A narrative approach to empirical nursing ethics research: uncovering the everyday moral knowledge of nurses

Abstract

In this paper we explore the use of Margaret Urban Walker's metaethical perspective, particularly the use of narratives, to inform the development of a research approach to uncover the everyday moral knowledge of nurses. A method based on Walker's work makes it possible to analyze the power dimensions inherent in nurses' moral experience, to ground a narrative approach to nursing ethics with a robust moral epistemology, and to differentiate different types of narratives. A number of analytic questions, which have their basis in Walker's work, are presented and are used to analyze a practice narrative written to illustrate how narratives can be used to draw out the moral knowledge of nurses within the context of their actual work.

Understanding the Moral Nature of Intrapartum Nursing

“…Walker's () expressive‐collaborative model of morality, in which moral and social worlds are intertwined, allows for structures of power within relationships and institutions to be made visible and facilitates an exploration of who controls moral decision making as well as the effect that control has on more vulnerable persons. Within this theoretical approach, narratives can be used to explore the daily choices and perceptions of nurses in their everyday work within a specific context by attending to how participants make sense of each other, negotiate their identities, and characterize the worlds they talk about (Peter & Martin, ; Walker, ).…”