RES DOCT 8110

Philosophy and science are both essential parts of nursing practice. Nursing philosophy encompasses a belief system of the profession and perspectives for practice and research (McEwin & Wills, 2019). Nursing science refers to the relationships of human responses in health and addresses biological, behavioral, social, and cultural domains (McEwin & Wills, 2019). Both philosophy and science play a large role in providing safe and effective care for our patients. Without a strong philosophy, the belief system that guides our care could stand in the way of strong nursing care. Without science in nursing, we would lack the awareness of human responses in health.

Philosophy and science legitimize the nursing profession by providing a foundation for the care we provide. For example, the philosophy of careful nursing emphasizes the understanding of human beings as persons and focuses on nursing care as person-centered (Meehan et al., 2018). The philosophy that we choose to follow helps to guide the type of care we give. Scientific knowledge explains the principles that cause a phenomenon and creates a general understanding of a process (Bender & Elias, 2017). Nursing science has improved patient care and outcomes for centuries (Rosa et al., 2020). Some examples of nursing science that have done this include reducing deaths and risks of infections of wounded soldiers during times of war, responding to public health emergencies (such as Ebola and the Corona Virus), and implementing prompt care and awareness of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (Rosa et al., 2020). Using science in nursing legitimizes the profession of nursing by providing better patient outcomes.

My nursing practice has been influenced by the scientific method increasing my nursing knowledge. Nursing knowledge production involves knowledge with the current practice as well as continuously gaining new knowledge to apply to future practice (Kim, 1999). The scientific method describes actions that make up a strategy to achieve research goals that have to do with the formulation and use of knowledge (Haig, 2019). The scientific method is continuously used in my nursing practice to increase my knowledge. As a new psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP), I am continuously researching the latest data to determine how to diagnose my patients and how to treat them. I use several different databases and references to determine the best course of medications to prescribe and the most up-to-date method for monitoring the medication’s effects side-effects.

References

Bender, M., & Elias, D. (2017). Reorienting esthetic knowing as an appropriate “object” of scientific inquiry to advance understanding of a critical pattern of nursing knowledge in practice. Advances in Nursing Science, 40(1), 24-36

Haig, B. D. (2019). The importance of scientific method for psychological science. Psychology, Crime, & Law, 25(6), 527-541. https://doi.org/101080/1068316x.2018.1557181

Kim, H. S. (1999). Critical reflective inquiry for knowledge development in nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing 29(5), 1205-1212

McEwin, M., & Wills, E. M. (2019). Theoretical basis for nursing. (5th ed.) Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health

Meehan, T. C., Timmins, F., & Burke, J. (2018). Fundamental care guided by the careful nursing philosophy and professional practice model. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(11-12), 2260-2273. http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1111/jocn.14303

Rosa, W. E., Meghani, S. H., Stone, P. W., & Ferrell, B. R. (2020). Opportunities for nursing science to advance patient care in the time of COVID-19: A palliative care perspective. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 52(4), 341-343. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12570