ABSTRACT
Efforts to develop nursing theory proceeded with collective self-awareness amidst vigorous debate from which metatheory (Fawcett, 1984), grand theory (Marriner-Tomey & Alligood, 2002) and middle range theory (Smith & Liehr, 2008) emerged. Foundational papers documenting this largely philosophical endeavor were collected in Nicholl (1986); continued relevance for the discipline and practice of nursing was argued in Chinn and Kramer (2011); and a remapping of the philosophical orientation for contemporary nursing was proposed by Risjord (2010). From these efforts, theory has come to a valued and privileged position in the heritage of nursing as an academic discipline.
