Doctor in Education (Ed.D.)

This study draws attention to the importance of tapping on the practical knowledge of experienced nurses to draw upon the rich learning that comes about from connecting the moral, epistemological, and ontological foundations of nursing with its practice. Nursing as a practice discipline needs to accept and recognize the personal, situational and contextual effect on learning and knowing – the practical knowledge. Nursing has a primary mission related to practice, discovery and development of practical knowledge of what nurses as professionals do, why they do it, and when they do it.

Guided by the seminal work in teachers' practical knowledge from the field of general education, this study employs a grounded theory methodology in study design using the lens of teachers’ practical knowledge in formulating the research questions, collecting data through interviews, field observations, and document review, and coding the data with reference to the literature in professional caring.

This study defines the practical knowledge of professional caring is characterized by a set of reasons, understandings and actions enacted by nurses who put patients at the center of their practice. These nurses uphold shared values and beliefs of professional caring as the intrinsic motivation to initiate affective caring practice and to nurture the next generation of caring nurses. The actions, espoused by a mixture of content knowledge pertinent to nursing science, reflect the competencies of a nurse in fulfilling patients’ medical, psychosocial, mental, and emotional needs in collaboration with patients and colleagues in the often-challenging environment and emotion-laden situations.

This study revealed five components of the practical knowledge of professional caring in the Singaporean context: (1) a way of seeing – perspectives of patients and other healthcare professions, and the institution and management; (2) a way of knowing - content and contextual knowledge and competencies of being a nurse; (3) a way of being - values and beliefs of nursing and caring as the moral basis of being a nurse; (4) a way of doing – enactments of caring practice espoused by knowledge and competence; and (5) a way of becoming – nurturing caring people, caring work environment and caring community as the strategy of sustaining caring practice and spreading caring values beyond the healthcare setting.

This study makes recommendations with the intention of revitalizing caring at the center of nursing practice. These recommendations involve (1) recognition of caring practice as one of the performance indicators; (2) incorporating practical knowledge of professional caring into nursing education, and (3) putting in place support mechanisms to protect nurses’ general wellbeing.

In conclusion, the findings of this study add a certain degree of clarity to the tacit concept of professional caring in the context of nursing practice both locally and internationally. The result of this study calls for the attention and actions from policy, practice, and education. It is my hope that the findings of this study could be incorporated into the nursing curriculum in Singapore. Lastly, this study has paved the foundation for future research in practical knowledge and professional caring.