Nursology is our discipline’s name – and the more we use that word out loud, in print, and online, the more likely it is to appear in everyday references people turn to online, including general dictionaries such as Merriam‑Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary. Nursing philosopher Joyce Paterson first coined the term “nursology” in 1971, and Mosby’s Pocket Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, & Health Professions (Mosby, 2009 & 2013, O’Toole,2022) has listed nursology since 2013. Internationally, thousands of nurses and scholars have taken up the term, including the community gathered here at Nursology.net.

So what is “nursology,” exactly?

The word itself tells a story: nursology blends nutrix (Latin for nurse) and logos (Greek for word, reason, or science). Nursology is “a name for our discipline; a body of knowledge, a research methodology, and a practice methodology about and for phenomena of concern to nurses.” This framing places nursology in the realm of philosophy, science, and art—it is the lens that shapes our questions and practice. (Chinn et al., 2020; Fawcett, 2019; Smith, 2022).

Why the name of the discipline matters

On Nursology.net, we often return to the power of naming – and for good reason. Disciplinary names signal that we hold a coherent domain of inquiry within the wider health sciences and humanities. When academic and clinical departments, as well as professional organizations, incorporate nursology into their titles, mission statements, and descriptions, this linguistic shift shapes curricula, research priorities, and the policy language that frames who nurses are and what we can do. {How words like “nursology” actually get into dictionaries} Editors at Merriam‑Webster and Oxford are not waiting for a formal request from a nursing organization—they are quietly tracking how communities actually use language. Editors at major dictionaries spend their days collecting “citations” of words as they appear “in the wild”. For a word to be added, they look for three things: frequent use, widespread use, and a clear, relatively stable meaning over time (Merriam‑Webster, n.d.; Oxford University Press, 2026; Ramaswamy, 2016). There is no magic petition or single vote that guarantees inclusion; each dictionary applies its own criteria and timelines so that a word may appear in one dictionary years before another. {Everyday nursology: how usage becomes recognition}

The most important work is not to “speak nursology into the dictionary” – we must “speak nursology into the discipline”. We must boldly begin to use nursology in our blogs, email signatures, social media, conference programs, magazines, dissertations, and journal articles. When faculty design curricula and syllabi around nursology’s philosophy, theories, and nursing ethics, we are preparing our scholars for a time when our discipline stands as securely among the “ologies”. When we use nursology in clinical practice, media interviews, op‑eds, and online content, we reinforce that this is not a passing trend but a stable part of our disciplinary language.

Over time, this visible, consistent usage increases the odds that dictionary editors will encounter nursology in multiple independent sources and decide it has “stood the test of time” and deserves an entry. Moreover, if you ever doubt that this kind of grassroots language change works, think about how teen and Gen Z communities have already ushered words like “selfie,” “rizz,” and “bussin” into major dictionaries – simply by using them, over and over, in daily life. If they can do that for slang, we can certainly do it for a term that names our profession.

References

Chinn, P. L., Fawcett, J., Smith, M. C., & Schultz, P. R. (2020, October 15). Nursology, nursing, nursologist, and nurse: An invitation to dialogue about disciplinary terms. Nursology.net. https://nursology.net/about/definitions/nursology-nursing-nursologist-and-nurse-an-invitation-to-dialogue-about-disciplinary-terms

Fawcett, J. (2019). Nursology revisited and revived [Editorial]. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(5), 919–920. https://doi-org.ezp.twu.edu/10.1111/jan.13925

Merriam‑Webster. (n.d.). How does a word get into a Merriam‑Webster dictionary? Merriam‑Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-words-into-dictionary

Nursology.net. (2025, August 20). Definitions. Nursology.net. https://nursology.net/about/definitions/
Mosby. (2009). Nursology. In Mosby, Mosby’s dictionary of medicine, nursing & health professions (8th ed., pp.1303-1304. Elsevier.

Mosby. (2013). Nursology. In Mosby, Mosby’s dictionary of medicine, nursing & health professions (9th ed., pp. 1250). Elsevier.

O’Toole, M.T. (Ed.). (2022). Nursology. In M.T. O’Toole (Ed.), Mosby’s dictionary of medicine, nursing & health professions (11th ed., pp. 1259). Elsevier. https://archive.org/details/mosbys-dictionary-of-medicine-nursing-health-professions-9e-56k-2023-marie-o-toole/page/n1491/mode/2up

Oxford English Dictionary. (2026). How do words enter the OED. https://www.oed.com/information/editorial-policy/how-words-enter-the-oed/?tl=true
Paterson, J.G. (1971). From a philosophy of clinical nursing to a method of nursology. Nursing Research, 20(2),143–146.

Ramaswamy, C. (2016, September 12). Here’s how the Oxford English Dictionary chooses new words. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-how-oxford-english-dictionary-chooses-new-words-180960423

Smith, M. C. (2022, December 20). The focus of the discipline of nursing. Nursology.net. https://nursology.net/2022/12/20/the-focus-of-the-discipline-of-nursing/