Philosophical Inquiry and the Goals of Nursing

Abstract

Philosophical inquiry remains critically important for nursing education, practice, and knowledge development. We propose a 3-level taxonomy of philosophical inquiry to guide nursing curricula and research development. Important background information about philosophy and the development of philosophical methods is given. Then philosophical inquiry is linked to the goals of nursing using our proposed taxonomy: level I-cultivating an attitude of "critical consciousness" related to all nursing situations and actions, level II-analysis and application of philosophical perspectives to nursing problems and level III-generating new knowledge for nursing purposes including new theories of practice and research.

Using critical consciousness to inform health professions education: A literature review

“…Freire defined the ‘banking model of education’ as one in which facts are deposited into passive learners [ 10 ]. Similarly, the articles we reviewed present arguments for broader definitions of knowledge and learning than those required of a banking model [ 1 , 15 , 18 , 19 , 22 , 29 , 30 , 39 – 41 ].…”

Competency frameworks, nursing perspectives, and interdisciplinary collaborations for good patient care: Delineating boundaries

“…Though the goals of the healthcare professions may be mutually held, having a focus on restoring and promoting health, the way to achieve these goals varies on the theoretically derived perspectives of each profession. Reliance on the development of competencies, then, would be instrumental and require additional abilities such as philosophical critique and ethical analysis for achieving theoretically and ethically derived professional goals (Grace & Perry, 2013 ). Philosophical critique is needed to determine, which competencies are important, what is needed to develop these, how to evaluate them, and how they fit within nursing's philosophical and theoretical endeavours.…”

“…To promote person‐centred care, to counter fragmentation, and to reduce over‐ and undertreatment in any setting where healthcare occurs, it is undisputable that the disciplines need to be able to draw upon one another's knowledge and expertise (Deneckere et al, 2013 ; Dulay et al, 2020 ; McHugh et al, 2020 ). The ability to communicate effectively across disciplines is critical for optimal care of individuals and society (Englander & Carraccio, 2018 ; Grace & Perry, 2013 ). Thus, members of each profession whether collaborating, consulting, or working as a team, should have a deep understanding of their own role and contributions and be knowledgeable about what the other profession or professions contribute.…”

Complexity-Based Pedagogy for E-Learning: Description of Emergence in a Graduate Nursing Program

“…One student shared, One thing in the article Philosophical Inquiry and the Goals of Nursing: A Critical Approach for Disciplinary Knowledge Development and Action [42] that intrigued me was the exemplar discussion of the philosophical inquiry of advocacy. I had always taken it for granted that as a nurse I was a "patient advocate" but had never really stopped to reflect on the meaning of this term for me personally or for the profession of nursing as a whole.…”