Nursing as Discipline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Nursing as Discipline - Essay Example The United States is fairly regarded as the pioneer in nursing profession and science – the creation of the Associate Degree nursing programs in the U.S. marked a new stage in the evolution of nursing as discipline (Northrup et al 2004). Today, nursing is well-recognized as a discipline and profession (Tzeng & Yin 2007). University education is the basic prerequisite for preparing professional nurses, who are able to make wise professional judgments, pursue continuous education, and use their knowledge to expand the boundaries of the nursing profession. So, what is nursing discipline? A discipline is usually defined as â€Å"a community of interest that is organized around the accumulated knowledge of an academic or professional group† (Monti & Tingen 1999, p.64). The discipline of nursing is complex, and it describes and explores the complexity of the human caring paradigms and successfully balances the art and science of nursing (Monti & Tingen 1999). Within the nursi ng discipline, art helps to answer questions related directly to the profession, whereas science is expected to add to the body of academic knowledge related to human caring (Monti & Tingen 1999). The metaparadigm is a unique aspect of the nursing discipline, which describes concepts and themes that are directly related to the nursing profession and different nursing from other professions and disciplines (Monti & Tingen 1999). The metaparadigm also promotes, reflects, and describes â€Å"the shared beliefs and values of the nursing discipline† (Monti & Tingen 1999). These may include but are not limited to caring and respect, autonomy and beneficence, health promotion and ethical conduct (Monti &... This paper approves that the postmodern research paradigm can provide successful explanations and recommendations to the multiple realities in nursing. Postmodernism helps to revalue patient and nurses’ experiences and insights. Postmodernism allows demystifying the existing nursing practice discourse and rejects the established universals, opening new research and scientific frontiers. This report makes a conclusion that the past decades were marked with the emergence of new, complex research paradigms that â€Å"contribute to the development of nursing as an academic discipline and knowledge†. In the nursing discipline, knowing manifests in three different forms: personal reflection, technical understanding, and a cognitive process. Simply stated, knowing in nursing is a unique combination of objective, scientific and personal features. Given that knowing in nursing is all about personal transformation, reflection, and experience, no single research paradigm can help to develop a sound system of academic and practical knowledge in nursing. Personal reflection is unique; and so is nursing knowledge. Simultaneously, science and discipline is always objectives and unbiased. This gap between experience and science is not easy to close, but nursing is a discipline of multiple perspectives. Reductionism and CST, feminism and postmodernism are just some of many research paradigms that can contribute to nursing knowledge.