The Disciplinary Autonomy of Nursing Science in A Context of Transdisciplinarity

A critical review of the literature establishes that Nursing Care is at the same time a technique, a science, an art and a profession. But very little literature addresses the question of the scientific autonomy of Nursing, particularly in a transdisciplinary context. Rooted in the field of epistemology, this article proposes to structure the disciplinary autonomy of nursing science in a transdisciplinary context. It specifies criteria of the scientificity of a discipline, analyses the concept of disciplinary autonomy, and the link between autonomy, professional identity and disciplinary skills in Nursing. Nurse disciplinary autonomy is then conceptualised in a complex, transdisciplinary, and self-eco-structured perspective.