Paper
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Thinking Nursing within the Context of Evidence-Based Practice
Susan Forneris, PhD, RN, CRRN, CCM1, Vicki Schug, PhD, RN2, Susan Ellen Campbell, PhD, RN2, and Kathleen Kalb, PhD, RN2. (1) Nursing, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN, USA, (2) Department of Nursing, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN, USA
This paper explores the philosophical underpinnings of
thinking nursing within the context of evidence-based practice.
Thinking nursing requires the use of nursing knowledge that includes a comprehensive perspective about evidence-based practice. Fawcett, Watson, Neuman, Walker, and Fitzpatrick (2001) advocate an educational approach that addresses different forms of inquiry to develop an inclusive understanding of theory, evidence, and nursing knowledge. This paper presents how the "Patterns of Knowing in Nursing"(Carper, 1978) are used to elicit different forms of inquiry as part of an innovative nursing education model. The model guides students in the organization of their knowledge to create connections between
thinking and doing nursing with the context of evidence-based practice. The paper provides a foundation for discussion about our work as nurse educators, the debate around the discipline's theory-practice gap, and the impact this has on nursing education and professional practice.
Carper, B. (1978). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 1(1), 13-23.
Fawcett, J., Watson, J., Neuman, B., Walker, P., Fitzpatrick, J.J. (2001). On nursing theories and evidence. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 33 (2), 115-119.