Gleick（1987）指出二十世紀科學中的傳世之作只有三件（相對論、量子力學、和混沌原理），混沌已變成一股重新塑造科學體系的新風潮，混沌現象也廣泛被應用於不同專業領域。本文旨在介紹混沌原理的內涵及其在護理上的應用，「混沌」是規律秩序的先兆，換言之，「混沌」乃是強調存在於雜亂現象之內潛藏的規律秩序，期望藉此初步的介紹，能拋磚引玉，使得更多護理科學家能得到靈感，而朝向臨床、研究、或行政方面發揮混沌原理的應用。

　　　　　Gleick (1987) said that only three twentieth century scientific theories would be important enough to continue be of use in the twenty-first century: The Theory of Relativity, Quantum Theory, and Chaos Theory. Chaos Theory has become a craze which is being used to forge a new scientific system. It has also been extensively applied in a variety of professions. The purpose of this article is to introduce chaos theory and its nursing applications. Chaos is a sign of regular order. This is to say that chaos theory emphasizes the intrinsic potential for regular order within disordered phenomena. It is to be hoped that this article will inspire more nursing scientists to apply this concept to clinical, research, or administrative fields in our profession.