The focus of this article is on the ways that are used to designate nursing as a field of structured, authoritative knowledge. It is not an article on science or on nursing but on the form of science in practice fields. Nursing is treated in a general fashion as a form of practical endeavor, not in its specificity. The article is designed as an aid to nurses who see a need to remedy the present fragmentation of nursing knowl edge that is a deterrent to the advancement of nursing research, practice, and education. Included is a development of the characteristics of ap plied science and practical science with some points of reference to nursing.
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