Meaningful nursing research

Dr. Fawcett's editorial (Western Journal of Nursing Research, August 2000), staunchly criticizes research journals and researchers for their lack of attentiveness to nursing discipline-specific knowledge. She suggests that this lack of attentiveness posits nursing for extinction; in doing so, she raises fundamental questions about the relationship between nursing and nursing science. Despite a plethora of nursing literature, professional nursing remains an intangible concept for many nurses. The author addresses this issue from the perspective of her sense of self as a nurse.