Je. Rutty, THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, THEORY AND KNOWLEDGE RELATING TONURSING AND PROFESSIONALISM, Journal of advanced nursing, 28(2), 1998, pp. 243-250
It appears that nursing has devoted an extravagant amount of concentra
tion to the subject of professionalism and professionalization. Conseq
uently, it has created and persists to create some proportion of contr
oversy amid nursing authors, particularly in the Western World at the
present time. According to Silva, philosophy, knowledge and theory are
intrinsically linked. These notions are important to consider indepen
dently and to clarify their relationships, if nursing's knowledge base
is to be built on a strong foundation. Perhaps then, if nursing wishe
s to continue on the trail of professionalization, nurses need to retu
rn to and reconsider its foundations and accomplishments. The aim of t
his discussion paper is to explore the nature of the philosophy of sci
ence, knowledge and theory and their interrelationships, with particul
ar reference to professionalization by considering where nursing has c
ome from and consequently the way forward to ascertaining professional
status.