Philosophy, science, theory: interrelationships and implications for nursing research

Concept analysis of the Four-Season-Symphony of Intellectuality-Spirituality-Ethics-Esthetics (FSS: I SEA) in nursing research

BACKGROUND

The Four-Season-Symphony of intellectuality, spirituality, ethics, and esthetics (FSS: I SEA) in nursing research is a new concept that has not been addressed in previous nursing theories and studies.

AIM

This study was conducted to clarify the concept of the FSS: I SEA in nursing research.

DESIGN

Wilson's method of concept analysis was used.

DATA SOURCE

Empirical and conceptual literature.

REVIEW METHOD

This study has been conducted based on Wilson's 11-step approach by searching keywords with Symphony, Rationality, Intellectuality, Spirituality, Ethics, Esthetics, and Nursing research in databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Sid, Oxford Dictionary, Dehkhoda Dictionary, and nursing theory textbook.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Richness and elegance of the symphony in nursing research cannot be achieved by a single-tool benchmark; rather, a more integrated assessment can be achieved with the use of a tool combining different intellectuality, spirituality, ethics, and esthetics tools. This symphony contains a philosophical and deep understanding of the meanings of researcher, research problem, research process, and symphonic product. Through identifying the facilitators and barriers of this concept, nursing researchers, professors, and practitioners will be able to design and implement their research activities on FSS basis to pave the way for the continued transcendence of comprehensive nursing care.

Revisiting qualitative inquiry: Interviewing in nursing and midwifery research

Qualitative research is now often favoured in nursing and midwifery because it emphasises a person-centred and holistic approach. In this paper it is proposed that this type of inquiry is not only a valid way of carrying out research but also a very useful means of eliciting the perspectives of patients and colleagues. It is acknowledged that qualitative approaches are not unproblematic. In particular, there are issues of validity and reliability which should be addressed by researchers, hence a discussion of these is included. Interviewing is the most common method of collecting data within this approach and is examined here, together with its advantages, common pitfalls and problems.

Concept analysis: method to enhance interdisciplinary conceptual understanding

This article is a presentation of a method of concept analysis designed to assist in understanding the unique manner in which various disciplines use the same word or group of words to describe differing conceptual ideas. Nurse researchers often borrow research instruments developed in other disciplines. However, research instruments are developed in accordance with the philosophical underpinnings of a specific discipline with the intent to contribute to the knowledge base of that discipline. Therefore, it is uncertain whether research instruments borrowed from other disciplines actually measure the conceptual phenomenon from a nursing perspective.

Health and illness over time: the trajectory perspective in nursing science

BACKGROUND

Understanding change in health and illness over time is central to creating and evaluating interventions for individuals, families, and populations. The term health trajectory is a succinct and useful way to describe change in health status over time.

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this article were to define the notion of a health trajectory; comment on the usefulness and current status of health trajectory research for nursing science and practice; and identify and illustrate the key elements of theory, design, and statistical models for health trajectory research.

APPROACH

Constructs in theory about individual change are summarized, synthesized with characteristics of longitudinal design and statistical models for change, and discussed in light of current and emerging health care priorities and trends in nursing research.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Health trajectory research is person focused and congruent with the person-centered emphasis of nursing practice. The contribution of nursing science to the overall effort to improve health will be enhanced when change over time is explicit in nursing theory, longitudinal designs are used, and contemporary statistical approaches for modeling change in health status are incorporated into research plans.

Economic theory and nursing administration research--is this a good combination?

TOPIC

Economic theory is used to describe and explain decision making in the context of scarce resources.

PURPOSE

This paper presents two applications of economic theory to the delivery of nursing services in acute care hospitals and evaluates its usefulness in guiding nursing administration research.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The description of economic theory and the proposed applications for nursing are based on current nursing, healthcare, and economic literature. Evaluation of the potential usefulness of economic theory in guiding nursing administration research is based on the criteria of significance and testability as described by Fawcett and Downs.

CONCLUSIONS

While economic theory can be very useful in explaining how decisions about nursing time allocation and nursing care production are made, it will not address the issue of how they should be made. Normative theories and ethical frameworks also must be incorporated in the decision-making process around these issues. Economic theory and nursing administration are a good fit when balanced with the values and goals of nursing.

Why nursing has not embraced the clinician--scientist role

Reasons for the limited uptake of the clinician-scientist role within nursing are examined, specifically: the lack of consensus about the nature of nursing science; the varying approaches to epistemology; and the influence of post-modern thought on knowledge development in nursing. It is suggested that under-development of this role may be remedied by achieving agreement that science is a necessary, worthy pursuit for nursing, and that rigorous science conducted from a clinical perspective serves nursing well. Straddling practice and research is a powerful strategy for ensuring relevant research while forging strong links with practice. The clinician-scientist role, typically requiring a 75:25 ratio between research and clinical activities, is well established in medicine. Nursing, however, has been slow to institute the role; it is rare within North America, Australia, and western European countries, and almost non-existent outside those areas. Beyond structural obstacles, philosophical issues may explain nursing's reluctance to implement the role. Following a survey of clinician-scientist roles throughout the world, the nature of nursing science and epistemology, and the influence of post-modern thought on nursing attitudes to research are examined with respect to their influence on this role. The nurse clinician-scientist role holds promise for making strides in clinically relevant research, and for accelerating the knowledge cycle from clinical problem to research question to change in clinical practice.

