A TREATISE ON NURSING KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT FOR THE 21ST-CENTURY - BEYOND POSTMODERNISM

This article explicates a framework for nursing knowledge development that incorporates both modernist and postmodernist philosophies. The f ramework derives from an ''open philosophy'' of science, which links s cience, philosophy, and practice in development of nursing knowledge. A neomodernist perspective is proposed that upholds modernist values f or unified conceptualizations of nursing reality while recognizing the dynamic and value-laden nature of all levels of theory and metatheory . It is proposed that scientific inquiry extend beyond the postmodern critique to identify nursing metanarratives of nursing philosophy and nursing practice that serve as external correctives in the critique pr ocess. Philosophic positions related to the science, philosophy, and p ractice domains are put forth for continued dialogue about future dire ctions for knowledge development in nursing.