Cody uses a lot of fancy words and makes mention of philosophy and nursing as a study and a science but it gets a little too sweet and sugary to the point of almost being self-serving or sycophantic, with the only real question whether Cody is trying to make himself look good, nursing as an industry/career/educational pursuit look good or a combination of the two. First, he makes mention of nursing possibly dying off as a science and that is simply specious. The form and function of nursing shall certainly change as the years change but it's NEVER going to go away. It may be called something else someday just like PTSD used to be called shell shock. However, the root nature of the job and the role is not going to change in its basic function, to ease pain and treat the sick. Another dimension of the treatise mentioned in the last section is the over-focus on philosophy and other tertiary topics and subjects that really should not be the focus of any nursing practitioner. It is not because it's not important or that it shouldn't be contemplated, but most nurses just need to focus on what works and why and focus a lot less on treating patients as their test-bed for their theories and thoughts. Learning and research hospitals should be that test bed and not regular hospitals with normal everyday practitioners. Except in situations where...

Playing around and messing with unproven theories sand philosophy is just silly and has no place in a normal operating hospital.
Lastly, the question at the end of the report is a bit odd. Of course nursing theory is based on practice. The author supposes it's possible that a theory could be constructed and thought up in a vacuum and outside of a clinical setting but it's almost assured that the theory will be informed in full, or at least in part, based on prior research or practice, either from the person who thinks up the theory themselves or the work of others that the theory-maker is aware of.

Conclusion

In the end, Cody seems to have a good heart but he also seems to have his head in the clouds and perhaps to have taken himself entirely too seriously at the time that he wrote this journal article. Perhaps he's gained a more proper perspective over the years since this article was written. One can only hope but some "scholars" are beyond help and think they're elite and above the fray and that should never be happening.

Reference

Cody, W. (2003). Nursing Theory as a Guide to Practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 16, 225-231.