Theory building in nurse-midwifery. The care process.

Identifying what it is about the way nurse-midwives care for women that might contribute to healthy outcomes for women and infants requires clear definition of that care process. This article describes our efforts to define the theoretical construct of the nurse-midwifery care process. These efforts culminated in the development of a middle range descriptive theory of nurse-midwifery care. We share those efforts with others in the hopes of encouraging dialogue and the testing of this theory in a variety of clinical settings.