Analysis and Intuition: The Need for Both in Nursing Education

What lies within: phenomenology and intuitive self-knowledge

This article discusses the significance of intuitiveness as a component of phenomenological knowing and demonstrates how this way of knowing may exist independently of or coexist collaboratively with rationality and evidence-based practice. By using a holistic approach to knowing, nurses use clinical reasoning skills to prevent adverse patient outcomes from failure to diagnose problems, to establish appropriate treatments, and/or to deal with complications. As the complexity of health care escalates, health care providers must strive to think holistically to advance knowledge and contribute to their discipline. The discipline of nursing requires holistic thought and innovative interventions.

State of the science: intuition in nursing, a generation of studying the phenomenon

A systematic review of nursing literature was conducted to determine the state of the science with respect to the use of intuition in nursing practice and nursing education. The Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health database was used to identify the priority population. From this database, 45 research articles that were written in English, published in nursing journals, and that contained the word intuition in the title and/or abstract and in which intuition was a major term were analyzed. Findings show that, to date, most studies are descriptive, exploratory in design. Nurses affirm that intuition is salient to expertise in clinical practice and should be carefully taught to students and novice nurses.

Intuition in Nursing Practice: Sharing Graduate Students' Exemplars With Undergraduate Students

Failure to acknowledge ways of knowing in nursing education curricula other than linear reasoning hinders the development of the full extent of mental abilities brought to learning situations by nursing students. Nurse educators are challenged to develop creative methods to facilitate nursing students' intuitive thinking. In this article, a teaching strategy is described in which graduate students' exemplars of intuition in clinical practice are shared with undergraduate nursing students. Implications of using this teaching approach to demystify the intuitive process and address its legitimacy are discussed.

Fostering intuition: a role of the trauma nurse mentor

Intuitive knowledge is a relative component of the critical thinking process. Intuition is discussed along with examples of how nurses have demonstrated intuitive thinking in the trauma setting. Recommendations are offered for how the mentor trauma nurse can foster an awareness and the development of intuition in the novice practitioner.

How nurses make decisions regarding patient medication

This study seeks to identify the cues used by nurses which enable them to make decisions regarding the administration of medication. The knowledge base which underpins practice is explored and the relationship between knowledge and practice is considered. The rationale for this study was provoked by the possibility that nurses may be given limited prescribing powers. If this becomes a reality, the nurse's role will involve high level decision making (Morris, 1994). It could be that, in the future, changes in the law on drug administration will affect all nurses on the professional register.

Intuition--a problematic form of knowledge in nursing

The purpose of this article is to discuss the concept and phenomenon of intuition in nursing. With an overview of theories of intuition in philosophy and empirical research as the starting point, the authors discuss the conceptualization of intuition in nursing. Concept analyses, intuition as phenomenological nursing knowledge, intuition as clinical knowledge and intuition as spiritual connection are discussed. The authors conclude that the conceptions of intuition in nursing differ with respect to their philosophical underpinnings and that it can be questioned whether 'intuition' is always a proper term for the kind of knowledge investigated. Intuition is seen as an important concept in nursing, but there are still philosophical as well as empirical and practical problems to investigate.

Critical Thinking and Nursing Education: Perplexities and Insights

The impetus for this literature review was an exploratory study conducted by the writer which indicated that a sample of nursing students seemed to make no significant gains in the development of critical thinking over an academic year. Surprised, the writer undertook an analysis of relevant studies in the nursing literature focusing upon the following questions: Does nursing education impact upon critical thinking? Does nursing education impact upon clinical judgment? How do critical thinking a and clinical judgment relate? How do critical thinking and achievement in nursing education relate? This endeavor yielded mixed findings while reference to literature in the field of education produced several insights that help to explain some of the perplexities. Suggestions are offered regarding research and teaching related to critical thinking.