Boundary work in the nursing curriculum: the case of sociology

A discussion of the boundaries between nursing and sociology is contained in this paper. The creation of nursing as an academic subject is discussed and compared with the creation of academic geography. The creation of academic subject involves 'boundary work' in which power and legitimacy are conferred on some forms of knowledge and not others. Boundary work enables a discipline to stake out a claim to its legitimate territory and the resources that go with it. In a practice discipline such as nursing, the boundaries between nursing and supporting subjects, such as sociology and physiology, create problems of transfer of learning. This has implications for curriculum design. Bernstein's work on educational transmissions offers useful insights. He suggests a distinction between educational knowledge codes. 'Collection' codes involve strong boundaries between subjects, 'integrated' codes imply weak boundaries. The implications of the move to an integrated code in nursing are discussed. The existence of an integrated code implies a 'strong ideological consensus' within a discipline. In nursing this entails a belief in the 'individualized care' of the patients. This is incompatible with the sociological understanding of nursing.