The structure of specialized nursing knowledge

Martha Raile Alligood

This chapter presents the structure for specialized nursing knowledge used for the organization of the units of this text. As presented in Chapter 1, the requirement for a body of specialized knowledge for recognition of nursing as a profession was a driving force in the twentieth century. Because of the importance of nurses to the nation’s health, early in the twentieth century, studies of nursing were legislated and conducted by sociologists who recommended that nursing be developed as a profession. The criteria for a profession provided guidance in this process (Bixler & Bixler, 1959; Kalish & Kalish, 2003). The criterion that called for specialized nursing knowledge and knowledge structure was a particularly important driving force in recognition of nursing as a profession (Bixler & Bixler, 1959). The criterion reads:

Utilizes in its practice a well-defined and well-organized body of specialized knowledge [that] is on the intellectual level of the higher learning (p. 1143).

The types of knowledge, levels, and examples of each are included in Table 4-1. The theoretical works presented in Chapters 6 to 36 are nursing frameworks organized into four types. Box 4-1 lists the theorists included in each type. The placement of works within the four types reflects a level of abstraction or the preference of the theorist.

TABLE 4-1

Knowledge Structure Levels with Examples

Structure Level	Example
Metaparadigm	Person, environment, health, and nursing
Philosophy	Nightingale
Conceptual models	Neuman’s systems model
Theory	Neuman’s theory of optimal client stability
Middle-range theory	Maintaining optimal client stability with structured activity (body recall) in a community setting for healthy aging