Ways Of Knowing In Nursing Theory

Ways of Knowing Related to Nursing Theory
Emily Amstutz
University of Missouri Kansas City
MSN FNP Program

Abstract
Carper (1978) presents four fundamental ways of knowing that have been developed from emerging patterns in the discipline of nursing: (a) empirical way of knowing, (b) esthetic way of knowing, (c) personal knowledge, and (d) ethics. As a registered nurse, I primary utilize the empirical way of knowing in my practice because it is science based and encourages logical decision-making skills. The four fundamental ways of knowing apply to nursing theory by:

Keywords: empirical, esthetics, personal knowledge, ethics, ways of knowing,

Ways of Knowing Related to Nursing Theory The field of nursing has greatly evolved over the years; the Nightingale era of nursing in the 19th century looks vastly different when compared to the current nursing era that is guided by scientific knowledge and factual principles. Understanding the patterns and structures of modern nursing knowledge is fundamental to the discipline of nursing (Carper, 1978). As defined by Carper (1978), the current field of nursing is guided by four patterns of knowing: (a) empirics, (b) esthetics, (c) personal knowledge, and (d) ethics.
Empirical knowledge, also known as “nursing

Alligood (2014) states that Boykin and Schoenhofer’s Theory of Nursing as Caring is an exception to this rule because “rather than providing empirical variables from which hypotheses and testable predications are made, the theory of nursing as caring qualitatively transforms practice” (p. 362). Alligood (2014) argues that the Theory of Nursing as Caring is focused on unique human interaction that cannot and should not be objectified and is therefore impossible to be founded in the empirical way of