Philosophy: a key to open the door to critical thinking

It has been suggested that philosophy is a bit like manure: pile it high and it rots and stinks, but spread it around and it becomes surprisingly useful. Philosophical enquiry, used sparingly, can provide a means to develop critical and analytical ability in nurses. A key principle of philosophical enquiry is the development of skills to rigorously examine and debate ideas or explanations about, for example, the nature of being human. In recent years nurses have been exhorted to critically examine or critically analyse nursing knowledge and nursing theory. It is contended that nurses have rarely been formally prepared during their education to develop the necessary critical thinking skills to examine some of the central questions about the nature of their role, and the knowledge needed to be effective in that role. This paper will discuss the development and experience of delivering a module called ‘Nursing: Art and Science’ within a post-registration degree programme. It is argued that philosophical enquiry offers one means of equipping nurses with the critical capacity to examine the issues which may shape the future of nursing practice.