Research methodologies in neonatal nursing

THERE IS LITTLE DISAGREEMENT AMONG NURSES concerning the need for clinical research to clarify and expand the profession’s knowledge base. Yet if we stop for a moment and reflect on why we perform certain activities in the course of our daily practice, seldom is the reason grounded in research. Our rationales are more likely to be an outcome of our apprentice-style education; we do what we do in the way we do it because a nursing colleague, instructor, or a member of a related health care profession once told us this is the correct way. Although these patterns are difficult to change, we, as nurses, accepted the responsibility for research when we began to refer to ourselves as “professionals.” Members of a profession constantly use research findings to modify their knowledge base; and as a consequence, clients of that profession’s service expect to benefit from the application of new research knowledge to practice.

Hermeneutic-phenomenology: providing living knowledge for nursing practice

The phenomenological approach has gained popularity among nurse researchers as an alternative investigative method to those used in the natural sciences. As more nurse scholars and nurse researchers utilize phenomenology as a research approach, it becomes critical to examine the implications this may have for nursing knowledge development and for the utilization of that knowledge in practice. In this paper, an examination of the results of phenomenological inquiry is presented and compared with the types of knowledge considered important for nursing by Carper and White. It is clear that phenomenology contributes to empirical, moral, aesthetic, personal, and socio-political knowledge development. Its contribution is not in developing predictive and prescriptive theory, but in revealing the nature of human experience. Although interpretive inquiry, such as hermeneutic phenomenology, does not prescribe action for use in clinical practice, it does influence a thoughtful reflective attentive practice by its revealing of the meanings of human experience.

Focus on community: directions for nursing knowledge development

Nurses are challenged to advance the theoretical foundations of community practice. This paper offers ideas on what has been done and what needs to be done to meet this challenge. Within a community health nursing perspective, the paper defines community, proposes an integrated knowledge development framework that focuses on community, analyses contemporary theoretical and philosophical foundations of community in nursing, considers three world-views in which nursing can be framed, and examines parameters for knowledge development for the future.

Intuition in psychiatric-mental health nursing

A descriptive study was done to explore how psychiatric-mental health nurses define and act on intuition in clinical practice with children and adolescents, and to identify supports for and barriers to taking such action. Interviews of 16 nurses were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for manifest and latent content. Findings support previous studies about intuition in nursing practice and have implications for psychiatric-mental health nurses working with high-risk populations of children and adolescents.

Philosophical ponderings on qualitative research methods in nursing

This article focuses on the philosophical underpinnings of qualitative research methods. The historical context reflects an interpretive turn from envisioning nursing as a natural science to one of a human science. The phenomological paradigm is reflected upon in the questioning of perception, philosophy, nursing philosophy, paradigms, assumptions, and praxis. An invitation to embrace human understanding of experience, meaning of life worlds, the essences of experience, the attentive practice of thoughtfulness, and caring attunements is extended. The aims of discovery and qualitative research methods are presented within social, experiential, linguistic, and cultural contexts. In a fundamental sense, this paper is about the meaning and seriousness of human experience and nursing's efforts to study such experience faithfully, with reverence and wonderment.

Towards a coexistence of paradigms in nursing knowledge development

During the last 35 years, nursing knowledge has known a surge in its development. Following the evolution of the scientific world, nursing first embraced the logical empiricist perspective of discovering and knowing. Historicism and, more recently, critical social theory have been explored as alternative ways of making knowledge in nursing. This paper discusses the evolution of nursing knowledge, considering its past and present activities. The authors suggest that a cooperative attitude amongst nurses, and a coexistence of various paradigms of knowledge development characterize the future of nursing. Nursing knowledge should be understood as a stage in its evolution and growth. The result of this process will never be a final static body of knowledge. Knowledge expansion will be encouraged through a process of integrating components from different research traditions, such that a multidimensional understanding of phenomena will be realised.

Foundational studies in nursing

The essential nature of foundational studies in nursing, which are usually called meta-theories or conceptual frameworks, is explored. There are three approaches to this type of study, namely foundationalism, language critique and philosophical analysis. The work of Orem, King and Rogers is briefly analysed as an example of each of these approaches.

The case study: a viable approach to clinical research

The case study, although associated with several misconceptions which compromise its effective utilization, is especially appropriate for investigation of clinical nursing problems. A literature review of the application of this research approach in other practice-based disciplines was completed. Results indicate that the case study permits focusing upon the individual in an intensive, longitudinal perspective, and facilitates bridging of the research-practice gap. Internal and external validity, considered especially problematic in case studies, can be maximized by a variety of techniques.