title: The informational basis for nursing intuition: philosophical underpinnings.
abstract: In a previous paper, I argued that expert nursing intuition is a form of what James J. Gibson termed 'direct perception' and, as such, is information-based and can be accepted as part of nursing science. In this paper, I explore the philosophical basis for these claims. I begin by describing analogous problems in philosophy and psychology related to how we know the world. After describing the various solutions proposed and the problems they engender, I summarize Gibson's theoretical solution together with some of the supporting empirical evidence, but emphasizing the ecological realism on which it relies. I then use these insights to reconsider nursing intuition and the implications for its further exploration.
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona, College of Nursing, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. jefken@nursing.arizona.edu
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Effken
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003071:Cognition; D005086:Existentialism; D005863:Gestalt Theory; D006801:Humans; D019545:Intuition; D007600:Judgment; D019359:Knowledge; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration; D009736:Nursing Process / Q000458:organization & administration; D009742:Nursing Theory; D010465:Perception; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D012677:Sensation