What Is Perception?

The knowing addresses how nurses understand the knowledge. The doing of nursing entails the actions of nurses, bringing both knowledge and practice together (Butts and Rich, 2015). The four patterns of knowing, developed by Carper, include empirics. ethics, aesthetics, and personal knowledge. Empirical knowledge is the scientific aspect of knowing. It is based on general knowledge, and usually shared with other disciplines such sociologists and psychologists. Ethical knowledge involves morals and judgement. This is used when determining right or good acts in nursing practice, ensuring that the best decision is made and is right for the patient. Aesthetic knowledge, the art aspect of nursing, involve of the nurse’s understanding and acknowledgment of other’s living experiences. Showing empathy and respect to patients as they experience their life’s journey. Personal knowledge entails self-awareness and others, and interpersonal skills. These four patterns of knowing shows that nursing practice consist of holistic patient care, and not being solely scientific

If the patient is doing that then the nurse should not get dishearten but should find mean to handle that situation. Humility is when people are able to understand that no one is perfect. Furthermore people should always thank for the good things that come in their way rather than comparing oneself with others. It is always best to be proud of our own selves that at least you as person have done something good in life. Likability is when people are able to face or tackle problem in life. Nurses should be able to see other people’s point of view, i.e. how nurses are able to understand their situation. Like here you cannot always be correct but they have to take other peoples opinion. It is not always that one peoples opinion can be right but other peoples opinion can also be correct. For example a person has had an accident on the way and that person is bleeding and the nurse is in charge and the situation arises where the nurse thinks to do the treatment or not because when the nurse sees the blood she panics but actually the nurse should be brave enough to carry out the treatment during that particular time. Self awareness actually gives the ability to be open, and aware of how it impacts others.

The nurse also has to be aware of the nature of the nurse-patient relationship, the environment in which it takes place in, as well as an understanding of the context and the moment of the interactions in order to share a meaningful experience. Finally, nurses have to be passionate about his or her career. Nurse’s care and tend to the patients’ needs because nurses are passionate about the career. Even though the fundamental pattern of personal knowing, it provides a holistic nature of knowing. Many humanistic theories and models of nursing have been derived from personal knowing such as Peplau’s interpersonal relation theory, Kolcaba’s comfort theory, and Jean Watson’s theory of caring.

Perceptions is what we as individuals understand from the information we are given, what we think we see and know vs what another sees towards the same object or person. But something we must always keep in mind is the stigmas we have aren’t always true.

A nursing philosophy coincides with self-awareness. Nursing philosophies are developed by each individual nurse regarding the nursing practice and are important in understanding what is fundamentally important to each nurse, along with their values and beliefs. Self-awareness, in short, is knowledge of one 's self, feelings, motives, and desires. In order for nurses to develop their own nursing philosophy they must first have a good sense of self-awareness. As a future nurse it is important that I recognize my own self-awareness so I can continue to build onto my beliefs and values of the nursing profession and gain a better understanding of what is fundamentally important to me as a nurse. In this paper I will discuss why I chose the nursing profession, my beliefs and values, and what I feel is fundamentally important in the nursing profession.

Nursing is not just a collection of tasks. To provide safe and effective care to the clients, nurses must integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes to make sound judgement and decisions. This essay describes some of the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes of nursing and discusses why they are essential attributes of a competent nurse.

Carper (1978) identified four fundamental patterns of knowing which are (1) empirics, or the science of nursing; (2) personal knowledge; (3) esthetics, or the art of nursing; and (4) ethics, or the moral component of nursing. The purpose of this discussion is to explain how each pattern of knowing affects this author’s practice, and to identify the author’s preferred paradigm and provide justification for choosing this paradigm.

The five fundamental patterns of knowing are empirical, aesthetical, personal, ethical and sociopolitical. The patterns or ways of knowing help with the development and application of nursing knowledge. Empirical knowing embodies “factual and publicly verifiable descriptions, empiricism and theoretical explanations or predictions” (Carper, 2012 p.25). In my Oncology setting the science of nursing is very relevant to practice. I use science daily in calculating body surface area for chemotherapy drugs, chemotherapy protocols and febrile-neutropenia protocols with the initiation of specific antibiotics are some examples. Empirical knowing provides facts from empirical research for nursing care and interventions. Aesthetical knowing is known as the “art and act” of nursing, it highlights empathy. This pattern of knowing recognizes the nurse’s perception of what is significant in an individual patient’s behaviour (Carper, 2012). I utilize the art of nursing by acknowledging the patient’s feelings and being present for them during a difficult time and the ability to establish a meaningful connection with the patient.

In the nursing profession we are able to use multiple ways of knowing. We may not use them all at the same time and some more than the others, but we do use them. “Four fundamental patterns of knowing have been identified from an analysis of the conceptual and syntactical structure of nursing knowledge” (Reed & Crawford Shearer, 2012, p. 200). The four patterns of knowing include: empirical, esthetics, personal, and ethical.

People view the world in a variety of different ways due to customs, thoughts, beliefs, and life styles. Each factor contributes to the development of one’s worldview, either formed individually or through a group. Some of these influencing factors include: language, culture, and religion.

Perception is the process of individuals interpreting their impressions to give meaning to their environment. The concept of perceptual errors is how a person’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world. The attribution process guides our behaviour, regardless of the truth of the attribution.

Perception is defined as how you look at others and the world around you. Being able to select, organize and intercept information starts the perceptual process. Perception affects the way people communicate with others. An individual’s pattern of thinking can affect their perception of others. Most people communicate best with people of similar cultures.

This paper explores Carper’s four fundamental ways of knowing, including its relationship and application to nursing theory. Carper (1978) identifies four ways of knowing as empirical, personal, ethical, and aesthetic. Each is individually important to nursing, but cannot adequately address the fundamental principles of nursing alone. This paper examines each pattern as expressed herein and ensures that all the relevant areas of nursing are attended to in the most professional, competent, and ethical manner.