Postmodernism and Knowledge Development in Nursing

Abstract

Postmodernism as a concept and periodizing point between centuries has been defined as both the beginning and the end of modernity. This article explores some of the dimensions of this moment and movement between centuries and the implications of the postmodern condition on the nursing profession. Amidst the health care reform angst of deconstructing and reconstructing, challenges and opportunities await nursing's evolution into its own postmodern paradigm. Manifestations of such a postmodern paradigm are already reflected in the epistemological shifts of nursing science and knowledge development. Challenges posed for nursing science by this disorientingly free-floating era are brought to light--away from the reaction worldview, past the reciprocal and into the transformative-simultaneous, whereby nursing can emerge within its own unique postmodern discipline.