Balancing the curriculum: promoting aesthetic knowledge in nursing.

The view of nursing as both art and science is widely held within the profession; however, this belief is not reflected in nurse education where the artistic aspects of nursing practice continue to be overshadowed by the emphasis on the scientific, the technical and the objective. It is suggested that nursing knowledge can be considered within four fundamental types or patterns of knowledge: empirical, aesthetic, personal and moral, each interrelated and interlinked, with aesthetic knowledge argued to encompass the art of nursing. Nursing's dual identity as an art and science arguably requires a balance within the curriculum, therefore the promotion and acquisition of aesthetic knowledge seems a desirable aim. The development of strategies specifically designed to develop and incorporate such knowledge across the curriculum and to make it explicit presents a challenge for all nurse educators. This paper will examine aesthetic knowledge as essential to the art of nursing, and will consider the application of literature as a method through which this knowledge may be attained. The use of literature is suggested as facilitating an awareness of human predicaments universal to all, thus enabling the nurse to develop qualities of caring, empathy and compassion, indicated to be components of nursing's art form.