NR 501 Week 2 Discussion: Ways of Knowing – Online Nursing Essays
NR 501 Week 2 Discussion: Ways of Knowing
Ways of Knowing
Nurses practice in highly challenging environments. The demands in their practice imply that they constantly encounter ethical issues that require the use of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Therefore, this essay examines a challenging experience I encountered, application of Carper’s Patterns of Knowing and its influence on my practice.
One of the challenging practice situations that I have experienced as a nurse was a guardian who was against the immunization of her child. The guardian declined her child to be vaccinated because of her religious background as well as misconceptions about the negative effects of vaccines on health. I was unprepared to address the issue since it was my first time experiencing it. The important nursing issue that was inherent to the situation was respecting patient’s autonomy. Accordingly, patients have the decision to accept or decline any treatments. Nurses and other healthcare providers should respect their decisions are a way of ensuring autonomy in their practice (Navin et al., 2019). In addition, healthcare providers should inform the patients about the potential consequences of their decisions for them to make informed decisions.
The other inherent nursing issue in the situation is ethical dilemma. Often, nurses experience different forms of ethical dilemmas in their practice. They should make decisions that prioritize the needs of the patients as well as ensuring their optimal health. For example, the situation is an ethical dilemma since the child should be vaccinated to provide her with the desired immunity from communicable diseases. On the other hand, I experienced the challenge of having to respect the needs and decisions of the guardian, hence, the dilemma in addressing it.
Carper’s Patterns of Knowing can be applied to analyze the situation. The patterns include empirical, personal, ethical, and aesthetic. The model enables nurses to engage in continuous learning and apply knowledge into their daily practice (Brandão et al., 2020). The esthetics pattern of knowing can be applied to understand the underlying reasons for the guardian’s decline for her child to be immunized. One of them is religious beliefs and practices. Religious beliefs and practices influence the uptake of different treatment interventions in a population. Nurses and other healthcare providers should respect the decisions that parents and guardians make regarding the immunization of their children (Nurmi & Harman, 2022). Some states have also adopted laws that recognize the exemption of such children in educational institutions.
The other underlying reason for the guardian’s refusal for her child to be immunized is lack of knowledge about the benefits of immunization. Lack of information contributes to stereotypes that affect the population’s uptake of immunizations. Interventions such as health education may change the attitude and knowledge that parents have towards vaccines. The last potential reason for the refusal is mistrust on healthcare systems. Accordingly, individuals from ethnic minority groups have demonstrated low utilization of health promotion and disease prevention strategies such as immunizations because of their negative experiences with healthcare systems (Nurmi & Harman, 2022). These experiences inform their displeasure and rejection of interventions such as immunization for health promotion.
I gained some insights from the above experience. One of them was the importance of being competent to address ethical dilemmas in nursing practice. I learned about the steps of ethical decision-making that nurses should use in solving issues they experience in their practice. For example, I learned about the importance of collecting accurate data, using the data to formulate alternatives, selecting the best alternative, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating its effectiveness. I will apply the knowledge in addressing ethical issues in my practice. For example, I will use it in addressing similar issues such as refusal for blood transfusion among the patients that I serve in my practice.
In summary, the experience above raised my understanding of the different factors that influence people’s refusal of vaccinations. Carper’s Patterns of Knowing can be applied to understand better challenging situations and develop effective solutions. The experience increased my understanding of ethical decision-making in nursing practice.
References
Brandão, A. P. da C. L., Peres, M. A. de A., Aperibense, P. G. G. de S., Lopes, R. O. P., Santos, J. de C., & Brandão, M. A. G. (2020). Evidence of nursing patterns of knowing communicated by the brazilian press before Florence Nightingale’s model. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 73. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2019-0790
Navin, M. C., Wasserman, J. A., Ahmad, M., & Bies, S. (2019). Vaccine Education, Reasons for Refusal, and Vaccination Behavior. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 56(3), 359–367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.10.024
Nurmi, J., & Harman, B. (2022). Why do parents refuse childhood vaccination? Reasons reported in Finland. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 50(4), 490–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948211004323
NR 501 Week 2 Discussion: Ways of Knowing
NR501NP-10808 Week 2: Ways of Knowing (Orig Post Due Wednesday, Responses Due Sunday)
This is a graded discussion: 75 points possible
Due Jan 22
Week 2: Ways of Knowing (Orig Post Due Wednesday, Responses Due Sunday)
33 unread replies.33 replies.
Purpose
The purpose of the graded collaborative discussions is to engage faculty and students in an interactive dialogue to assist the student in organizing, integrating, applying, and critically appraising knowledge regarding advanced nursing practice. Scholarly information obtained from credible sources as well as professional communication are required. Application of information to professional experiences promotes the analysis and use of principles, knowledge, and information learned and related to real-life professional situations. Meaningful dialogue among faculty and students fosters the development of a learning community as ideas, perspectives, and knowledge are shared.
Activity Learning Outcomes
Through this discussion, the student will demonstrate the ability to:
Demonstrate logical and creative thinking in the analysis and application of a theory to nursing practice. (PO 2 and 5) Weeks 2, 6
Examine broad theoretical concepts as foundational to advanced nursing practice roles. (PO 1 and 2) Weeks 1, 2, 4
Analyze theories from nursing and relevant fields with respect to the components, relationship among the components, and application to advanced nursing practice. (PO 1) Weeks 4, 6
Due Date: Sunday, 11:59pm MT
A 10% late penalty will be imposed for discussions posted after the deadline on Wednesday, regardless of the number of days late. Nothing will be accepted after 11:59pm MT on Sunday (i.e. student will receive an automatic 0). Week 8 discussion closes on Saturday at 11:59pm MT.
