Aesthetic knowing grounded in an explicit conception of nursing

This article presents an expanded perspective of aesthetic knowing in nursing grounded in the theory of nursing as caring. The authors highlight Carper's contributions to nursing, applauding the value of her work. However, a major limitation of Carper's work on aesthetic knowing is the failure to provide an explicit conception of nursing to guide the search for patterns and structure of nursing knowledge, thus the limited development of the aesthetic pattern of knowing in nursing. The authors propose that aesthetic knowing in nursing is the creating experience in the nursing situation, expression of the experience, and appreciation of it through encounter.