice in nursing; 6) Reflective practice as experience application; C. Conclusion What is nursing? It has been often claimed that nursing is a practical human science. The meaning of the word â€Å"practical† should be better interpreted. Further consideration about â€Å"practical† aspect of nursing is correlated with the study conducted by Bishop and Schudder (1990). These scientists underlined that â€Å"practical† meaning of nursing implies a constant acquisition of required knowledge by nurses. In spite of the majority of works considering nursing as a practical aspect, a theoretical aspect of nursing is also worth being considered. We tent more to the works by Jean Watson (1985), Newman (1986) and others who correlated nursing with science. Philosophical background of nursing was shaped under the influence of phenomenology and such philosophers as Heidegger, Dilthey and Foucault. In order nursing could be positioned as a scientific field, it is relevant for nurses to enrich their philosophical and intellectual background and develop â€Å"various models of thinking† (Munhall 1992, p. 371). Currently, there is a need to develop knowledge among nurses. On the one hand, knowledge should be generated in the process of practicing, but on the other hand knowledge should be viewed as a temporary phenomenon. In the course of time knowledge is being developed under the influence of external factors. Thus, knowledge gaining in practice should be made in dynamics and it requires a personal development and self-perfection of a nurse . Generally, nursing is usually correlated with the field of human science. Nursing practice has been developed under the influence of current scientific tendencies, and is currently being considered as a complex knowledge. Nurses meet complex situations and it is on their behalf to solve these problems. Experts have introduced a new term of â€Å"intuition† in nursing. Moreover, nursing knowledge development would be considered on the background of reflective practice. Scientific paradigms in nursing Further on, it is necessary to consider possible paradigms involved in nursing learning. The most widely applied paradigms are the following: â€Å"positivist, post-positivist, interpretive and critical theory research paradigms† (Long and Johnson 2000, p. 459). Feminist philosophy is also applied in nursing knowledge development. All these paradigms and approaches are directed on imputation a status of a scientific and professional nature to nursing. With this respect, s ome writers would argue that it is thus necessary to introduce qualitative researches and terminology of positivist research into this field, because â€Å"there is nothing to be gained from the use of alternative terms which, on analysis, often prove to be identical to the traditional terms of reliability and validity† (Long & Johnson 2000, p. 30). For nurses, as well for other researchers, it is necessary to achieve positive research results in case their research strategies are valid.