| Course | NU 700 Knowledge for Nursing Practice |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion post with two replies |
| Length | About 550 words, 3 pages |
| Format | Discussion post, APA 7 citations |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MSN |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU 700 Unit 1
Unit 1 Discussion: Initial Post and Two Replies
A Nurse Practitioner's Sense That a Patient "Isn't Herself" Is Nursing Knowledge, and It Should Be Documented as Such
Initial Post
My position is that the knowledge an experienced nurse practitioner draws on when she decides that an older patient "isn't herself" counts as nursing knowledge in its own right, not as a hunch waiting for a lab value to make it legitimate. The reason is that it is built from patterns the clinician has seen and tested many times, and it changes what she does.
Carper (1978) described four patterns of knowing in nursing: empirical, ethical, personal, and aesthetic. The aesthetic pattern, the perception of the whole situation and what matters in it, is exactly what is happening when a clinician notices that a usually talkative patient is quiet, is wearing yesterday's clothes, and answers questions a beat late. None of those observations would appear on a standard review of systems, yet together they prompt a urinalysis, a medication review, and a call to the patient's daughter that same afternoon. In my clinic last month, that sequence identified a urinary infection with early delirium in an 84-year-old before any fever appeared.
If this kind of knowing matters, it should be written down in terms another clinician can check, such as "patient's daughter reports she has stopped doing her crossword; speech slower than at prior visits," rather than left as a feeling. I am curious what others here would do: how do you document this kind of perception so that it carries weight with a colleague who has never met the patient?
Reply: Building on a Classmate's Emergency Department Example
You described a similar moment in the emergency department when you knew a patient with normal vital signs was getting sicker. I think the literature on clinical judgment supports your point and adds something to it. Tanner (2006) described clinical judgment as a process of noticing, interpreting, responding, and reflecting, and found that what a nurse notices depends heavily on her knowledge of the particular patient and on her expectations of what should be happening. That suggests your sense of the patient was not mysterious; it came from comparing what you saw against a detailed expectation. It also suggests a practical answer to my own question: documenting the expectation alongside the observation, as in "expected to be ambulating by now after this procedure; still declining to get out of bed," makes the reasoning visible to the next clinician.
Reply: Where Intuition Stops Being Enough
Your post argued that intuitive knowing is "just as valid" as research evidence, and that is the one point where I part ways with you. I do think it counts as knowledge, but not as the same kind. Chinn and Kramer (2018) describe the patterns of knowing as complementary and argue that each needs to be checked against the others, so that personal and aesthetic knowing are tested by empirical knowing and vice versa. A clinician's sense that a patient is deteriorating should prompt an assessment, not replace one. If you are right that intuition is equally valid, I would expect it to be accurate across clinicians and settings, and I have not seen evidence that it is. Where would you draw the line between a clinician's pattern recognition and a bias she has not noticed?
References
Carper, B. A. (1978). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 1(1), 13-23. https://doi.org/10.1097/00012272-197810000-00004
Chinn, P. L., & Kramer, M. K. (2018). Knowledge development in nursing: Theory and process (10th ed.). Elsevier.
Tanner, C. A. (2006). Thinking like a nurse: A research-based model of clinical judgment in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 45(6), 204-211. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20060601-04
Reading the NU 700 Unit 1 instructions
The Unit 1 board asks you to take a position on what nursing knowledge is and to support it with the theory readings, then respond to classmates in a way that moves the discussion forward. Expect a prompt that names Carper's fundamental patterns or a similar framework and asks how one of them shows up in your practice. The initial post should state a claim in its opening line, tie it to at least one scholarly source and use a concrete practice moment as evidence. Replies are graded too, so each one needs a citation and a point of its own, not agreement alone. Check your section's due days for the first post and the replies, since many sections set separate deadlines. Keep any practice example free of names, dates and anything else that could identify a patient.
How the NU 700 Unit 1 example is put together
The post leads with its thesis in one sentence: the clinician's recognition that a patient is not herself is a form of knowing that deserves documentation. The second paragraph names the pattern at work, drawing on Carper's empirical, aesthetic, personal and ethical categories, and argues that this recognition sits mostly in aesthetic and personal knowing. A short practice scene follows, a composite older woman whose daughter and nurse both notice a change before any vital sign moves. The post closes by proposing a charting phrase that records the observation and what prompted it. The first reply extends a classmate's emergency case with Tanner's noticing and interpreting phases. The second reply pushes back on equal validity, arguing with Chinn and Kramer that each pattern has its own way of being checked and shared.
Where the points sit in the NU 700 Unit 1 rubric
Herzing discussion rubrics for this course typically split the points among the initial post, the replies and writing mechanics, with the initial post carrying the largest share. Full points for content go to a post that answers every part of the prompt, takes a position and supports it with course readings or other scholarly sources rather than personal opinion alone. Points for critical thinking reward application to practice, so the composite patient scene is doing graded work here, not decoration. Reply criteria usually ask for substantive responses that add evidence, a new angle or a respectful challenge; one-line agreement earns little. Timeliness can be its own criterion, so a late first post loses points even when it is strong. The mechanics row covers clear sentences, correct APA 7 in-text citations and a reference list.
NU 700 Unit 1 help: mistakes that cost points
The usual reason a Unit 1 post loses points is that it defines the patterns of knowing and never applies them to an actual moment in practice. Another is writing a thesis that only restates the prompt, such as saying knowledge comes in many forms, without claiming something a classmate could disagree with. Replies that thank a peer and repeat their idea count for very little, so add a source or a counterpoint every time. Students also cite Carper from a secondary summary rather than the 1978 article itself; read the original, it is short. Watch identifying details in the practice scene, since even a unit name and a date can be too much. Finally, keep APA basics in the replies as well, because the rubric reads them for citations just like the main post.
Get a NU 700 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 1 discussion prompt and the rubric from your NU 700 classroom, along with the number of replies your instructor expects. We write a custom example to those instructions, initial post and replies together, and return it in 24 to 48 hours. The first one is free.
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NU 700 Unit 1 questions, answered
How long should a NU 700 discussion post be?
Your instructions are the authority, and many sections state a range. With no range given, a post that makes one claim, supports it and shows a clinical instance tends to run two to four solid paragraphs. Length is not what earns the points. A short post with a cited claim outscores a long one that circles the prompt.
Do the replies need citations as well?
In many sections yes, and it is the fastest way to separate a reply that scores from one that does not. A reply carrying a source your classmate did not use advances the thread and gives the grader something to credit. Check the rubric in your own classroom, since some instructors require support only in the initial post.
Can I write about my own patients in the post?
Use the clinical situation, never the patient. Describe the setting, the role and the decision without names, dates, facility or anything that could identify a person, and keep the record itself out of the post entirely. The obligations attached to your own access do not change because the writing is for a course. Composite or de-identified detail is the safe form.
Where can I find a free NU 700 Unit 1 sample paper?
The full NU 700 Unit 1 post and both replies are on this page to read for free, with margin notes beside each move. If your prompt names a different pattern of knowing or asks for one reply only, request a custom version built from it.
How do I disagree with a classmate in a graduate discussion post?
Name the exact point you question, acknowledge what the classmate got right, then give your reason with a source. In this sample the second reply accepts intuition as knowledge but argues, using Chinn and Kramer, that it is checked differently from research findings.