NR 501dis2

Florence Nightingale is considered the founder of nursing. But It wasn't until the 1950s and 1960s, almost 100 years after Florence Nightingale's Notes on Nursing, that nursing leaders would initiated an effort to define or explain why and how the profession of nursing is different from other healthcare professions. The major motivation of this push was to develop a theory that, in the words of Florence Nightingale describe what is and what is not nursing (Parker & Smith, 2010). This was identified as the beginning of nursing theory development and is identified as the ‘Silent Knowledge’ stage. Since the 1980’s until today nursing theory is said to be in the ‘Constructed Knowledge’ stage focusing on concepts that are built from evidence-based research and are practical while providing a meaningful foundation for nursing practice (CCN, 2014) s the profession of nursing expands more nurses are making the choice to acquire a higher level of education, thus the understanding of the importance of nursing theory has expanded. The ‘Constructed Knowledge’ stage began approximately in the 1980s and is still the current stage of theory development in nursing. It has since guided the nursing practice, education, and research that form todays nursing theories (Colley, 2003). The application of nursing theories at this stage of development has increased knowledge development and improved the quality of nursing practice.

Chamberlain College of Nursing (2014). NR 501 Theoretical Basis for Advanced Nursing
Practice: Week 1 Lesson

Colley, S. (2003). Nursing theory: its importance to practice. Nursing Standard, 17(46), p 33-37.
Parker, M. E., & Smith, M. C. (2010). Nursing theories & nursing practice (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis