Intermodernism: A Philosophical Perspective for Development of Scientific Nursing Theory.

Nursing is not only a professional practice, it is a scientific practice as well. One aspect of this practice involves development of scientific theory. In this article, I present a philosophical perspective called intermodernism for considering the content, structure, and process of scientific theory. Three types of theory structure are reviewed along with descriptions of the use of models and mechanisms in knowledge development. Practice is championed as a context that informs theory development as well as a context of theory validation and application.