The relationship between nursing theory and nursing practice

Abstract

During the past two decades, redefinition of many of the beliefs and assumptions which underly nursing appears to have contributed to an increasing divergence between nursing theory and nursing practice. Nurses who are theorists and educationalists, and nurses who are engaged in nursing practice tend to use different vocabularies, to have differing perceptions of patients and of nursing, and to value different kinds of nursing knowledge. Some of the divergences between nursing theory and nursing practice are considered, and suggestions made about how theory and practice might be reconciled.