This conceptual clarification supports education, leadership, and ethical practice by rendering wisdom more teachable, discussable, and amenable to study in nursing care.
Abstract
IntroductionWisdom is frequently invoked as a hallmark of good nursing, yet its meaning and practical implications remain conceptually under-specified. Grounded in virtue ethics and the Aristotelian notion of phronesis, this paper aims to clarify the concept of "wisdom in nursing care" to support ethically grounded nursing practice.MethodsA concept analysis was conducted using the Walker and Avant method. The literature search was carried out in January 2026 using the PubMed and CINAHL databases, focusing on uses of the concept of wisdom relevant to the nursing profession. Twenty-five publications were included and analyzed to identify multidisciplinary uses, defining attributes, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents of wisdom in nursing.ResultsThe analysis delineates wisdom as a morally grounded, relational, and practice-based capacity. Defining attributes include deliberation and context-sensitive judgment oriented toward fairness and patient wellbeing; morally informed action (praxis) undertaken for the right reasons; open-mindedness and humility regarding the limits of knowledge; perceptiveness and moral perception of ethically salient features of situations; reflexivity; empathy and moral imagination; emotional regulation; self-awareness; and understanding of others. Antecedents are organized into personal conditions (values, learning orientation, knowledge base, clinical experience, and mentorship) and environmental conditions (context familiarity, situational awareness, and informational resources). Consequences include progression toward expert practice, integration of theoretical and practical knowledge, ethically attentive navigation of uncertainty, and reinforcement of nursing's commitment to human flourishing.DiscussionThis conceptual clarification supports education, leadership, and ethical practice by rendering wisdom more teachable, discussable, and amenable to study in nursing care. The integration of rigor and compassion positions wisdom as both steward and guide of the person within nursing practice.
Nursing is a profession intertwined with profound concepts such as meaning, suffering, death, freedom, and choice, concepts that lie at the core of existential philosophy. An understanding of the philosophical foundations of nursing plays a pivotal role in enhancing human-centered (person-centered) care. Accordingly, this study aimed to review and analyze the existing literature on the role of existential philosophy in nursing. This study employed a narrative review design. A systematic search of reputable databases, using the Persian and English keywords “existentialism” and “nursing”, identified ten eligible studies for inclusion. The review revealed that existential concepts have been applied in nursing primarily in areas such as fostering meaningful nurse-patient interactions, enhancing the sense of meaning in nursing practice to reduce burnout, providing meaning-centered consolation in end-of-life care, and educating in meaning-centered care. The findings of this review indicated that existential philosophy, through its emphasis on concepts such as meaning, freedom, responsibility, and suffering, can deepen person-centered approaches in nursing and play a significant role in enhancing therapeutic relationships, ethical decision-making, and care provision in sensitive and existentially challenging situations, particularly in end-of-life care.
Unknown authors· Iranian Journal of Medical E...· 0 citations
Nursing science has developed into a multifaceted field that integrates empirical, theoretical, and humanistic knowledge. Despite its intellectual development, questions remain regarding the conceptual clarity of its disciplinary identity, which is often positioned as an applied health science rather than an autonomous field of inquiry. In response to these ongoing debates, nursology has been proposed as a conceptual reframing that seeks to articulate the ontological, epistemological, and methodological foundations of nursing more explicitly. This paper aims to explore the conceptual and philosophical basis of nursology as a proposed disciplinary reframing of nursing science through philosophical inquiry and theoretical synthesis. A philosophical–theoretical approach was employed using conceptual analysis, disciplinary critique, and integrative synthesis. Canonical works in philosophy of science, phenomenology, hermeneutics, ethics, and caring science were critically examined to explore the conceptual foundations of nursology. The analysis identified four interrelated conceptual dimensions disciplinary differentiation, caring ontology, epistemological coherence, and methodological pluralism that collectively provide a philosophical framework for understanding nursology as a proposed conceptual orientation for nursing science rather than as an empirically established independent discipline. This paper argues that nursology may offer a coherent philosophical framework for clarifying nursing's disciplinary identity and strengthening the theoretical integration of research, education, and practice. Further scholarly dialogue and empirical inquiry are warranted to examine the usefulness and applicability of this conceptual perspective.
