Patterns of Knowing in Nursing
Nursing education has evolved greatly over the years, in the mid-19th century, nursing was seen as a mothering and homemaking role; today nursing has a more scientific base (Peplau, 1986). Nursing is much more than following doctors’ orders and performing comfort care. Nurses must be able to apply different aspects of knowledge into their care in order to provide quality care to their patients. According to the American Nurses Association (2014), nursing is the protection, promotion and optimization of health and abilities; nursing includes the prevention of injury and alleviation of suffering through diagnosis and treatment, and advocate in the care of the individual, families and community. The purpose of …show more content…
Empirical knowledge in nursing theory refines and enhances the structural foundation in the nursing curriculum thus enhancing the viewpoint of the science of nursing in a global perspective (Kalofissudis, 2007). Ethical knowledge for the professional nurse involves matters of moral obligation, the use of the ethical code of nursing, and application of social justice when caring for their patients. Nurses apply personal knowledge through personal reflection and are able to demonstrate to patients that the nurse understands what they may be going through and can help interpret some of their decisions and experiences in such a way that can aid in the patients understanding of a difficult situation (Nursing Pedagogy, n.d.). The aesthetic pattern of knowledge is considered the art in nursing as it is based on the skill of the nurse in a given situation and transpires in the effectiveness of the nurse-client relationship (Peplau, 1988). Without a positive nurse-client relationship the nurse may face many barriers in attempting to care for their