Nursing knowledge patterns in textual academic production - documental analyses

Resumen

An important discussion is found in the international literature about the forms of knowing that are specific to nursing. The work that obtained the biggest repercussion in this area is the one by Carper, which proposes four patterns of knowledge: empirical, ethical, esthetical and personal. With the objective of identifying the expression of these patterns of knowledge in the textual production of undergraduate students, an exploratory study was conducted, using the documental analyses of diaries in which the students describe and discuss their activities during a practical course. The analysis of this documents showed that the most used textual form is the transactional. The four patterns of knowledge where present in all the diaries, but the empirical pattern was predominant. The study points to the need of deepening the research about the forms of knowledge present in the in the practice and in the teaching of nursing.