Unit 4: Chapter 2 – Using Theoretical Lenses to Support Relational Inquiry
Hermeneutic phenomenological lens (HP Lens) includes three subcategories of inquiry:
o Intrapersonal
o Interpersonal
o Contextual
Engaging in relational inquiry enables you to move beyond your own point of view and
look at the situation from different perspectives
Using photography as an analogy, whoever “takes the picture” depicts what is
highlighted in the image. Meaning that one situation can be interpreted differently by
different people. Their interpretation heavily depends on personal concerns, interests, and
contextual location
Intrapersonal Inquiry:
o This level of inquiry is required for nurses to see what’s happening with patients
beyond the surface
o This inquiry allows you to look at the situation from the patient’s perspective
instead of your own (What is the patient thinking? What’s the situation like for
them?)
Interpersonal Inquiry:
o This level of inquiry enables you to become aware of what’s happening between
you and the patient
Contextual:
o This level of inquiry allows you to see what is happening in the environment
o Consider the setting, policies, patient acuity type of care, resources, organizational
values and norms
HP lens draws attention to how our experiences are shaped by our own interpretations
(and who is holding the camera)
Situated means that people don’t just live in their environments, but are embodied in the
perspective worlds
o For example, as nurses, we have been situated to (become used to) an
environment where touching a naked body of a total stranger is normal
An HP lens also views people as constituted. Meaning that what we think is heavily
affected by our social environments. For example, our views may be similar to our
parents’ because of how much they can influence us when we’re growing up
Eurocentrism is the ideology that European and North American values and technologies
are superior to others
o For example, diets in hospitals, how visiting hours are structured, and how
visitors are treated
o Eurocentrism also influence nursing education (nursing theories)
Hermeneutic phenomenological lens (HP Lens) includes three subcategories of inquiry:
o Intrapersonal
o Interpersonal
o Contextual
Engaging in relational inquiry enables you to move beyond your own point of view and
look at the situation from different perspectives
Using photography as an analogy, whoever “takes the picture” depicts what is
highlighted in the image. Meaning that one situation can be interpreted differently by
different people. Their interpretation heavily depends on personal concerns, interests, and
contextual location
Intrapersonal Inquiry:
o This level of inquiry is required for nurses to see what’s happening with patients
beyond the surface
o This inquiry allows you to look at the situation from the patient’s perspective
instead of your own (What is the patient thinking? What’s the situation like for
them?)
Interpersonal Inquiry:
o This level of inquiry enables you to become aware of what’s happening between
you and the patient
Contextual:
o This level of inquiry allows you to see what is happening in the environment
o Consider the setting, policies, patient acuity type of care, resources, organizational
values and norms
HP lens draws attention to how our experiences are shaped by our own interpretations
(and who is holding the camera)
Situated means that people don’t just live in their environments, but are embodied in the
perspective worlds
o For example, as nurses, we have been situated to (become used to) an
environment where touching a naked body of a total stranger is normal
An HP lens also views people as constituted. Meaning that what we think is heavily
affected by our social environments. For example, our views may be similar to our
parents’ because of how much they can influence us when we’re growing up
Eurocentrism is the ideology that European and North American values and technologies
are superior to others
o For example, diets in hospitals, how visiting hours are structured, and how
visitors are treated
o Eurocentrism also influence nursing education (nursing theories)
