Nursing history at the graduate level: state of the art.

In a professional discipline which has at its core a service founded upon a body of knowledge and associated skills, responsibilities for research and scholarship are commonly thought to be critical to developing and improving nursing practice. The scope of knowledge required in nursing with its scientific and humanitarian aspects underscores "the need for philosophical and historical scholars in nursing who can ask crucial questions from the perspective of nursing."' Substantial commitment within the profession to examining theoretical and clinical problems from a variety of perspectives in order to enhance and encourage disciplinary development is therefore essential. Nursing history must be considered as indispensable to appropriate understanding of clinical and theoretical questions in the profession as it is to a broader understanding of the development of the profession locally, nationally, and internationally. For nursing history to become a vital part of the scholarly enterprise at the graduate level, there is a need for foundational courses at the bacca-laureate level. Brown and D'Antonio have reported that "bachelor's I degree students need historical content about significant leaders and seminal event^."^ The study of nursing history was once a fundamental and integral element in curricula of diploma and baccalaureate schools of nursing in Canada. It was variously called history and philosophy of nursing, history and professional trends in nursing, professional adjustments, and other similar titles. Often such a course was taught by the most seasoned professional in a particular school, not in