Quiman, Quennie Valeryn A.

BSN 2

4 Ways of Knowing by Carper:

In ​healthcare​, ​Carper's fundamental ways of knowing​ is a typology that attempts
to classify the different sources from which knowledge and beliefs in professional
practice (originally specifically ​nursing​) can be or have been derived. It was
proposed by ​Barbara A. Carper​, a professor at the College of Nursing at ​Texas
Woman's University​, in 1978.

The typology identifies four fundamental "patterns of knowing":

● Empirical
Factual knowledge from ​science​, or other external sources, that can
be ​empirically​ verified.
Quiman, Quennie Valeryn A. BSN 2

● Personal
Knowledge and attitudes derived from ​personal ​self-understanding​ and ​empathy​,
including imagining one's self in the patient's position.

● Ethical
Attitudes and knowledge derived from an ​ethical​ framework, including an
awareness of ​moral​ questions and choices.
Quiman, Quennie Valeryn A. BSN 2

● Aesthetic
Awareness of the immediate situation, seated in immediate practical action;
including awareness of the patient and their circumstances as uniquely individual,
and of the combined wholeness of the situation.
(Aesthetic in this sense is used to mean "relating to the here and now", from the
Greek αἰσθάνομαι (aisthanomai​), meaning "I perceive, feel, sense"; the reference
is ​not​ to the ​consideration of beauty, art and taste​).
The emphasis on ​different​ ways of knowing is presented as a tool for generating
clearer and more complete thinking and learning about experiences, and broader
self-integration of classroom education. As such it helped crystallize Johns' (1995)
framework for reflective investigation to develop ​reflective practice​.
The typology has been seen as leading a reaction against over-emphasis on just
empirically derived knowledge, so called "scientific nursing", by emphasizing that
attitudes and actions that are perhaps more personal and more intuitive are
centrally important too, and equally fit for discussion.