Ways of Knowing Essay

Ethical practice is another component of the social contract of nursing which is a reflection of the values, beliefs and moral principles of the nursing profession. The American Nurses Association (ANA) has established the “Code of Ethics for Nurses” which serves as a “guideline” for the nursing profession in which clinical judgements and

“Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.” Nursing is more than just doing assessments and giving medications; it is going beyond that to know what is right or wrong, what can and cannot be done, and what is considered harming the patients rather than doing them good. In nursing, there is a fine line between what is considered to be negligence and beneficence. According to Marquis (2017), “Ethics is the systemic study of what a person’s conduct and actions should be with regard to self, others human beings, and the environment (pg. 83), on the other hand, it does not necessarily mean that their

The knowing addresses how nurses understand the knowledge. The doing of nursing entails the actions of nurses, bringing both knowledge and practice together (Butts and Rich, 2015). The four patterns of knowing, developed by Carper, include empirics. ethics, aesthetics, and personal knowledge. Empirical knowledge is the scientific aspect of knowing. It is based on general knowledge, and usually shared with other disciplines such sociologists and psychologists. Ethical knowledge involves morals and judgement. This is used when determining right or good acts in nursing practice, ensuring that the best decision is made and is right for the patient. Aesthetic knowledge, the art aspect of nursing, involve of the nurse’s understanding and acknowledgment of other’s living experiences. Showing empathy and respect to patients as they experience their life’s journey. Personal knowledge entails self-awareness and others, and interpersonal skills. These four patterns of knowing shows that nursing practice consist of holistic patient care, and not being solely scientific

According to Carper, one pattern described in the pattern of knowing is aesthetics. Aesthetics is essentially empathy, or having the capacity to understand what another person is experiencing (Carper, 1978). Aesthetics is purely subjective, exclusive, and open to interpretation. “Aesthetics require from the nurse to be fully engaged in the moment of the experience and interpret a client situation all at once by elucidating the meaning of the process and looking beyond the situation to focus on what might be (envisioning), so as to act according to what has been envisioned (Mantzorou & Mastrogiannis, 2011, p. 253). In essence, aesthetics is the process of nursing that involves caring for our

Empirical way of knowing simply refers to the science of nursing. Empirical knowledge, on the other hand, describes theories and laws that are systematically organized to describe, explain, and predict a phenomenon (Turton, 1997). Nursing is a professional area that requires a vast amount of knowledge in order to deliver services effectively. Empirics, therefore, define factual knowledge of science that helps to underline nursing as a science and must thus be practiced in an organized way.

This paper explores Carper’s four fundamental ways of knowing, including its relationship and application to nursing theory. Carper (1978) identifies four ways of knowing as empirical, personal, ethical, and aesthetic. Each is individually important to nursing, but cannot adequately address the fundamental principles of nursing alone. This paper examines each pattern as expressed herein and ensures that all the relevant areas of nursing are attended to in the most professional, competent, and ethical manner.

Throughout the development of theory in the discipline of nursing there are concepts of knowledge that are fundamental. Four of these patterns of knowing were first explored by Carper (1978) which included: empirical knowing, ethical knowing, personal knowing, and aesthetic knowing. Later, an additional facet was added by Chinn and Kramer (2008) which introduced emancipitory knowing. While all of these forms of knowledge are critical for holistic nursing care, this paper will place an emphasis on personal knowledge and how it contributes to the development of knowledge within nursing and the roles of advanced care practitioners.

So I bring up this controversial topic again, about both mental and physical health and how important it is to take some time out of our crazy busy lives as nurses just to sit with our patients for a few minutes to discuss their pain. By pain, I mean both mental and physical pain. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a situation I was involved in as a nursing student in the clinical setting and how I can critically analyze this situation using Carper’s Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing (1978). This model has helped many practitioners to consider what they learn throughout reflection on their experience within a holistic way.

Nursing is a profession that involves commitment, understanding, and the acceptance of evolving change. This paper will discuss how the five ways of knowing encompass science (empirics), art (aesthetics), personal, ethical, and socio-political (emancipatory) knowledge. This writer will also describe in this paper how the five ways of knowing are applicable in a clinical context. Being aware of the diverse types of knowing supports the nurse in the multi-dimensional facets nursing will carry them through. According to Carper (1978) understanding the multiple ways of knowing brings greater awareness of the complexity and diversity of nursing knowledge.

Ethics and Morals play an important role in the nursing profession; nurses are confronted with choices to make every day, and some of them more challenging than others. Ethics are affirmations between what it can be right or erroneous. For our society ethics is presented as a complex system of principles and beliefs. This system serves as an approach with the purpose of ensuring the protection of each individual within the society. On the other hand, morals are basic standards between what is right or wrong; each individual learns to identify these standards during the early stages of human development (Catalano, 2009). A person with morals is usually somebody who recognizes how to respond to the needs of another individual by giving care and keeping a level of responsibility while giving this care (Catalano, 2009).

Evidence-based practice can also be described as research-based practice, in such practices, one has to justify the

Sensing (S) and intuiting (N) dissect the focus of a person’s attention (1998). Sensing refers to using “facts” to determine a decision. Someone who identifies with sensing also is patient, likes to establish a routine, imitative and us good at checking /“reading the fine print”. With intuition (N) refers to using a “gut

As of recent decades, the topic of climate change has become a controversial debate between those who support the claim and those who believe it does not exist. Climate change, simply put, is the change in distribution of weather patterns that extend over a longer period of time. One of the major debates is whether global climate change is due primarily to anthropogenic, also known as man-made, causes or it is all part of a natural cycle. This argument introduces bigger topics that are related to the issue, such as the impact of carbon footprints, the current position towards the Paris Agreement, and the future health/economic risks that may arise in southern New Jersey, specifically. Both sides of the

Epistemology can be divided into two parts: one being traditional epistemology and the other being naturalized epistemology. The difference between the two is that traditionalists simply accept what they think they know whereas naturalists put what they think they know to empirical tests. When I say empirical, I mean methodologies of the natural science. In other words meaning putting things we think we know to practical tests to find out if it is true, scientifically. Or to even better understand what I mean by empirical, it is essentially another way of saying naturalized epistemology. In this essay I will establish the reasons why naturalized epistemology is a better choice over traditional epistemology.

Knowledge is produced differently for everyone based on how they came to be and what their personal style is. The different ways of knowing can help distinguish how we gain knowledge and how we know what we know (Faulkner & Faulkner, 2016). After analyzing the different ways of knowing, I can distinguish which of those ways would affect my research process. I can then begin to understand my personal ontology and epistemology about how knowledge is produced. After I established how I believe my knowledge is produced, I am able to locate myself into a specific paradigm that relates to how I conduct research. Throughout this paper, I will discuss my personal ways of knowing and what paradigm I relate to.