Intuition in emergency nursing: A phenomenological study

The evidence of experience of intuitive knowing in the clinical setting has to this point only been informal and anecdotal. Reported experiences thus need to be either validated or refuted so that its place in emergency nursing can be determined. The history, nature and component themes captured within the intuitive practice of emergency nursing are described. This study was informed by the philosophy and method of phenomenology. Participants were 14 experienced emergency nurses. Through their narrative accounts and recall of events their experience of knowing was captured. Through a Van Manen process and a Gadamerian analysis, six themes associated with the ways in which the participants experienced intuition in clinical practice, were identified. This paper reveals the six emerging themes as knowledge, experience, connection, feeling, syncretism and trust.