The dilemma of nursing science: current quandaries and lack of direction.

The theme of this paper is the need to address the central question in nursing science. It is hypothesized that in the absence of a central, unifying question, the view of nursing as an applied science, the current research methodological debate, and the social policy statement definition of nursing have hindered nursing's ability to advance the science of nursing. The authors suggest that the terminology of applied science has been wrongfully interpreted as immediate application to nursing practice, that the research methodological debate has occurred because the focus of research efforts is on the means and not the end, and that the policy statement implies a stimulus-response approach to human behavior.