Total Points Possible: 75
Requirements:
Discussion Criteria
Application of Course Knowledge: The student post contributes unique perspectives or insights gleaned from personal experience or examples from the healthcare field. The student must accurately and fully discuss the topic for the week in addition to providing personal or professional examples. The student must completely answer the entire initial question.
Engagement in Meaningful Dialogue: The student responds to a student peer and course faculty to further dialogue.
Peer Response: The student responds substantively to at least one topic-related post by a student peer. A substantive post adds content or insights or asks a question that will add to the learning experience and/or generate discussion.
A post of “I agree” with a repeat of the other student’s post does not count as a substantive post. A collection of shallow posts does not equal a substantive post.
The peer response must occur on a separate day from the initial posting.
The peer response must occur before Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT.
Faculty Response: The student responds substantively to at least one question by course faculty. The faculty question may be directed to the student, to another student, or to the entire class.
A post of “I agree” with a repeat of the faculty’s post does not count as a substantive post. A collection of shallow posts does not equal a substantive post.
The faculty response must occur on a separate day from the initial posting.
Integration of Evidence: The student post provides support from a minimum of one scholarly in-text citation with a matching reference and assigned readings or online lessons, per discussion topic per week.
What is a scholarly resource? A scholarly resource is one that comes from a professional, peer-reviewed publication (e.g., journals and government reports such as those from the FDA or CDC).
Contains references for sources cited
Written by a professional or scholar in the field and indicates credentials of the author(s)
Is no more than 5 years old for clinical or research articles
What is not considered a scholarly resource?
Newspaper articles and layperson literature (e.g., Readers Digest, Healthy Life Magazine, Food, and Fitness)
Information from Wikipedia or any wiki
Textbooks
Website homepages
The weekly lesson
Articles in healthcare and nursing-oriented trade magazines, such as Nursing Made Incredibly Easy and RNMagazine (Source: What is a scholarly article.docx; Created 06/09 CK/CL Revised: 02/17/11, 09/02/11 nlh/clm)
Can the lesson for the week be used as a scholarly source?
Information from the weekly lesson can be cited in a posting; however, it is not to be the sole source used in the post.
Are resources provided from CU acceptable sources (e.g., the readings for the week)?
Not as a sole source within the post. The textbook and/or assigned (required) articles for the week can be used, but another outside source must be cited for full credit. Textbooks are not considered scholarly sources for the purpose of discussions.
Are websites acceptable as scholarly resources for discussions?
Yes, if they are documents or data cited from credible websites. Credible websites usually end in .gov or .edu; however, some .org sites that belong to professional associations (e.g., American Heart Association, National League for Nursing, American Diabetes Association) are also considered credible websites. Websites ending with .com are not to be used as scholarly resources.
Professionalism in Communication: The post presents information in logical, meaningful, and understandable sequence, and is clearly relevant to the discussion topic. Grammar, spelling, and/or punctuation are accurate.
Wednesday Participation Requirement: The student provides a substantive response to the graded discussion question(s) or topic(s), posted by the course faculty (not a response to a peer), by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT of each week.
Total Participation Requirement: The student provides at least three substantive posts (one to the initial question or topic, one to a student peer, and one to a faculty question) on two different days during the week.
DISCUSSION CONTENT
DISCUSSION CONTENT
Category
Points
%
Description
Application of Course Knowledge:
20
27
Answers the initial discussion question(s)/topic(s), demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the concepts for the week.
Engagement in Meaningful Dialogue With Peers and Faculty
20
27
Responds to a student peer and course faculty furthering the dialogue by providing more information and clarification, adding depth to the conversation
Integration of Evidence
20
27
Assigned readings or online lesson and at least one outside scholarly source are included. The scholarly source is:
- Evidence-based, 2) scholarly in nature, 3) published within the last 5 years
Total CONTENT Points= [60 pts]
DISCUSSION FORMAT
Category
Points
%
Description
Grammar and Communication
8
10
Presents information using clear and concise language in an organized manner
Reference Citation
7
9
References have complete information as required by APA
In-text citations included for all references and references included for all in-text citation
Total FORMAT Points= [15 pts]
DISCUSSION TOTAL= 75 points
Preparing the Assignment
Nursing knowledge is classified in a variety of ways, one of which is Carper’s Patterns of Knowing (Carper, 1978). Carper’s framework offers a lens through which the nurse can reflect upon insights acquired through empirical, ethical, personal, and aesthetic knowledge (Carper, 1978). Through intentional reflection using Carper’s Patterns of Knowing, nurses can process experiential learning and knowledge acquired through practice. The purpose of this assignment is to reflect upon a specific practice situation and better understand the professional knowledge and insights obtained through that experience.
Criteria for Content
Think of a surprising or challenging practice situation in which you felt underprepared, unprepared, or uncomfortable.
Select an important nursing issue/topic that was inherent to the identified situation.
Briefly explain the situation
Identify the nursing issue inherent in the identified situation
As a method of refection, use Carper’s Patterns of Knowing to analyze the situation. In your discussion, address ONE of the following Patterns of Knowing:
What do you think was the underlying reason for the situation? (Esthetics)
What were your thoughts and feeling in the situation? (Personal)
What was one personal belief that impacted your actions? (Ethics)
What evidence in nursing literature supports the nursing importance of the identified issue? (Empirical)
What new insights did you gain through this reflective practice opportunity? How will this apply to your practice as a nurse practitioner? Be sure to use scholarly literature to support your position.
**To see view the grading criteria/rubric, please click on the 3 dots in the box at the end of the solid gray bar above the discussion board title and then Show Rubric.
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