Emergence of the discipline and philosophy of nursing

Nursing Knowledge

Without a doubt, the most essential event in the emergence of nursing as a scholarly discipline was the insistence of Florence Nightingale that it be considered and practiced as such. She is single-handedly credited with establishing a formal educational system for nurses, which has continued to typify and arguably distinguish nursing in comparison to other disciplines within the larger practice of medicine (Chinn & Kramer 2004, pp. 3; Fawcett 2006). The very conception of nursing as a formal discipline was revolutionary when proposed by Nightingale; without her intervention it is impossible to say where nursing theory and practice would be today.

The twentieth and twenty-first century addition of recognizing and making conscious the patterns of knowing that contribute to the body of nursing knowledge is also of great value to the development of nursing as a scholarly discipline. An examination of knowledge and an understating of the patterns inherent to the knowledge built from any single perspective is necessary if distortion is to be avoided in favor of understanding (Chinn & Kramer 2004, pp. 12-3). Such self-examination is necessary to achieve the distinct body of knowledge that is "the hallmark of a profession" (Fawcett 2006, pp. 275). That is, the formality of nursing knowledge feeds the professionalism of nursing practice.

2)

The statement that "nursing has four metapardigm concepts: nurse, person, environment, and health" has a simple essential meaning with very complex and far-reaching implications. Basically, the statement identifies the four main subjects of study when formally analyzing nursing knowledge and practice. Each is distinct from the others in such analysis, though they are highly interconnected.

The concept of "person" as distinct from both "nurse" and "patient" reflects the subjective or aesthetic side of nursing, the perceived importance of which has been diminished greatly by recent scholarship (Fawcett 2006). The nurse is often expected to act and react only with empirical information, however personal knowledge is considered equally as important by many nurse educators and researchers (Chinn & Kramer 2004). This also helps to explain why "health" and "environment" are considered distinct major components in the metastudy of nursing; both can be understood on highly subjective terms, with the concept of "good health" changing from patient to patient, or "person" to "person." Environment, too, has a major effect on the practice of nursing and the growth of the nursing body of knowledge.

3)

My personal philosophy of nursing centers on the belief that each individual person under my care deserves full attention and the unique application of my knowledge in addressing their immediate and long-term needs and concerns. That is, each person should benefit as much as possible from the full extent of my nursing knowledge, while still being treated as an individual person. The environment is made up of the person's setting during nursing care, their home environment, and my own home environment and habits -- anything and everything that effects the care administered.