Theory and practice of professional nursing: options for integration into hospital services.

This project is framed within one of the problems identified in the professional practice of nursing in the hospital context in which a rupture between the theoretical-methodological foundations and clinical practice is evidenced. This research is generated as a consequence of the multi-centric project, completed in January 2013 -currently in the process of publication- called "Humanized care in nursing services", in which one of the findings shows the split between theory and practice. The knowledge generated throughout the history of nursing as a profession has responded to the need to establish the basis of care, its essence, through the description, explanation and prediction of the phenomena of the disciplinary field; in this way, a whole theoretical body has been structured, supported by the scientific method and by the development of other sciences such as biology, behavioral, social and human sciences. On the other hand, nursing practice, its praxis will be and continues to be the origin of any possible theorization, to the extent that its actions are the primary source of the grounded discourse and within this context the recipient of nursing care and the care itself, inspired the emerging theory. It is stated that in Colombia there is a gap between what is taught and how nursing is practiced. When a review of the curricula of the different levels of training is made, it can be seen that in general they are comprehensive, have theoretical and methodological foundations, guide research training, develop practices in the different areas of the practice of the discipline, however in Colombia, in a large part of the practice of hospital nursing, the theory is not fully evident in its practice, understanding that there is ¿an epistemological rupture between the academic lexis and the social praxis¿5 and a theoretical, conceptual and practical disarticulation and inequality. ¿6 An example of this is that during undergraduate training, the student in hospital practice is in charge of a much smaller number of care subjects than a nursing professional has in the real context; the student must develop and apply care plans and socialize them with peers and teachers, a rare situation in the practicing graduate professional. RESEARCH QUESTION The research question posed is: What are the proposals for action that arise from the different actors involved in the field of health and academia, in six capital cities of Colombia, to reduce the gap between nursing theory and practice in the hospital care context?