Nursing and Philosophy PDF

Nursing and Philosophy Department of Nursing Dr. Lolit H. Avanzado Philosophy studies concepts that structure thought processes, foundations, and presumptions. It is an approach for thinking about the nature of people, the methods that should be used to create a scientific knowledge and the ethic...

Nursing and Philosophy Department of Nursing Dr. Lolit H. Avanzado Philosophy studies concepts that structure thought processes, foundations, and presumptions. It is an approach for thinking about the nature of people, the methods that should be used to create a scientific knowledge and the ethics involved. It denotes a perspective, implying a certain broad, “taken for granted” assumptions. Epistemology – a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. It is referred to as the theory of knowledge. History and Philosophy of Science Rationalism is the philosophical that knowledge comes from logic and a certain kind of intuition where we immediately know something to be true without deduction. a. Deductive Type of reasoning is used to generate rationalist view which start from the general to specific knowledge. Empiricism make use of objective and tangible data or those that are perceived by the senses (smell, sight, taste and feeling) to observe and collect data. a. Inductive Method is based on the idea that the collection of facts precedes attempts to formulate generalization. Early 20th Century Views of Science and Theory Positivism (imposed on the mind by experience) is the philosophy of science that information is derived from logical and mathematical treatments and reports of sensory experience is the exclusive source of all authoritative knowledge. Emergent Views of Science and Theory in the late 20th Century •Empiricists argue that for science to maintain its objectivity, data collection and analysis must be independent of a theory. •Brown argues that the new epistemology challenged the empiricist view of perception by acknowledging that theories play a significant role in determining what the scientist will observe and how it will be interpreted. Brown identified 3 different views of the relationship between theories and observation: 1. Scientists are merely passive observers of occurrences in the empirical world. Observable data are objective truth waiting to be discovered. 2. Theory structure what the scientists perceived in the empirical world. 3. Presupposed theories and observable data interact in the process of scientific investigation. Interdependence between Theory and Research • A theory should be judged based on scientific consensus. • The acceptance of scientific hypothesis through research depends on the appraisal of the coherence of theory Dubin identified when scientific consensus is necessary: 1. on the boundaries of the theory; the phenomenon it addresses and what it excludes 2. on the logic used in constructing the theory to further understanding from a similar perspective 3. that the theory fits the data collected and analyzed though research Issues in Nursing Philosophy and Science Development Four fundamental patterns of knowledge in Nursing: 1. Empirical knowledge 2. Esthetic knowledge 3. Moral knowledge 4. Personal knowledge • 1980s further acceptance of nursing theory and its incorporation in the nursing curricula; publication of several nursing journals • 1990s Nursing as a basic science, an applied science, or a practical science Progress in the Discipline of Nursing (Meleis) • Practice • Education and Administration • Research Development of Nursing Theory • Peplau developed the first theory of nursing practice in her book, Interpersonal Relations in Nursing (1952) • Journal of Nursing Research (1952) • 1960s and 1970s – analysis and debate on the metatheoretical issues related to theory development Post-positivism focuses on discovering the patterns that may describe a phenomena • Interpretive paradigm tends to promote understanding by addressing the meanings the participants social interaction that emphasize situation, context and multiple cognitive constructions that individuals create on everyday events • Critical paradigm for knowledge development in nursing , provides framework for inquiring about the interaction between the social, political, economic, gender and cultural factors and experiences of health and illness.