Particularizing the General

Sustaining Theoretical Integrity in the Context of an Evidence-Based Practice Agenda

Abstract

Proliferation of demands for accountability and health care quality places nurses under constant pressure to ensure professional practice is evidence-based. The corresponding emphasis on knowledge that pertains to general populations challenges nursing's traditional focus on the uniqueness of each individual patient. Considering how nurses engage with professional systematic thinking processes, we reflect on ways competing agendas in the evidence-based practice environment compromise the professional vision aspired to by an earlier era of nursing model and framework builders. Exploring the scientific thinking underpinning practice evidence, we contemplate implications for applying general knowledge to particular practice, reconsidering options for conceptualizing nursing praxis.