Nursing practice: what about not knowing?
Date
2012-09-04
Authors
Schott, Tracy
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Abstract
The certainty of nurses’ claims of knowing forms the background for this paper.
The purpose of this literature review is to explore how not knowing is conceptualized
within literature and nursing practice with a focus on the implications for nurses’ ongoing
learning. An exploration of some dominant discourses sheds light on how ‘not knowing’ is
resisted and silenced within health care. In naming the tensions around a dichotomous view
of ‘knowing’ and ‘not knowing’ we nurture an openness that encourages questioning: not
for the purpose of arriving at an answer but rather to explore possibilities. The relationship
between knower and knowledge emerges as an important concept. I suggest that the
concept of not knowing, as a way of knowing, has received insufficient attention and
merits further research.
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Keywords
literature review, nursing practice, health care, dichotomous view, knowledge