882029
research-article2019
NSQXXX10.1177/0894318419882029Nursing Science QuarterlyFawcett/Essays on Nursing Science
Essays on Nursing Science
Thoughts About Nursing Science and
Nursing Sciencing Revisited
Jacqueline Fawcett, RN; PhD; FAAN1
Abstract
This essay includes an update of the first essay for this column, published in the first issue of 2012. The current essay includes
various definitions of nursing as a discipline, and definitions of science, nursing science, and Parsesciencing, as well as a
discussion of the work of nurse scientists. The Nursing Now initiative is identified as a way in which the contributions of the
work of nurse scientists can be highlighted on a global scale.
Keywords
nursing, nursing now, nursing science, parsesciencing, science
In the 25th anniversary issue of NSQ, I first wrote about
nursing science and sciencing (Fawcett, 2012). In this essay,
I am revisiting and updating what I wrote then. The starting
place is various definitions of nursing as a discipline—that
is, the central focus of our discipline and practice profession.
Next, definitions of science and nursing science are given,
followed by a discussion of sciencing. This essay continues
with a discussion of what nurse scientists do and ends with
an idea of how to advance understanding of nursing science,
sciencing, and nurse scientists’ work.
Nursing
The definition of nursing as a discipline and practice profes-
sion—or the disciplinary focus—continues to evolve. For
example, I recently defined nursing (which I referred to as nur-
sology) as “knowledge of the phenomena of interest to
[nurses], which are [why, when, where, and how nurses] col-
laborate with other human beings as they experience wellness,
illness, and disease, within the context of their environments.”
(Fawcett, 2019, p. 919).
Although more detailed lists of definitions of nursing by
several nurses are given by Chinn (2019) and Smith (2019),
a few exemplary definitions are listed here:
•• “Nursing is the study of caring in the human health
experience” (Newman, Sime, & Corcoran-Perry, 1991,
p. 3).
•• “[H]uman care, health, and environmental cultural
context must become the central focus, essence, and
dominant domains of nursing knowledge” (Leininger,
1995, p. 97).
•• The focus of the discipline is “facilitating humaniza-
tion, meaning, choice, quality of life, and healing in
Nursing Science Quarterly
2020, Vol. 33(1) 97­–99
© The Author(s) 2019
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sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0894318419882029
https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318419882029
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living and dying” (Willis, Grace, & Roy, 2008, pp.
E32–E33).
•• “The core focus of nursing, the metaparadigm, is the
human-universe-health process” (Parse, 1997, p. 74).
•• “Nursing is the study of human health and illness pro-
cesses. Nursing practice is facilitating, supporting and
assisting individuals, families, communities, and/or
societies to enhance, maintain and recover health,
and to reduce and ameliorate the effects of illness.
Nursing’s relational practice and science are directed
toward the explicit outcome of health related quality
of life within the immediate and larger environmental
contexts” (Thorne et al., 1998, p. 1265).
•• “The central phenomenon [of nursing] is the respect
for or the restoration of human dignity, our being in
community, our sea, our moral imperative” (Jacobs,
2001, p. 33).
Science and Nursing Science
A dictionary definition of science is “a discipline, field of
study, or activity concerned with theory rather than method,
or requiring the knowledge and systematic application of
principles, rather than relying on traditional rules, acquired
skill, or intuition” (Oxford English Dictionary Online,
1910/2014). Another definition, which includes methods, is
1
Professor, Department of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Boston,
Boston, MA, USA
Contributing Editor:
Jacqueline Fawcett RN; PhD; FAAN, Professor, College of Nursing and
Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey
Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125-3393, USA.
Email: jacqueline.fawcett@umb.edu
98
“a branch of study that deals with a connected body of dem-
onstrated truths or with observed facts systematically classi-
fied and more or less comprehended by general laws, and
incorporating trustworthy methods (now esp. those involv-
ing the scientific method and which incorporate falsifiable
hypotheses) for the discovery of new truth in its own domain”
(Oxford English Dictionary Online, 1910/2014). Within the
discipline of nursing, Rogers (1964) defined science as “a
body of knowledge characterized by descriptive, explanatory
and predictive principles about the life process of [human
beings]” (p. 37).
