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Concepts of knowledge in nursing
Concepts of knowledge in nursing
Fundamental Patterns of Knowledge in Nursing. barbara
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A Review of the Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing Nursing takes on a different form of learning that reflects several different aspects and abilities that encompass a wide range of skills and forms the ways of knowing in nursing. The article, “The Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing,” incorporates multiple theories associated with the learning patterns in nursing. It is a review of literature that helps identify and understand the knowledge practiced by nurses and to better understand the nursing profession. The purpose of the paper was to evaluate the expectations of learning within the nursing realm based on the four areas of nursing that include, empirics, esthetics, personal knowledge and ethics.
Empirics
The first step
Carper, 1978). Nursing is an art. Performing and caring for a patient requires a skill set that involves expressive details that may be subjective. Esthetics can contain an emotional component with either the patient or the nurse. Empathizing with a patient gives the nurse knowledge and helps the nurse perceive what the patient is experiencing and allows for the nurse to provide better care through understanding the patient’s experiences (Barbara A. Carper,
They provide morals and are used to form what is the best and right action to do. Ethics can be controversial, but the nurse must keep in mind the patient and their morals. The nurse must understand the different positions of what is good, what is right, what ought to be done, the complexity of moral judgment and the obligations required of them (Barbara A. Carper, 1978). Ethics represent the norms of society. Unethical actions endanger social judgment, the patient, and personal morality. Learning personal values as well as moral judgments through actions and personal beliefs helps form ethics in the nursing learning.
Using the Patterns of Knowing Each of the four components serves as one individual discipline. They are capable of standing alone but when it comes to the practice of nursing, all four components need to be incorporated. The significance of the knowing patterns coveys that the structure of discipline that must be present for learning, it does not represent the complete approach to problems, and/or questions and that the knowledge of knowing can change (Barbara A. Carper, 1978). By knowing the restrictions it helps change the process of learning and create new patterns.
A critical analysis of the four fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing is essential for nurses to be able to grasp the complicated nature of the nursing practice. Barbara Carper (1978) lists the four patterns of knowing as: empirics, esthetics, personal knowledge, and ethics or moral knowledge (p.14). The science of nursing is called empirics and the connection of art to nursing is referred to as esthetics (Carper, 1978, p.14). These patterns are four very complex areas of nursing that every nurse must consider in order to be as successful as possible in providing care. In this evaluation the author will discuss how these concepts affect present learning and practice.
Relational inquiry is a process that both supports and necessitates different ways of knowing and different types of knowledge (Hartrick Doane & Varcoe, 2015, p.227). Furthermore, nursing knowledge is constructed and contextualized within the activity of the nurse as a 'knower ' and is an integration of the different ways of knowing (Antrobus, 1997, p. 830). Reflecting on these aspects of relational inquiry and the ways of knowing can enhance a nurses ability as a 'knower '. The intent of this paper is to summarize and analyze myself as a 'knower ' while reflecting on the different levels of inquiry and ways of knowing.
Carper’s (1978) pivotal work of identifying nursing’s ways of knowing was a seminal work that laid the foundation for further analysis. Her ways of knowing have identified methods that have allowed the nursing discipline to further its own knowledge as well as the profession. Two other ways of knowing have emerged, Munall’s (1993) “unknowing” pattern; and also sociopolitical knowing by Zander (2011, p. 9) or emancipatory pattern (Chinn & Kramer, 2011, p. 5). Here these patterns are discussed through experiences in my personal practice.
I chose to go into nursing because I had taken a sports medicine class in high school I enjoyed, and I thought I would be guaranteed a job graduating that had something to do with medicine. I can remember being so excited to learn how about illnesses and medications, and all the difference procedures done in the hospital. At the time I thought a nurse’s job was to do what the physicians said, and I expected set guidelines that would tell me what I was and wasn’t allowed to do. I had no idea that I was entering onto a career path involving so much complexity, and that the skills I had dreamed of learning were such a small part of nursing in comparison to the emotional, decision making, and critical thinking skills that a nursing career requires. Ethics in nursing was not something that had ever crossed my mind when I chose to take this path, however now ethics is something that I think about every day I am practicing, whether in clinical or theory courses. Ethical theories often come from the idea that because we are human we have the obligation to care about other’s best interests (Kozier et al., 2010), however in nursing ethical practice is not just a personal choice but a professional responsibility.
As a nurse, we serve a society which is very culturally diverse. We provide care to many individuals whom have their own unique set of ethics, values, morals, and beliefs by which may be very different from our own. Because of our professional role, we must use lifelong learning as a tool to broaden our views, increase our knowledge, and understand the influences which affect it. To make this possible, we have to continually educate ourselves about the nursing laws, professional standards, and code of ethics all of which we are committed to.
