RESUMO
Many faculty argue that theory and theorizing are closely related to the clinical practice, that the disciplinary knowledge grows, more relevantly, from the specific care context in which it takes place and, moreover, that knowledge does not proceed only by the application of general principles of the grand theories to specific cases. Every nurse, in fact, have a mental model, of what may or may not be aware, that motivate and substantiate every action and choice of career. The study describes what the nursing theoretical model is; the mental model and the tacit knowledge underlying it. It identifies the explicit theoretical model of the professional group that rapresents nursing partecipants, aspects of continuity with the theoretical model proposed by this degree course in Nursing.. Methods Four focus groups were made which were attended by a total of 22 nurses, rapresentatives of almost every Unit of Reggio Emilia Hospital's. We argue that the theoretical nursing model of each professional group is the result of tacit knowledge, which help to define the personal mental model, and the theoretical model, which explicitly underlying theoretical content learned applied consciously and reverted to / from nursing practice. Reasoning on the use of theory in practice has allowed us to give visibility to a theoretical model explicitly nursing authentically oriented to the needs of the person, in all its complexity in specific contexts.