section_path: Nursing as a science
section_name: Nursing as a science
paragraph_text: Nursing as a science
  
  Florence Nightingale's seminal epidemiological study examining mortality among British soldiers during the Crimean War was published in 1858. With the exception of her works, nursing practice remained an oral tradition until the mid-20th century. The inaugural issue of Nursing Research, the first scientific journal specialized in nursing, came in in 1952. During the 1960s, interest in attaining PhDs increased among nurses in the US, but nursing remained a fledgling area of research, with few journals until the 1970s. Nursing research is increasingly presented as a valid discipline, although lacking a prevailing definition. The question is further complicated by the numerous interpretations of nursing's defining essence.