The development of nursing knowledge and history of nursing as a profession began with Florence Nightingale who served in the Crimean War by caring for the wounded in Scutari and her establishment of a School of Nursing at St. Thomas hospital in London. Nursing has since continued to evolve to its twenty-first-century focus, which entails sophisticated nursing theories that are utilized to guide research, practice, education, and administration. This chapter serves as an introduction to the nursing student and focuses on the definition of a nursing metaparadigm and its concepts. It briefly touches upon the history and growth of nursing as a profession since its inception. It gives the beginner nursing student an explanation of nursing theory and its separate subcomponents. It describes the relationship between nursing theory, practice, and research. Instructions are put forth as to how to formulate a research question. It gives a brief explanation of the different types of research design. The overall goal of the chapter is to assist the novice student to gain practical knowledge to begin a research study.
Part of the book: Nursing