The Role and Status of Philosophy in Nursing Knowledge, Insight and Competence

The objectives of patient care are based on the acquisition of knowledge, insight and skills. Philosophical attitudes enable the targeted acquisition of knowledge. In fact, philosophy provides nurses with the tools that guide the nursing practice through enhancing the awareness. The main and holistic attitude of nursing care regards human as an integral whole. Having a holistic attitude to nursing is mixed with philosophical thinking, as such a thinking process helps nurses comprehend patient comprehensiveness and provide holistic and professional nursing care. Professional nursing care can be provided based on establishing relationships among the patient, their family and members of the healthcare team, and using management and thinking skills such as creative and critical thinking. Critical thinking is a type of thinking which is turned into an epistemological issue if fostered. The present descriptive analytical study was conducted by searching international databases using relevant keywords and disregarding time limits. To explore the role of philosophy in nursing knowledge, insight, and competence, a descriptive analytical method was used to investigate 32 of 126 relevant studies as the articles more closely related to the present study approach.