Discussion questions - Coursework Example

Is nursing a science, art or both? Explain Nursing is both art and science. The medical knowledge nurses need to learn is science. Learning about allthe machines that are attached to the patient, how to read the monitor, which medicine to give when fever is high and which one to give when it’s too high, it’s all science. Without scientific knowledge the nursing profession is incomplete.On the other hand, dealing with the patients, keeping them calm and relaxed while they are suffering from chronic pains and severe wounds, is an art.

There is no science in distracting a child when he is being injected with a dose of burning medicine. The care factor of the nursing profession is an art and without being skillful in this art, the science of nursing isn’t very helpful.  Define: OntologyOntology is the basic knowledge of existence. This is a philosophical branch of knowledge that has to do with the existence of a being and the relationships attached to that existence. ExtantIn the simplest words, extant is a literary term for something (usually a species or a certain practice of a knowledge base) that is still in existence.

 EpistemologyWhen people say that they understand something, an idea or a concept, which can be as simple as learning how a machine or a software works or as complicated as Rene Decarte’s philosophy of existence, it is that comprehension, knowledge or understanding of the subject which is enveloped in the term epistemology. In other words, the very definition of the word ‘knowledge’ is epistemology.  EmpiricismEmpiricism is the learning method that deems only the experience or the evidence a credible source for learning something.

The five senses of touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight are the only channels that can qualify rough information as knowledge once it has gone through the test of experience.  Logical positivism This kind of understanding is a fusion of empiricism and rationalism. It is like testing the knowledge through experience and then verifying it with mathematical and logical constructs. Post-positivism Pospositivism is just a critical analysis of positivism. This form of positivism deems the studies ‘subjective’, where the prerequisite is that the subject and researcher are independent of each other and therefore the study or the conclusion is valid and ‘objective’.

Received view The view of the universe that anything and everything is true until and unless proven wrong. The receiver is supposed to come up with a contrasting view in order to reject the premise.Perceived view A perceived view is subjective and can hold more than one truth (true statements). This form of view is ‘discovered’ and not justified (Meleis, 2011, pp. 140-141). ParadigmA paradigm is where distinct concepts (theories and practices) exist in coherence. This concept gives nurses the liberty to amend the nursing theories according to their specific situation in order to meet their goals.

 The metaparadigm of nursing is defined by the following 4 concepts: person, environment, health, and nursing. Do you agree within this global representation of nursing? Why or why not? Would you add any other components or sub-components? I would not add any other components to the definition of metaparadigm. The four concepts of; person, environment, health and nursing are comprehensive and all-inclusive. Nursing practice revolves around the person (patient) and everything is attached to responding to the patient’s needs.

The environment is second most important factor. A nurse trained in Chicago will probably not be ready to take care of malaria patients in Congo, not because she doesn’t possess the right knowledge base but because of the changed environment. There is 360 degree change in environment during the time of peace and the time of war. Similar praise logic can be applied to health and the nursing practice itself. To me, nothing is left out of the four global aspects of metaparadigm. Up until now, has nursing theory or philosophy been important to your own practice?

 Why or why not?The nursing theory has helped me in more than one way for my nursing practice. It gives me a sense of direction. When the daily practice wears me out and I feel like a robot, the nursing theory gives me a sense of purpose and gives meaning to what I do. This is not a job, I am doing something good for mankind.  For one, argue both art and science. Metaparadigm, argue agree with global representation. For philosophy in nursing practice argue yes from a scientific empirical side and aesthetic side or caring.

From a scientific point of view, metaparadigm does justify as a global representation of nursing. The scientific knowledge base gets incorporated into nursing practice. On the other hand, the aesthetics of care and the art of dealing with patient’s mood swings also prove necessary within the same metaparadigm. Work CitedMeleis, Affaf. I. (2011) Theoretical nursing: Development and progress, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Print