Nursing Theory and Research

This article reflects on Barbara Carper's theory of nursing and explores the role of nursing research in enhancing patient care. It discusses the four patterns of knowing in nursing and focuses on the psychiatric specialty area. The article also provides insights into the best methods for conducting research in this area.

Running head: NURSING RESEARCH
Nursing Theory and Research
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Introduction
The primary purpose of the paper is to reflect upon the "Way of knowing" theory, which
was introduced by Barbara Carper. The theory consists of four patterns that help the nurses to
improve nursing practices and patient care. The study also aims to evaluate a specific area of
nursing that is important for nursing research. It will describe the role played by nursing research
in the growth of applied medicine and examine the best approaches for conducting nursing
research. Nurses play an essential role in providing effective and personal care to the patients and
help them in the recovery process. Nursing research is crucial for the nurses in enhancing
patient's care.
Reflect on Barbara Carper's theory
"Way of knowing" is the theory of nursing introduced by Barbara carper. He has
identified four crucial patterns of knowing in nursing, which involves personal, empirical, ethical
and aesthetic knowing. The different patterns of nursing knowledge are contributed to the care of
the patient.
Personal knowing – It is the first pattern of knowing identified in theory, which refers to
the knowledge that a person has seen and experienced (De Oliveira, Garcia & Toledo, 2017).
The personal knowledge comes through the process of self-actualization, reflection and
observation. With the help of this knowledge, the nurses can set authentic as well as a therapeutic
relationship with the patients because it drives them towards integrity. Personal nursing
knowledge helps to improve patient satisfaction and patient prognosis. It provides nurses in
empathizing the family and patients in case of facing severe illnesses. The theory encourages the
nurses to address not only physical but also the emotional needs of the patients.
Ethical knowing – It is the other pattern of knowing in nursing that helps to develop
moral code. The ethical knowledge of nurses based on their obligation to protect the lives of
human. The code of ethics for nurses guide them to improve their moral sense. This pattern is
difficult to integrate into nursing as people have diverse values or expectations. The ethical
pattern helps the nurses to be sensitive to the moral values of the patients and family members

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(Garrett & Cutting, 2015). It helps to improve the treatment of the patients and enable the family
members to make ethical decisions.
Empirical knowing – It is one of the scientific patterns of knowing in nursing that can be
achieved through facts and research. The empirical knowledge is employed by nurses by using
evidence based practices. It primarily focuses on scientific evidence and medical documents
which help the nurses to treat the patients carefully and properly. Nurses improve their nursing
practice by observation and practice in the hospitals and learn to insert IV fluids, medications
and identify vital signs of the disease. Empirical knowledge enhances the treatment of patients as
the nurses use evidence based methods to meet their needs (Bender & Elias, 2017).
Aesthetic knowing – It is the last pattern of knowing that makes nursing an art and
difficult to apply to the field of nursing. The principle of knowing theory deals with the ability of
nurses so that they perceive the requirements of the patients (Alba, 2018). Through aesthetic
knowledge, the nurses become empathetic to the tolerance level of the patient's pain when they
knew that the person would recover soon. The nurses create personalized plans to help the
individuals in the recovery process and thus, gain confidence among the individuals.
Nursing area
The health institutions contain an essential element in terms of delivering care services to
individuals is nursing. Nursing is used in the prevention of diseases and cumulative health
approaches. There are numerous specialty areas of nursing, but the psychiatric nursing area is of
interest to me. The nurse plays a significant role in the psychiatric area by helping persons with
mental illnesses (Hunter, Weber, Shattell & Harris, 2015). Psychiatric nurses work in hospitals
and give patient care. They ensure that the individuals take their medication on time, stay safe
from any injury and attend every counseling sessions. The nurses in this area work with groups,
families and individuals to assess the mental health requirements of the people.
This area is of interest to me because it highly accesses to mental health care, which has
become essential for the people. The specifics of nursing research include theory, practice and
research application related to all settings of populations. With the help of nursing research on
the psychiatric area, various facts, figures and data can be accomplished, which help the nurses

