The theory-practice gap, as some have called it, has prevented our profession from full utilization of its knowledge base in practice, and has impeded the view of nursing as a theoretically based discipline, to its detriment. There are distinctly different viewpoints to this argument, based on the different perspectives of academics and theoreticians on the one hand and that of practitioners on the other. Being honest about your reaction, and applying critical thinking skills to the question, where do you stand on the issue, and why?

The development of the discipline of nursing has gone through many stages of philosophical debates. Justify the relevance and utility of the knowledge of theory development to your practice.