Abstract
This is a study about the nature of nursing practice. It emanates from the debate about the disparity between theory and practice, and analyses the nature of practice in juxtaposition to that of theory. The central contention is that theory and practice essentially bespeak quite different spheres. The substantiation of this is derived from an eclectic, qualitative study, using both theoretical and empirical approaches. Senior student nurses participating in clinical practice [and therefore directly engaged with the theory-practice question] were interviewed, and these data, together with theoretical deliberations and reflections on actual practice were used to generate concepts of the nature of practice. The conceptual framework constructed from these concepts provides an analysis which allows the nature of practice to be seen as distinct from theory. The articulation of this distinction leads to the conclusions that practice is essentially inarticulable, that it can only be learned through participation, and that theory relates to practice in a variety of ways. From these, implications are drawn which are pertinent to practice, to the education of nurses, and to the management of nursing practice.