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to improve their mental health care. It is valuable because it delivers a treatment plan to provide
mental health care to the patients and help manage their anger and overcome depression
(Delaney, Drew & Rushton, 2019).
Role of nursing research
Nursing research plays a vital role in the development of applied medicines. The nurses
use research in order to give evidence-based care to the individuals and promote quality health
outcomes for the persons. The research also uses to shape the various policies of health in mental
care and at all the levels. Nursing research evaluates multiple findings that help the nurses in
delivering more effective nursing care and enhancing the quality of life for persons with mental
diseases or any other severe diseases (Hatfield et al., 2016). The nursing research enhances the
understanding of the nurses regarding the illness and shows the path for creating new treatment
plans to enhance patient outcomes. It helps nurses to understand information and develop
knowledge regarding the medicines so that they can give proper medication to the individuals
and identify correct medicines for particular diseases.
The research help in making meaningful clinical decisions to drive quality care. The
research based on nursing area comprises of many priorities which include increasing disease
prevention and health promotion, enhance quality life by managing symptoms or signs of mental
illness, develop palliative care, increase innovation in nursing practice and improve self-
management to manage own care.
Best methods for conducting research
The best approaches for conducting nursing research in relation to the psychiatric
specialty area of nurses are qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative method of
research used by the psychiatric nurses to evaluate or examine several thoughts, experiences and
perceptions of people (Gentles, Charles, Ploeg & McKibbon, 2015). Through these research
methods, the nurses observe the cultural beliefs and learn communication patterns or personal
interaction. It helps them to give counseling to the mentally ill people and quality care to recover
from the disease. Quantitative methods provide the nurses knowledge of essential variables,

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numbers and percentages related to the causes of the diseases (Rosenthal, 2016). It helps in
giving proper treatment to the individuals and understand the traits of different persons.
The essential topics that will be covered for conducting the nursing research include
perspectives in psychiatric care, anxiety, depression, learning disability, suicide, dementia,
autism and sleep disorders (Hogan & Grumet, 2016). The topics relate to my literature review in
many ways. Like literature review, it will also offer descriptions of the diseases, causes and
treatment to cure. Moreover, it provides evidence-based knowledge that helps in the prevention
of mental illnesses and helps psychiatric nurses to gain information based on the treatment of
people. A literature review evaluates the findings of various authors on the topic; similarly,
nursing research identifies the perceptions of different authors and provides facts and data on the
topic.
The topic qualifies as research worthy because it contributes huge benefit to the
psychiatric nurses. The research based on the nursing area helps the nurses to obtain various
information about the perceptions and beliefs of the individuals on the particular disease. The
psychiatric nurses can learn many ideas that assist in delivering medications, advocating the
family of the patients and counseling the individual to overcome the mental diseases (Tabak et
al., 2016). The psychiatric area consists of many research questions and issues that make it as
research worthy.
Several criteria make the topic acceptable for nursing research such as relevance or
importance, avoidance of duplication, feasibility, the urgency of information needed, ethical
acceptability and applicability of outcomes and recommendations (Slimmer, Wendt &
Martinkus, 2016). The nursing research on psychiatric area will consider several questions on
each criteria and address a priority issue. The criteria make the research essential for the nurses
to get wide information on mental illness and adopt an effective treatment plan to prevent the
illness.
Conclusion
It is concluded from the above that nursing research on evidence based practices is
essential for the nurses to promote quality care to the patients. Four essential patterns of knowing

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were recognized by Barbara Carper to help nurses in gaining a holistic method to understand and
treat the individuals. Personal, empirical, ethical and aesthetic are the patterns of knowing in
nursing. The psychiatric area is valuable in nursing because it aids the individuals in overcome
mental health problem. The nursing research on the area plays a vital role in the development of
useful medicine. Qualitative and quantitative methods are the best approaches for conducting
nursing research. The topic is acceptable for research due to multiple criteria, such as importance
or feasibility.

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References
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