Meanings of intuition in nurses' work
Date
1994
Authors
Cooper, Wendy Ellen Copeland
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This work looks at "Meanings of Intuition in Nurses' Work". The question arose from my work while giving care as a Registered Nurse to patients and families recovering from major surgeries; from my work with Therapeutic Touch practised in a medium difficult to quantify, but clearly felt; and from my work with students struggling to find the meaning of making decisions as beginning nurses giving care.
The question is explored through a hermeneutic interpretation that looks at nurses' work from the perspective of decision-making. While nurses' ways of making safe, ethical and effective decisions have many aspects the question focuses only on the intuitive aspect. By telling stories of my experiences, by seeking meaning from my conversations with participants and by interpreting the literature, I found meanings about intuition and its place in decision making.
Detailed interviews were conducted with three nurse educators who had at least twenty years experience in the field of nursing as bedside practitioners and nurse educators.
I found that telling stories of experiences in nursing most readily gives nurses' meanings about intuition and enables them to connect with one another as professionals. Relationships in which authenticity and trust are created are most likely to provide conditions in which nurses will find intuition. Common themes in the meaning of intuition are explored. Ways in which intuition could be taught are identified and ways in which educators could use intuition to evaluate student performance are explored.
To give some clear and immediate work to apply in practice, lists giving suggestions for ways of teaching intuition and ways to use intuition in evaluating students are included.
It is my hope that this work will enable the reader to interpret and find personal meaning about ways to use intuition in their own decision making. It is also my wish that intuitive decision-making can further the ways in which nurses' lead the profession into the 21st Century. The agents of change of today become the pioneers of tomorrow.