Berman, A. J and Burke, K. (2000), looked at nursing ethics as an integral part of nursing, that has t has to do with moral principles and values that guide nurses to make decisions and choices that lead to quality and effective client care. In providing nursing care, nurses find themselves in situations where sensitive decisions are made about the best way to treat illness and solve healthcare problems. Values influence decisions and actions and value clarification promote quality decisions by fostering awareness,
Barbara Carper that her article entitled “Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing “identified four patterns of knowing including empirics, ethics, aesthetics and personal knowing and claimed that these form the basis of nursing knowledge (Carper, 2006). In this article the patterns of knowing have been identified as an appropriate way for nurses to organize and reflect upon their knowledge (Johns, 1995; Wainwright, 2000). There are others ways of knowing that have been identified including ‘experience’ and ‘intuition’ (Zander, 2007).
Carper identifies four fundamental patterns of knowing that contribute to the structure of nursing knowledge and the promotion of safe, quality patient care, including empirics, esthetics, personal knowledge, and ethics (1978). According to Carper, empirical knowledge is knowledge of the science behind nursing practice (1978). With empirical knowledge, a nurse relies on the scientific facts she has collected throughout her years of education and experience and applies them to patient care in order to provide the best care possible. Knowledge of esthetics, according to Carper, is knowledge of the art of nursing (1978). Esthetic knowledge allows the nurse to rely on her perceptions and intuitions about what a patient really needs to creatively design and implement the types of care that will be the most effective and satisfying for her patient (Carper, 1978). The third way of knowing, personal knowledge, involves knowing, recognizing, and utilizing the role the individual self plays in nursing practice (Carper, 1978). Carper introduces the idea of therapeutic use of self, in which the nurse sees the patient as more than just an object that needs tending to and instead as another human being to form a relationship with (1978). Personal knowledge drives the nurse to think of how she would want to be treated if the roles were reversed, and motivates the nurse to engage the patient in every aspect of their care so they receive quality care that is tailored to their specific needs. The last way of knowing, ethical knowledge, is defined by Carper as encompassing a nurse’s sense of the right versus the wrong thing to do in a given patient situation (1978). A nurse has to rely on her moral intuition to make sure that every judgment call being made on a patient’s care are all ethical and in the best interest of the
In this essay I will be discussing the importance of understanding learning styles for student nurses. I will also be focusing on the learning cycle and learning style using the Honey and Mumford 80 questionnaire. I look into the details of how learning style helps students to understand the importance of recognising one’s learning style preference. I will also provide an understanding of learning and learning theories and discuss my own dominant learning style and how I aim to deal with my weaknesses to progress well in the nursing programme.
Around the 1960s, nursing educational leaders wanted to formulate a nursing theory that contained knowledge and basic principles to guide future nurses’ in their practice (Thorne, 2010, p.64). Thus, Jacqueline Fawcett introduced the metaparadigm of nursing. Metaparadigm “identifies the concepts central to the discipline without relating them to the assumptions of a particular world view” (MacIntyre & Mcdonald, 2014). Fawcett’s metaparadigm of nursing included concepts of person, environment, health, and nursing that were interrelated. The metaparadigm ultimately contributed to conceptual framework to guide nurses to perform critical thinking and the nursing process in everyday experiences in clinical settings.
Nursing is a medical profession that involves the care and management of patients majorly in the hospital setting. This paper seeks to illustrate the fact that nursing is both a science and an art. Nursing is a science because it involves evidence based practice, education of the public, lifelong learning for the nurse and administrative roles that are allocated to the nurses. Nursing is also an art because nurses depend on intuition, have the capacity to promote positive change, are understanding and culturally sensitive.
These views imply that real life experiences test theoretical foundation, allowing for an individual to gain what is referred to as practical knowledge. This knowledge consists of a combination between theory and practice, allowing for a more holistic approach to patient care. Benner credits her differentiation of “knowing how” and “knowing that” to the ideals of philosophers Kuhn and Polyani. The premise of “knowing how” is related to nursing practice, whereas the basis for “knowing that” is associated with nursing theory. Due to the complex circumstances surrounding different clinical situations, theory alone would be inadequate for providing proficient patient care. Because of this, the importance of examining nurse practice is invaluable to further the development of nursing theory (Alligood,
In my IPE class, I volunteer at Martin Luther Campus doing the ambulatory program. I know that by seeing my residents every Monday, it will help to improve on all four of these concepts. I have the empirical Pattern of Knowing covered by the training they gave us in order to be able to walk the residents correctly using a gait belt. The ethical Pattern of Knowing is something that I morally have a start on, but I will improve on as I continue to work with my residents in the home, and throughout the nursing classes learning about the rules and regulations involved in being a nurse. The aesthetic Pattern of Knowing is something that I think I will work on for as long as I am in the nursing program, and once I become a nurse.
Knowing Persons in Nursing. In M. Parker, & M. C. Smith, Nursing Theories & Nursing
First of all, caring in nursing requires confidence and knowledge. Knowledge can be acquired from education and confidence comes with experience and practice. “Without knowledge and competence, compassion and care are powerless to help