RESEARCH: SUBSTANTIATING THE SCIENCE OF NURSING

Nursing is a profession characterized by educational standards, autonomy, socialization, an established
knowledge base, licensure, formal entry examinations, code of ethics, technical expertise, professional standards, altruistic service, and public trust. The main characteristics of a profession are established, specialized training in a body of abstract knowledge and a collectivity of service orientation. The science of nursing knowledge is established by the same systematic, investigative process used by all science-based disciplines, the research process. Research is a systematic method of exploring, describing, explaining, relating, or establishing the existence of a phenomenon, the factors that cause changes in the phenomenon, and how the phenomenon influences other phenomena. Nursing practice activities are substantiated as predicting valid and reliable outcomes for clients (the individual, family, group, or community) only after a body of knowledge has been established and confirmed by numerous research efforts.