Knowing and doing phenomenology: The implications of the critique of ‘nursing phenomenology’ for a phenomenological inquiry: A discussion paper

Abstract

Phenomenological research in nursing has come under sustained attack in recent years with some nurse researchers accused of betraying the fundamental tenets of phenomenology and of misconstruing its key concepts. This paper aims to show how a study informed by the critique of ‘nursing phenomenology’ was designed and conducted. In particular, the implications of the key phenomenological concepts of intentionality and bracketing for data collection, data analysis and the presentation of findings are explored in relation to an investigation of the concept of the Clinical Placement Coordinator (CPC), an innovative student support role in Irish nursing education. The paper shows how an understanding of the key phenomenological notions of bracketing and intentionality, and careful consideration of their implications for research design and conduct, can enrich nursing research by retaining the objectivity and critique central to the phenomenological method. The illumination and clarification of contested and complex concepts can be achieved by encouraging both researcher and co-researchers to get ‘back to the things themselves’ by taking a fresh unprejudiced look at the necessary and sufficient elements of phenomena of interest to nursing as they appear to those who experience them.