NS6250 - Traditions of Nursing Thought 1

Credit points:	06
Year:	2007
Student Contribution Band:	National Priority Band
Administered by:	Discipline of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition

Available to students enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Studies and Doctor of Nursing Science.

This is the first of two subjects which explore traditions of thought, from the Early Greeks onwards, which have contributed to the ways in which nursing and health care are conceived and conducted. Practice-related cases and problems are identified and used as a vehicle for exploring underlying epistemological assumptions. These will include claims regarding the nature of evidence, belief, and knowledge, and concerning the nature of the mind and its relation to the body. Concepts of 'evidence', and related methodology, will be explored, alongside competing accounts of professional practice as 'science', 'art' and 'craft'. The subject includes discussion of major approaches to knowing, such as pragmatism, realism, and empiricism, and recent critical accounts, such as post-positivism, antifoundationalism and antirealism. The mind-body relationship is considered in relation to the effects of disease and other types of 'disorder', along with what these might imply for such concepts as personality, self-identity, and personhood.

Learning Outcomes

• recognise philosophical approaches to knowledge and understanding that give perspective to health service and health service research.

Graduate Qualities

• The ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments, and to reason and deploy evidence clearly and logically;
• The acquisition of coherent and disciplined sets of skills, knowledge, values and professional ethics from at least one discipline area;
• The ability to read complex and demanding texts accurately, critically and insightfully;
• The ability to work individually and independently.

Availabilities
External, Study Period 1
Census Date 30-Mar-2007
Coordinator:	jc159085
Contact hours:	8 hours - Supervision
Method of Delivery:	Printed materials
Assessment:	submitted review.
External, Study Period 2
Census Date 31-Aug-2007
Coordinator:	jc159085
Contact hours:	8 hours - Supervision
Method of Delivery:	Printed materials
Assessment:	submitted review.

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.