PPN101 Week 2

PROGRAM PHILOSOPHIES AND PROFESSIONAL VALUES

WEEKLY OBJECTIVES

  • Objective 1: Compare and contrast the two program philosophies.

    • Demonstrate a beginning understanding of Critical Social Theory (CST) and phenomenology and their relationship to nursing and Canadian healthcare.

    • Discuss CST in relation to social justice.

  • Objective 2: Discuss Ways of Knowing in nursing.

    • Consider how different ways of knowing can help you reflect on your nursing practice.

  • Objective 3: Examine personal and professional values and beliefs in relation to self-awareness and the nursing profession.

  • Objective 4: Characterize nursing as a profession.

    • Identify the criteria of a profession.

    • Identify professional behaviors and link them to academic behaviors.

PROGRAM PHILOSOPHIES

Phenomenology

  • Definition: Understanding the meaning of clients’ lived experience of health and healing.

  • Application: Actualized through the nurse-client relationship.

Critical Social Theory (CST)

  • Definition: Exposing underlying social relationships that are often concealed.

  • Focus: Addressing unequal social, economic, and power relations within healthcare and society.

UNDERSTANDING PHENOMENOLOGY

  • Broad Definition:

    • Philosophical study of the structures of experience and consciousness.

    • A theoretical approach/framework focused on deep human understanding.

    • A method for describing phenomena as they appear or are perceived by a person.

    • A qualitative research approach that seeks to understand human experiences rather than determining cause and effect relationships.

Phenomenological Questions (Examples)

  • As a nurse, consider asking the following questions to understand:

    • The lived experience of a person who has a chronic illness?

    • The lived experience of a victim of domestic violence?

    • The lived experience of a first-year nursing student?

    • The lived experience of a parent caring for a child with a disability?

Critical Social Theory

  • Theoretical Framework: Used to:

    • Uncover constraints on human freedom.

    • Challenge power imbalances and inequities that marginalize vulnerable people/cultures.

    • Expose underlying social, economic, and political circumstances that perpetuate inequities and cause oppression.

    • Disrupt the status quo and taken-for-granted assumptions.

    • Effect positive change in the conditions that affect people's lives.

SOCIAL NORMS AND CRITICAL SOCIAL THEORIES

  • Understanding Knowledge:

    • Social norms/expectations can provide structure, but may also promote forms of social control.

    • They can be perpetuated overtly, covertly, and inadvertently.

    • Social discourses shape what we believe to be normal, right, or wrong through written/spoken language, media, and literature.

  • Implications: Analyzing the relationship between social norms and discourses with Critical Social Theory.

OPPRESSION AND MARGINALIZATION

Definitions

  • Oppression:

    • Control exhibited by people who have status or power.

    • A system that reduces, immobilizes, and molds people belonging to certain groups to affect their subordination to another group.

  • Marginalization:

    • Being outside of the dominant groups in society, leading to limited access to resources and opportunities.

    • Loss of voice, thriving on stereotypes and assumptions.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

  • Focus: Fairness in society and equity in the distribution of benefits and burdens.

  • Nurses' Role:

    • Champion social justice and promote public policies that improve health for marginalized populations.

    • Ensure equal sharing (equality) and advocate for redistributing access, opportunities, and resources (equity).

THEME: "IF YOU WERE MALALA’S NURSE…"

Questions and Frameworks

  1. What questions would you ask her using:

    • A phenomenological approach?

    • A critical social theory approach?

    • A social justice theory approach?

  2. Analyze how these theoretical frameworks overlap and contrast within her context.

  3. Discuss why her narrative remains impactful years later.

CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO

  • Use a critical social approach to reveal oppression and inequities.

  • Utilize phenomenological approaches to understand experiences deeply.

  • Implement social justice approaches to advocate for vulnerable populations.

PROFESSIONAL VALUES IN NURSING

Personal vs Professional Values

  • Personal values are shaped from early childhood and contribute to self-concept.

  • Professional values develop through nursing socialization, where personal values may sometimes be challenged.

  • Ethical reasoning is essential for navigating conflicts between personal beliefs and professional expectations.

Seven Core Nursing Professional Values

  1. Providing safe, compassionate, competent, and ethical care.

  2. Promoting health and well-being.

  3. Respecting informed decision-making.

  4. Honoring dignity.

  5. Maintaining privacy and confidentiality.

  6. Promoting justice.

  7. Being accountable.

WAYS OF KNOWING IN NURSING

  • Recognizing the importance of how we know informs nursing practice.

  • Carper (1978) categorized four methods of knowing.

  • Chinn & Kramer (2011) introduced socio-political and economic ways of knowing, termed as emancipatory knowing.

Types of Knowing

  1. Empirical Knowing:

    • Knowledge derived from observation verified through the five senses.

    • Associated with scientific competence in nursing practice.

  2. Ethical Knowing:

    • Knowledge of right and wrong impacting moral and ethical decisions.

    • Obligates accountability for actions and protecting client rights.

  3. Personal Knowing:

    • Subjective understanding of self and others through relational perspectives.

    • Enhances connection with clients.

  4. Aesthetic Knowing:

    • Understanding the larger context of experience.

    • Enriches nurse-client relationships through creativity and empathy.

  5. Emancipatory Knowing:

    • Recognizing injustices and advocating for social change within health care.

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

  • Models exist to assist nurses in reflecting critically on experiences, enhancing knowledge development.

  • Reflective practice is deemed a valuable way of knowing.

PROFESSIONAL NURSING DEFINED

  • Practice Discipline: Nursing as a professional field encompassing specialized knowledge and critical thinking for health needs.

  • Professional attributes include accountability, autonomy, ethics, inquiry, and collaboration.

NURSING ATTRIBUTES AND BEHAVIORS

Essential Criteria

  • Requires specialized education, ethical standards, and ongoing research engagement.

Behaviors

  • Autonomy, commitment to service, and continuous professional development.

STANDARDS OF NURSING PRACTICE

  • Accountability, ethics, knowledge, application of knowledge, leadership, and relational standards based on therapeutic and professional relationship frameworks.

NEXT WEEK

  • Topics to cover include Critical Thinking and an Introduction to the Nursing Process.