Keywords: Caring Ontology, Integrative Epistemology, Methodological Pluralism, Nursology, Nursing Science
Cyruz P. Tuppal· Caring: Indonesian Journal...· 0 citations
Presence is widely affirmed as a core moral value of nursing, yet dominant conceptualizations in both nursing philosophy and clinical practice consistently collapse it into observable intervention and active engagement, underpinned by an implicit subject-object dualist ontology. Derivative concepts such as silent presence and holding space have sought to recover non-interventional modes of care, yet most remain trapped within an action-oriented logic and stop short of fundamental ontological reorientation. Drawing on classical Daoist concepts of wu-wei (non-coercive action) and ziran (naturalness), this paper critiques the interventionist framing of presence and develops the Presence in Absence (PiA) framework. It articulates the dialectical relationship between presence and absence, arguing that deliberate withdrawal from the centre of action, positions of control, and the authoritative subject role constitutes not a deficit of care, but a fuller, ontologically deeper form of presence. By distinguishing PiA from adjacent nursing concepts and anchoring the argument in dementia care narratives, the paper further explores its implications for existential nursing knowledge, an ethics of existence, and existential intersubjectivity. This cross-cultural reconstruction restores the ontological depth of nursing presence, offering a philosophical anchor for addressing contemporary nursing's crisis of excessive action.
A comprehensive four-stage nursing engagement framework is proposed that spans the entire DTx lifecycle of design, implementation, evaluation, and ethical governance, highlighting the indispensable role of nurses in the clinical deployment of DTx.
Yu-Hsiu Lin· Hu li za zhi The journal of...· 0 citations
BackgroundThis study explored nursing students' lived experiences and perceptions of caregiving practices and the distribution of caregiving responsibilities in clinical settings within the context of holistic nursing.MethodsA qualitative study using an interpretive phenomenological approach was conducted. Data were collected between March and June 2026 through semi-structured interviews with 24 nursing students with clinical experience. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis.ResultsCaregiving was often deprioritized, fragmented, and delegated to students. Clinical environments were described as task-oriented and constrained by workload and bureaucratic demands, limiting holistic and relational care. Students perceived caregiving primarily as an individual moral responsibility rather than a structured professional obligation. Limited role modeling and supervision reinforced this pattern.ConclusionA gap exists between holistic care values in education and clinical practice. The marginalization of caregiving threatens the relational and humanistic foundations of nursing. Strengthening care-focused environments, role modeling, and support for holistic care is essential to sustain core nursing values.
Şadiye Özcan, Fusun Afsar· Journal of Holistic Nursing· 0 citations
AIM
A discussion of the implications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) evidence synthesis for evidence-based practice (EBP) among nurses responsible for primary literature appraisal, guideline development, and evidence translation into clinical policy.
DESIGN
Discursive paper.
DATA SOURCES
Drawing on Baudrillard's (1994) theory of simulacra and simulation, we introduce epistemic distance to describe the growing separation between nurses and primary research evidence when knowledge is mediated through generative-AI summaries. A hypothetical illustrative case depicts how a generative-AI literature synthesis containing fabricated citations was incorporated into institutional policy undetected, illustrating how such outputs may function as simulacra that obscure methodological nuance and limit the appropriate application of evidence to complex patient contexts.
IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Preserving evidence-appraisal skills and engagement with primary resources is essential to maintaining the integrity of EBP in the age of AI, particularly for those in evidence-appraisal-facing roles who shape the institutional evidence base upon which other nurses rely.
CONCLUSION
Overreliance on generative AI outputs may increase epistemic distance, shifting nurses from active engagement with primary evidence towards interaction with simulacra of that evidence, with implications for critical appraisal, professional autonomy, and person-centred care. Emerging empirical research on fabricated citations in the health sciences literature and on nurses' perceptions of AI further highlights concerns related to accuracy and overreliance.
IMPACT
For nurses in evidence-appraisal-facing roles, safeguarding evidence-appraisal literacy requires maintaining manual EBP competencies, verifying AI-generated outputs against primary sources, and ensuring transparency in AI-assisted evidence synthesis; without these safeguards, epistemic distance from primary evidence may compromise the institutional policies and processes that shape downstream nursing practice.
Katie A Azama, Jessica Nishikawa· Journal of Advanced Nursing· 0 citations
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