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Review
. 2001;33(2):115-9.
doi: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2001.00115.x.

On nursing theories and evidence

J Fawcett  1 , J Watson, B Neuman, P H Walker, J J Fitzpatrick
Affiliations
Review

On nursing theories and evidence

J Fawcett et al. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2001.

Abstract

Purpose: To expand the understanding of what constitutes evidence for theory-guided, evidence-based nursing practice from a narrow focus on empirics to a more comprehensive focus on diverse patterns of knowing.

Organizing construct: Carper's four fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing--empirical, ethical, personal, and aesthetic--are required for nursing practice. A different mode of inquiry is required to develop knowledge about and evidence for each pattern.

Conclusions: Theory, inquiry, and evidence are inextricably linked. Each pattern of knowing can be considered a type of theory, and the modes of inquiry appropriate to the generation and testing of each type of theory provide diverse sources of data for evidence-based nursing practice. Different kinds of nursing theories provide different lenses for critiquing and interpreting the different kinds of evidence essential for theory-guided, evidence-based holistic nursing practice.

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