Nursing: the science and the practice.

A brief outline of the significant developments of the nursing profession is given. This is followed by a description of the domain of nursing and the nature of the phenomenon studied by nurse scientists. Excellence in science and its importance in developing nursing's body of knowledge is discussed and strategies are given on how to enhance it. The paper ends by analyzing the contributions that nursing science has made on the developments in nursing research, nursing education, nursing administration and nursing practice. Strategies which the author sees as enhancing the relationship between the science and the practice of nursing are further elaborated and discussed. The author ends with a plea that more attention should be paid at present to the substance of the nursing phenomenon studied.