Specialty and advanced practice nursing: discerning the differences.

Advanced practice nursing and specialty practice are terms that are often used interchangeably in nursing discourse. This column explores the inextricable link, as well as the differences between these two types of practice. Drawing differing conclusions about their specific and cooperative value enables nurses to construct innovative and creative approaches to their continued development that illuminates a path for disciplinary expansion.

Toward an appreciation of nursing scholarship: recognizing our traditions, contributions, and presence.

The notion of scholarship as a process and product of inquiry has received abundant attention since Boyer, in association with The Carnegie Foundation, challenged the narrowly defined and restricted merit system of academe. This article examines the scope and definitions of scholarship advanced by Boyer and his colleagues with a view to surfacing the limitations that this framework places on academic disciplines that also serve professional mandates. Also presented is a framework for contemporary nursing scholarship that moves beyond Boyer's construction and captures the immensely rich and varied contributions that nursing does and can make to humankind.