Jill White

Patterns of knowing: Review, critique, and update

Carpers patterns of knowing in nursing have been consistently cited in the nursing literature since they appeared in 1978. The degree to which they represent nursing knowledge in the mid-1990s is explored, and a major modification is suggested--the addition of a fifth pattern, sociopolitical knowing. The article also suggests modifications to the model for nursing knowledge put forward by Jacobs-Kramer and Chinn to enable this model to be used more effectively as a framework for exploring processes of inquiry into nursing knowledge and practice.

Building capacity in Australian interprofessional health education: perspectives from key health and higher education stakeholders

OBJECTIVE A substantial literature engaging with the directions and experiences of stakeholders involved in interprofessional health education exists at the international level, yet almost nothing has been published that documents and analyses the Australian experience. Accordingly, this study aimed to scope the experiences of key stakeholders in health and higher education in relation to the development of interprofessional practice capabilities in health graduates in Australia. METHODS Twenty-seven semi-structured interviews and two focus groups of key stakeholders involved in the development and delivery of interprofessional health education in Australian higher education were undertaken. Interview data were coded to identify categories that were organised into key themes, according to principles of thematic analysis. RESULTS Three themes were identified: the need for common ground between health and higher education, constraints and enablers in current practice, and the need for research to establish an evidence base. Five directions for national development were also identified. CONCLUSIONS The study identified a range of interconnected changes that will be required to successfully mainstream interprofessional education within Australia, in particular, the importance of addressing issues of culture change and the need for a nationally coordinated and research informed approach. These findings reiterate those found in the international literature.

Which tail wags which dog? Exploring the interface between professional regulation and professional education.

“An occupation whose core element is work based upon the mastery of a complex body of knowledge and skills. It is a vocation in which knowledge of some department of science or learning or the practice of an art founded upon it is used in the service of others. Its members are governed by codes of ethics and profess a commitment to competence, integrity and morality, altruism, and the promotion of the public good within their domain. These commitments form the basis of a social contract between a profession and society, which in return grants the profession a monopoly over the use of its knowledge base, the right to considerable autonomy in practice and the privilege of self-regulation. Professions and their members are accountable to those served and to society” (Cruess et al., 2004, p.74).