Between those who think and those who do: Practice and theory in nurse teaching

Abstract

Objective: To identify the opinions of professors about the relationship between theory and practice in nursing. Method: Descriptive analytical, qualitative study. Eighteen professors from two universities (one federal and one private) from the southern region of the country participated. Data collection took place between July and September 2014, through semi-structured interviews. Open and axial coding as proposed by Strauss and Corbin, with the help of Atlas ti® 7 software was used for data collection. Results: The following categories emerged: The centrality of the practice for teaching and The specialist x generalist dichotomy: Contrasting discourses. Conclusion: The opinions of professors about theory and practice in nursing are widely conflicting. In areas considered of greater complexity, mastery of content is prefered and considered advantageous. The relationships that nurses and nursing professors maintain with knowledge influence the disconnection between theory and practice.