BOUNDARY WORK IN THE NURSING CURRICULUM - THE CASE OF SOCIOLOGY

A discussion of the boundaries between nursing and sociology is contai ned in this paper. The creation of nursing as an academic subject is d iscussed and compared with the creation of academic geography. The cre ation of academic subject involves 'boundary work' in which power and legitimacy are conferred on some forms of knowledge and not others. Bo undary work enables a discipline to stake out a claim to its legitimat e territory and the resources that go with it. In a practice disciplin e such as nursing, the boundaries between nursing and supporting subje cts, such as sociology and physiology, create problems of transfer of learning. This has implications for curriculum design. Bernstein's wor k on educational transmissions offers useful insights. He suggests a d istinction between educational knowledge codes. 'Collection' codes inv olve strong boundaries between subjects, 'integrated' codes imply weak boundaries. The implications of the move to an integrated code in nur sing are discussed. The existence of an integrated code implies a 'str ong ideological consensus' within a discipline. In nursing this entail s a belief in the 'individualized care' of the patients. This is incom patible with the sociological understanding of nursing.