Carper's ways of knowing for a clinical problem

[sammybart1]

Hello,

I was wondering if I can use nurse to patient ratio for a clinical problem using Carper's ways of knowing or should I pick something else. I'm having a difficult time trying to figure out how to do this.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Are you trying to apply Carper's theory to a clinical problem? If so, I'd advise you to pick something more patient-centered. Although nurse-patient ratio does effectively determine how much time you can spend with each patient, it might be a really laborious process to tie it directly to a reflective learning theory.

OTOH, if you're looking for a nursing framework/theory that ties in to nurse-patient ratio, I urge you to take a look at the stream of research related to Nurse Surveillance. Basically, the more time you can spend eyeballing your patients, the better their outcomes. Yeah, I know it's pretty obvious, but opinions don't count - evidence does.

[sammybart1]

Thank you for your help. I'll have to start over and choose something else. I work in long-term care what would you suggest for a topic.