Relating the Nursing Paradigm to Practice: A Teaching Strategy

Nursing science is a topic students and faculty view with skepticism. The interchangeable terms and the need to understand the contextual nature of nursing philosophy lead to feelings of anxiety and confusion. Students question the relevance of learning nursing science in relation to practice. The analogy of a building is used to explain how nursing philosophy relates to practice. The foundation of the building forms the paradigm of the nursing domain, the outside walls represent conceptual models, the interior walls symbolize theories and the detailed décor characterizes nursing observations and practice, connecting abstract theory to concrete nursing knowledge. The analogy of interrelated concepts may help students gain an understanding of nursing science, which is essential to further knowledge development in nursing.