Page 140 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

Fr om carative Fa c t o r 6 t o C ar it as ProC e s s 6
In reality, neither the nurse nor the physician can take a single
piece of “evidence,” a single research finding, a single theoretical or
empirical fact, and translate any or all of it into a single, simplistic,
systematic, scientific, evidentiary, linear problem-solving process in a
given patient care situation. It is not possible to do so. Human beings
are too complex for such a linear response to evidence to be effective.
In addition, it is important to remind ourselves once again that
“evidence” takes many forms and that there is a difference between
data and information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. That
is, a loose datum is not coherent information; information is not the
same as knowledge; and knowledge alone without reflection, process-
ing, and integration into specific and complex situations is not wis-
dom. So, having information related to evidence per se, without trans-
lating that information into knowledge associated with the complexity
of human life and the current world situation, is not necessarily useful.
A wise Caritas practitioner seeks to integrate necessary “evidence” at
multiple levels with the wise clinical judgment necessary for address-
ing individual people with individual life stories and circumstances:
integrating practitioner and person-patient-family.

asking new Questions aBout “evidenCe”
Nursing is at a dramatic turning point at this point in the twenty-first
century. If nursing is to evolve and mature as a discipline and a distinct
caring profession, it is appropriate to critique and raise new questions
and to explore a variety of discourses about what counts as evidence.
Thus, there are different ways of validating or testing situations with
regard to what counts as evidence.
Does one’s clinical judgment count as evidence? Does the nurse’s
dissonance between affective and cognitive impressions and among
rational, quasi-rational, affective impressions count as evidence? (See
Chapter 9.)
Does Nursing Theory count as evidence? Do personal percep-
tions, knowledge, values, ethics, intuition, and perceptions count?
These questions need to be raised in the field of Caring Science if
nursing is to avoid jumping on a restrictive linear process in consider-
ing a knee-jerk approach to evidence—an approach that is linear, lim-

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