Service and scholarship: an evolutionary examination of nursing administration

This article characterizes the evolution and impact of nursing administration scholarship on administrative practice over the past several decades. Through a critical examination of the literature, this article (1) uncovers how the evolution of nursing scholarship has influenced administrative practice over time; (2) articulates a current conceptualization of nursing administration by describing the responsibilities, necessary expertise, and challenges that characterize the work of nurse administrators (NAs); and (3) reflects on these findings to raise questions about how to further cultivate synergistic relationships between nursing science and administrative practice in the future. This synthesis of the literature revealed that partnerships between service and scholarship have been at the heart of advancing administrative education and practice for many years. While the major responsibilities of NAs have not changed significantly over the past several decades, the concepts and measures NAs employ have evolved. Nursing scholarship has refined terminology and developed measures that have changed the ways in which NAs approach their responsibilities and conceptualize their practice. These developments have furthered nurse scholars' efforts to conduct research pertinent to administrative practice. Still, there are many issues left to be explored, and the opportunities for advancing the science in this domain of nursing practice are vast.