Methods of acquiring knowledge in nursing

1. Dr. Jayesh V. Patidar
www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
METHODS OF ACQUIRING
KNOWLEDGE IN NURSING

2. Introduction
 A well-developed & reliable body of knowledge is
a foundation for any profession.
 This most sought-after knowledge can be
acquired from highly structured as well as loosely
arranged processes or methods.
 The method of acquiring the nursing knowledge
may be classified under two broad categories, i.e.
1. Unstructured methods of acquiring the
knowledge
2. Structured methods of acquiring the knowledge
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4. Unstructured Methods
• Traditional nursing knowledge is
learnt mainly from books,
journals, by words of mouth,
and by observing the practices
of others.
Tradition
• There are authorities (People
with specialized expertise in
every field). The people with
higher length of experience
in a discipline & with virtue of
their position are believed to
be a sound source of
knowledge & understanding.
Authority
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5. Unstructured Methods
• It is known as information
obtained through sixth sense
without conscious thinking but
in this the rationalizing the
information may not be
obtained.
Intuition
• Nurses & midwives base their
practices in great part on their
own experience & to a lesser
extent on the experience of
others.
Experience
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6. Unstructured Methods
• In this approach,
alternatives are tried
successively until a
solution to a problem is
found. In day-to-day life,
everybody uses this
techniques to solve much
type of problem, including
professional ones.
Trial
and
Error
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7. Structured Methods
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• It is the process of
developing generalization
from specific observation.
Inductive
Reasoning
• It is the process of
developing specific
prediction from general
principles.
Deductive
Reasoning
• In making clinical decision,
health care professionals
also rely on information that
has been assembled for
variety of purposes.
Assembled
Information

8. Structured Methods
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• Nurses use problem-solving process
to solve a particular problem & find a
particular intervention effective.
Thus, problem solving for one
situation contributes to the nurse’s
knowledge for problem solving in
other similar situations.
Problem
Solving
• Research conducted within a
disciplined format is the most
sophisticated method of acquiring
knowledge. Findings from rigorous
research investigations are
considered to be at pinnacle of the
evidence hierarchy for establishing
evidence-based nursing (EBN)
practices.
Scientific
methods/
research

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Thank
You