Nursing Science
Nursing science, which typically is regarded as a basic sci-
ence, is the nursing discipline-specific knowledge that is
generated by means of empirical research and other methods
of inquiry, such as historical inquiry and philosophical
inquiry. The goal of nursing science is to “expand knowledge
about human experiences through research and creative con-
ceptualization” (Parse, as cited in Fawcett, 2001, p. 127).
Sciencing
The definitions of science indicate that, as Parse (2001)
pointed out, science refers to a type of inquiry that involves
pursuit and achievement of what is regarded as absolute
truth that does not have to be disputed and does not change.
She then proposed that the term Parsesciencing “is in stark
contrast to science . . . [and] implies that knowing is ever-
changing with new experiences” (Parse, 2001, p. 1).
Furthermore, Parsesciencing “is coming to know; it is an
ongoing inquiry to discover and understand” the phenomena
that are the focus of each nursing conceptual model and
theory (Parse, 2010, p. 281). Clearly, Parse regards science
as anything but static or absolute truth. Furthermore, Parse
(2014) described Parsesciencing as the horizon of inquiry
used for study of the theory of humanbecoming.
Later, Parse (2016) indicated that Parsesciencing is a
basic mode of inquiry, which is consistent with Rogers’s
(1964) early claim that nursing is a basic science. Given
Rogers’s continuing focus on the continual change and evo-
lution of human and environmental energy fields, it is quite
possible that Rogers would have agreed with Parse that sci-
ence certainly is not static or focused on discovery of abso-
lute truths but instead always is changing. Perhaps Rogers
even would also have used the term sciencing rather than
science.
The Work of Nurse Scientists
Paraphrasing a dictionary definition of a man of science and a
woman of science, a scientist can be defined as a person who
is “an expert in or student of one or more branches of . . . sci-
ence” (Oxford English Dictionary Online, 1910/2014). Nurse
Nursing Science Quarterly 33(1)
scientists, then, are nurses who are experts in or students of
the phenomena of interest to the members of the discipline of
nursing.
Nurse scientists conduct research designed to generate
new middle-range and situation-specific theories and test
existing middle-range and situation-specific theories derived
from nursing conceptual models and grand theories. These
theories, which are products of the work of nurse scientists,
constitute the evidence needed for evidence-based practice.
The ultimate goal of all this work is formulation of guide-
lines for practice, including assessment formats and inter-
vention protocols. Thus, although nurse scientists are
engaged in the work of knowledge development and dissem-
ination, they always are aware of the need to translate their
work into practical activities that are targeted to enhancing
the quality of life of those people who seek nurses’ service.
Advancing Understanding of Nursing
Science, Sciencing, and Nurse
Scientists’ Work
Nursing Now is the perfect opportunity to showcase nursing
science, to communicate to the global community the intel-
lectual component of nursing—that is, the science (or sci-
encing) that undergirds nursing practice. Nursing Now, a
3-year global program of the Burdett Trust of Nursing, is
being conducted in collaboration with the International
Council of Nurses (ICN) and the World Health Organization
(WHO). The campaign website (https://www.icn.ch/what-
we-do/campaigns/nursing-now) includes this explanation of
Nursing Now:
Nurses are at the heart of most health teams, playing a crucial
role in health promotion, disease prevention and treatment. As
the health professionals who are closest to the community, they
have a particular role in developing new models of community-
based care and support local efforts to promote health and
prevent disease. (para 2)
I encourage all nurses to participate in the Nursing Now
campaign by sharing their work with campaign leaders and
by pledging support for the campaign via https://www.nurs-
ingnow.org/join-the-campaign/. In doing so, nurses world-
wide will gain even more recognition than we now have.
Conclusion
Chinn’s words, written in 2008, provide what I consider a
satisfying conclusion for this essay. She stated:
The discipline is distinguished by the social and cultural
constraints that are imposed both externally and internally. The
definition of the science, the phenomena [of] concern, the
group’s collectively accepted knowledge, the accepted method
and practices—all form a structure without which the discipline
would be indistinguishable. (Chinn, 2008, p. 1).
Fawcett/Essays on Nursing Science
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the authorship and/or publication of this review.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the authorship and/or
publication of this review.
ORCID iD
Jacqueline Fawcett https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1091-8873
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