Philosophy and Science in a Practice Discipline
A nurse enters a patient’s room to check her vitals and spends some time talking with the patient’s family how they are doing.
Later that day, another nurse responds to the patient’s call button; she becomes concerned when she discovers that the patient is running a fever and is in pain despite receiving the medication that has been ordered for her. She recalls a similar instance with a different patient, and keeps that in mind as she asks the patient about how she is feeling.
These seemingly simple actions are guided by philosophy—each nurse’s view of nursing and appropriate patient care.
Do you, personally, think nursing should rely solely on biological science? Or do you think it is important for nursing to incorporate a broader, more holistic approach to care? How do you know what you know? What sources of information are most significant to you? How should you determine what types of research are applicable to nursing practice?
To prepare:
- Reflect on your professional experiences, and assess how philosophy and science influences nursing practice.
- Consider how the scientific method is supported by philosophy, and how it influences nursing knowledge.
By tomorrow 5/31/17, post 550 words essay in APA format with 3 references from the list below, that include the level one heading as numbered below:
post a cohesive response that addresses the following:
1) Why are philosophy and science important to a practice discipline?
2) How do they legitimize the nursing profession?
3) Provide examples from your nursing practice that demonstrate how the scientific method influences nursing knowledge.
Required Readings
McEwin, M., & Wills, E.M. (2014). Theoretical basis for nursing. (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health.
Chapter 1, “Philosophy, Science, and Nursing”
Chapter 1 introduces the scientific and philosophical foundations of nursing and how these contribute to knowledge development within the discipline of nursing.
Gray, J.R., Grove, S.K., & Sutherland, S. (2017). Burns and Grove’s the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
Chapter 1, “Discovering the World of Nursing Research”
Chapter 1 introduces nursing research and discusses how science, theory, and philosophy all influence research.
Chapter 2, “Evolution of Research in Building Evidence-Based Nursing Practice”
Chapter 2 reviews the history of nursing research beginning with the work of Florence Nightingale and examines the influence of nursing research today on evidence-based practice.
Moran, K., Burson, R., & Conrad, D. (2017). The doctor of nursing practice scholarly project: A framework for success (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Chapter 1, “Setting the Stage for the Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project”
Chapter 5, “The phenomenon of Interest”
Chapter 6, “Developing the Scholarly Project”
Isaacs, S., Ploeg, J., & Tompkins C. (2009). How can Rorty help nursing science in the development of a philosophical ‘foundation’? Nursing Philosophy, 10(2), 81-90. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2008.00364.x
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This article discusses the application of the Richard Rorty’s pragmatic philosophy to nursing practices and research.
Kinsella, E. A. (2010). Professional knowledge and the epistemology of reflective practice. Nursing Philosophy, 11(1), 3-14. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2009.00428.x
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This article examines the philosophical underpinnings and epistemological assumptions of reflective practice in an effort to advance understanding for application in professional healthcare settings.
Mackay, M. (2009). Why nursing has not embraced the clinician-scientist role. Nursing Philosophy, 10(4), 287-296. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2009.00416.x
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
In this article, the role of the clinician-scientist and importance of clinical research for nursing is examined.
Persson, J. (2010). Misconceptions of positivism and five unnecessary science theoretic mistakes they bring in their train. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 47(5), 651-661. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2009.12.009
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This article discusses misconceptions of positivism and the implications of these misconceptions for nursing researchers.
Pesut, B., & Johnson, J. (2008). Reinstating the ‘Queen’: Understanding philosophical inquiry in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 61(1), 115-121. doi: 10.1111/j.1365 -2648.2007.04493.x
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This article provides an analysis of the use of philosophical inquiry within nursing research. The article identifies characteristics of philosophical inquiry as well as common tools used in this methodology.
Porter, S. (2001). Nightingale’s realist philosophy of science. Nursing Philosophy, 2(1), 14-25. doi:10.1046/j.1466-769X.2001.00029.x
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
In this article, Florence Nightingale’s realist philosophy of science is compared to today’s dominant philosophy of positivism.
