Revisioning Nursing Scholarship

Purpose: To propose a universal model of nursing scholarship that (a) indicates the importance of professional practice disciplines, (b) incorporates the synthesis of intellectual pursuit with social change, and (c) is holistic in its design. Organizing Construct: Scholarship, traditionally viewed as part of or generated in the university enterprise, must be an expectation in all settings in which a community of scholars from both discipline and practice can and do coexist. Methods: Review and synthesis of the literature on scholarship, nursing scholarship, nursing as a practice discipline. Findings: The history, culture, and intellectual property of nursing comprise an appropriate basis for adopting a universal holistic model of scholarship built upon a set of universal assumptions about nursing scholarship. As a discipline and a profession, nursing should include four connected domains in a universal holistic model of scholarship: knowing, teaching, practice, and service. Conclusions: Confirmation of this universal holistic model of scholarship can contribute significantly to a larger nursing identity. Use of universal holistic model of nursing scholarship indicates responsibility of the nursing profession collectively and all nurses individually. Additional work is needed to understand how a universal holistic model of nursing scholarship evolves across cultures, domains, and work settings.