Knowledge Development in Nursing (12th Edition 2026)

Publisher Website

Authors: Peggy L Chinn, RN, PhD, FAAN; Lucinda Canty, PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN; Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu, PhD, RN, FAAN

Year of First Edition Publication – 1983

Framework based on nursing’s patterns of knowing first published in 3rd Edition in 1991.

Major Concepts

Patterns of Knowing (empirics, ethics, personal, aesthetics, emancipatory), theory development, critical reflection of theory, decolonization

Brief Description

Focusing on Barbara Carper’s five Patterns of Knowing, this practical resource explores nursing theory and how it relates to nursing research and quality patient care. The first several chapters present each pattern of knowing, what it is and how it is developed: empirical theory, emancipatory knowing, ethics, personal, and aesthetic knowing.   Discussion  focuses on practical approaches to knowledge development and how nursing’s knowledge patterns contribute to evidence-based practice in  real-world application.

Specific features of the 12th Edition include:

  • Discussion of the five Patterns of Knowing includes empiric, personal, aesthetic, ethical, and emancipatory knowledge, defining the different types of knowledge and how they relate to each other.
  • Content on decolonization, post-structuralism, postmodernism, and post-humanism.
  • Emphasis on issues related to equity and social justice.
  • Exploration of knowing that originates from cultures and traditions outside of a Euro-centric point of view.
  • In-depth explorations of ways to embrace knowing patterns other than empirics.
  • QR codes throughout the text direct you to an animation explaining the five Patterns of Knowing, as well as resources on the Nursology.net website.
  • Full-color diagram in the front of the book depicts how the patterns of knowing are related.
  • Glossary defines the key terms and concepts of nursing theory.

Animation of the interrelationships between and among the patterns of knowing

© Elsevier 2022. Used by permission

Book Editions

Chinn, Peggy L., Canty, Lucinda., & Mkandawire-Valhmu, Lucy. (2026). Knowledge Development in Nursing: Theory and Process (12th ed.). Elsevier.

Chinn, Peggy L; Kramer, Maeona & Sitzman, Kathleen (2022). Knowledge Development in Nursing: Theory and Process (1t1h ed.). St Louis: Elsevier.

Chinn, Peggy L, & Kramer, Maeona. (2018). Knowledge Development in Nursing: Theory and Process (10th ed.). St Louis: Elsevier.

Chinn, Peggy L, & Kramer, Maeona. (2015). Knowledge Development in Nursing: Theory and Process (9th ed.). St Louis: Elsevier.

Chinn, Peggy L., & Kramer, Maeona K. (2011) Integrated Theory and Knowledge Development in Nursing (8th ed.) St. Louis: Elsevier

Chinn, Peggy L., & Kramer, Maeona K. (2007) Integrated Theory and Knowledge Development in Nursing (7th ed.) St. Louis: Elsevier. Korean translation published in 2011.

Chinn, Peggy L., & Kramer, Maeona K. (2004) Integrated Knowledge Development (6th ed.) St. Louis: CV Mosby. Translated into Danish, 2005

Chinn, Peggy L., & Kramer, Maeona K. (1999) Theory and Nursing:Integrated Knowledge Development (5th ed.) St. Louis: CV Mosby.

Chinn, Peggy L., & Kramer, Maeona K. (1995). Theory and Nursing: A Systematic Approach. (4th ed.). St. Louis: CV Mosby. Translated into Japanese in 1995. Translated into German in 1996.

Chinn, Peggy L., & Kramer, Maeona K. (1991). Theory and Nursing: A Systematic approach. (3rd ed.). St. Louis: CV Mosby.

Chinn, Peggy L., & Jacobs, Maeona K. (1987). Theory and nursing: A systematic approach (2nd ed.). St. Louis: CV Mosby.

Chinn, Peggy L., & Jacobs, Maeona K. (1983) Theory and nursing: A systematic approach. St. Louis: CV Mosby.

Authors

Peggy L. Chinn (1941 – )

Dr. Chinn is Professor Emerita of Nursing at the University of Connecticut. She is thefounding Editor of Advances in Nursing Science and authors books and journal articles on nursing theory, feminism and nursing, the art of nursing, and nursing education. She is co-founder and web manager of the Nurse Manifest Project to inspire and empower grass-roots action by nurses to shape the future of nursing and health care based on nursing’s fundamental values. Her book and website focused on cooperative group process, Peace and Power, is grounded in critical feminist theory and nursing philosophy, and is recognized as a model for critical research methods, teaching and learning, and political action.

Lucinda Canty

Lucinda is a mother, nurse, midwife, researcher, nurse educator, historian, a reproductive health justice activist, artist, and poet. She is an Associate Professor and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at he University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity among Black women, and on approaches to eliminating racial disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, developing anti-racism initiatives and historical research in nursing and midwifery. She is a visual artist and poet, some of which appears in this 12th edition, and selections are also published on Nursology.net. Her art explores how the arts illuminate and help integrate experiences of Black women during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and motherhood. Dr. Canty is the founder and Director of Lucinda’s House – a collective space where women of color are seen, listened to, and heard. It is a space where we can discuss sensitive issues related to our health and bodies, and develop our own solutions. Lucinda’s House will address issues on an individual basis up to a structural level through community support, education, and research. Dr. Canty has 30 years of experience providing midwifery care and works in many lanes of nursing to address and improve health outcomes for women of color. Her experience as a clinician, researcher, and educator fuels her desire to address racism in nursing, midwifery, and the healthcare system. Lucinda’s antiracism activism aims to create change in practice, education, research, and policy.

Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu

Lucy is a native of Malawi, regularly returning to visit colleagues and family, and often accompanied by students and colleagues from the United States. She is a Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). Dr. Mkandawire-Valhmu’s research focuses on analyzing and addressing the complex health needs of vulnerable populations of women who have experienced violence, including American Indian and Black women in the United States as well as women in East and Southern Africa. As a feminist scholar, Dr. Mkandawire-Valhmu’s research and scholarship centers on advancing nursing science to improve health outcomes for women who experience the greatest vulnerability, and mentoring future nurse scientists in doing the same. She seeks to creatively identify interdisciplinary interventions and to form policy that centers the voices of women in addressing gender-based violence. As an example, she and a team of student and early career scholars published an article that draws on their research (also featured on Nursology.net):

Weitzel, J., Luebke, J., Wesp, L., Graf, M. D. C., Ruiz, A., Dressel, A., & Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. (2020). The role of nurses as allies against racism and discrimination: An analysis of key resistance movements of our time. ANS. Advances in Nursing Science, 43(2), 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANS.0000000000000290