Clarifying the Nature of Conceptualizations about Nursing

Abstract

The discipline of nursing is at a crucial point in its development. Conceptualizations about nursing are being developed and tested without benefit of a clear conception as to their nature. Consequently, the nursing literature on the topic tends to confuse rather than clarify thought. The purpose of this philosophic treatise is to show that greater clarity could be achieved by acknowledging the fact that questions addressed in conceptions about nursing are philosophic in nature. The influential thought of Jacqueline Fawcett is critiqued with reference to how acknowledging and acting in terms of this fact would also lend parsimony to thought on the matter.