Knowledge constructions in nursing practice: understanding and integrating different forms of knowledge

In this combined ethnographic and hermeneutic study we examined which forms of knowledge nurses make use of and how they construct knowledge. We collected data using participant observations, informal conversations, and interviews. Nurses' knowledge construction took the form of a hermeneutic spiral, a journey in which the nurses moved up and down and horizontally, and in which they created understanding. The nurses constructed knowledge from reading the patient's record, the brief oral handover report, greeting the patient, and reading the patient. By being sensitive, using humor, and emotional involvement, they deepened their understanding. By being suspicious and self-critical, they sought interaction with nurse colleagues, the patient, doctor, and relatives, and obtained additional knowledge. They strove throughout the journey to be one step ahead in their efforts to attain an understanding of the patient's situation. We can relate the knowledge nurses make use of to intertwined forms of episteme, techne, and phronesis.