Knowledge use in nursing practice: The importance of practical understanding and personal involvement

SummaryUnderstanding knowledge use in everyday nursing practice is important to the improvement of educational preparation and quality in health care. This paper reports registered nurses’ experiences in different parts of the Norwegian health care system. The aim of the study was to elucidate nurses’ experiences of knowledge use in work situations. Eleven nurses, each with two to three years of experiences after graduation, participated in both in-depth interviews and focus group interviews in 2006. A qualitative hermeneutic approach, inspired by Gadamer’s philosophy, guided the research process and the analysis and interpretation of the transcribed interview-texts. Experiences related to coping with frequent changes and complexity in work situations were captured in this study. The participants emphasised that knowledge use is connected to their ability to get involved in and assess particular situations, and so is their skill in integrating situational experiences into their existing knowledge framework. A challenge in nursing education is as follows: for students to understand these interpretive modes of knowledge use and to develop personal abilities, they should have access to and be active participants in certain health care situations, and they should have the opportunity to reflect on acting personally in professional relationships.