The Impact of Postmodern Philosophy on Nursing

All nursing theories have a philosophical basis, so the study of philosophy and its impact on nursing is important. Considering that postmodernism was the dominant theoretical paradigm in the late 20th century and had a great impact on the thought and thinking of society and various profession, this study was conducted to review the impact of postmodern philosophy on nursing.

This study was one of the types of non-systematic narrative review articles. It has compiled a comprehensive synthesis of previously published information on how postmodern philosophy affects nursing discipline. The Webof Science, Pubmed, Scopus, SID، magiran and Google Scholar databases were searched using the Postmodernism, Postmodern nursing and Nurse keywords. It was performed without time and methodological restrictions. A total of 306 articles were found, after reviewing the articles, 14 articles were finally included in the study.

The effects of postmodernism on nursing in texts in four categories include the impact on research methods, discourse in nursing, nursing theories and the impact on nursing practice. These effects include the rejection of nursing models, metaparadigms and major theories, the emphasis on qualitative and interpretive research methodology, the provision of holistic care and individual empowerment of patients, and the use of discourse in the relationship between caregivers and caregivers.

The positive effects of postmodernist thinking on the introduction of naturalistic approach and qualitative research is one of the most significant effects of this philosophy on nursing.