evaluating, and further assessing additionally in-
forms the nurse that in knowing persons, one
comes to understand the condition of more know-
ing about the person and about his or her being, in
order for affirmation, support, and celebration of
his or her hopes, dreams, and aspirations in the
moment to occur. Supporting this process of know-
ing is the understanding that persons are unpre-
dictable and simultaneously conceal and reveal
themselves as persons from one moment to the
The nurse can only know the person fully
in the moment.This knowing occurs only
when the person allows the nurse to enter
his or her world.next moment. The nurse can only know the person
fully in the moment. This knowing occurs only
when the person allows the nurse to enter his or her
world. In this occurrence, the nurse and nursed
become vulnerable as they move toward further
continuous knowing.
Vulnerability allows participation, so that the
nurse and nursed continue knowing each other
moment to moment. In such situations, Daniels
(1998) explains that “nurse’s work is to ameliorate
vulnerability” (p. 191). The embodiment of vulner-
ability in caring situations enables its recognition in
others, participating in mutual vulnerability condi-
tions, and sharing in the humanness of being vul-
nerable. Further, Daniels declares that “vulnerable
individuals seek nursing care, and nurses seek those
who are vulnerable” (p. 192). Allowing the nurse to
enter the world of the one nursed is the mutual en-
gagement of “power with” rather than having
“power over” through a created hierarchy (Daniels,
1998). The nurse does not know more about the
person than the person knows about himself or
herself. No one knows the experience better than
the person who encounters the situation.
Nonetheless, there is the possibility that the
nurse will be able to predict and prescribe for the
one nursed. When this occurs, these situations
forcibly lead nurses to appreciate persons more as
objects than as person. Such a situation can only
occur when the nurse has assumed to “have
known” the one nursed. While it can be assumed
that with the process of “knowing persons as
whole,” opportunities to continuously know the
other become limitless, there is also a much greater
likelihood that having “already known” the one
nursed, the nurse will predict and prescribe activi-
ties or ways for the one nursed, causing objectifica-
tion of person to ultimately occur (Figure 24–2).
To Know and Knowing
It is interesting to read the 10 definitions of the
word knowas a verb listed in the 1987 Reader’s
Digest Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary(p. 932).
Of the 10 definitions, nine appropriately describe
the intended use of the word, facilitating its under-
standing for the purpose and process of compe-
tently using technologies in nursing. These
descriptions are:- To perceive directly with the senses or mind
- To be certain of, regard, or accept as true beyond
doubt - To be capable of, have the skills to
- To have thorough or practical understanding of,
as through experience of - To be subjected to or limited by
- To recognize the character or quality of
- To be able to distinguish, recognize
- To be acquainted or familiar with
- To see, hear, or experience
While the action word knowsustains the notion
that nursing is concerned with activity and that the
one who acts is knowledgeable (in the sense of un-
derstanding the rationales behind the activities),
the word knowingis a key concept that alludes to
the focus of an action from a cognitive perspective
requiring description. Surprisingly, the encyclope-
dic dictionary attributes the definition of knowing
as an adjective. Described here are the four descrip-
tions of knowing: - Possessing knowledge, intelligence, or under-
standing - Suggestive of secret or private information
- Having or showing clever awareness and
resourcefulness - Planned; deliberate
Yet, “knowing” perfectly describes the ways of
nursing—transpiring continuously as explicated
from the framework of “knowing persons.” It is the
use of the word “knowing” in which the process of
nursing as “knowing persons” is lived. The frame-
work for practice clearly shows the circuitous and
continuous process of knowing persons as a prac-
tice of nursing.
384 SECTION IV Nursing Theory: Illustrating Processes of Development