Praxis In Nursing

Nursing is a profession that not only is practical in nature, but also theoretical. At the foundation of our practice are theories that guide ways of knowing and problem solving in our professional practice. There are multiple ways of knowing, including personal knowing, ethics, aesthetics, and empirics, which help nurses to reflect upon their care and guide their next steps into giving the best possible care. Through these, it is evident that the nursing profession provides a significant impact on this world, and through the review of these concepts, allows us to understand how.

According to Chinn and Kramer (2010), nursing practice is informed by multiple ways of knowing, including personal knowing, ethics, aesthetics, and empirics. Personal

Not only does it include practicing, but also doing what one can to better the healthcare system. It is a way to create positive change. Praxis is experiencing a situation where you recognize a social injustice, reflecting on the experience, and correcting the action that took place. Nursing praxis is guided by the four ways of knowing; however, these concepts are part of a bigger picture, emancipatory knowing. This is described as “the human ability to recognize social and political problems of injustice or inequity to realize that things could be different, and to piece together complex elements of experience and context to change a situation as it is to a situation that improves people’s lives”(Chinn & Kramer, 2010, p.

65). To some, this may be seen as problem-solving, but it goes beyond that. “Emancipatory knowing requires seeing the larger picture and correcting social processes, patterns, and structures that create social inequities and injustice” (Chinn & Kramer, 2010, p. 67). This means that as nurse, you are able to step back, see the whole picture, and reevaluate your perceptions. By reevaluating your perceptions, inequalities and injustices are uncovered. “When what has not been perceived before is seen, it then seems to become perfectly obvious. Ways to effectively change the situation begin to make sense, and praxis occurs” (Chinn & Kramer, 2010, p.