Practice wisdom

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Qualitative Research
• Health Studies

Background:

• The postmodern movement and emphasis on practice inform a participatory research approach.
• Nursing scholarship is evolving towards integrating theory and practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and illustrate a participatory process approach in nursing research.
• To develop and reconceptualize a framework for personal practice within nursing.
• To explore health as expanding consciousness and its relationship to caring.

Main Methods:

• Two sequential qualitative studies were conducted.
• A framework of personal practice was developed in the first study.
• The framework was reconceptualized in the second study as a process of modeling practice.

Main Results:

• The reconceptualized framework involves partnership, dialogue, and pattern recognition.
• Health was conceptualized as a dialectic process.
• Praxis emerged as the merging of theory, practice, and research, termed practice wisdom.

Conclusions:

• Participatory research and praxis offer a model for nursing scholarship.
• Health and caring are understood as the same dynamic process.
• Practice wisdom integrates theoretical knowledge with practical experience in nursing.