Journal of Modern Medical

Aim: Nursing profession integrates science and skill, with philosophy and art at its core. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the influence of hermeneutic philosophy on the research dimension of nursing.
Method:This study was conducted as a narrative review. To collect the data, a structured search was initiated using Persian and English keywords, including hermeneutic philosophy, nursing research, and nursing, with no time restrictions and covering publications up to 2026. The search strategy was developed by combining keywords using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. Relevant studeies was retrieved from major Iranian databases (SID, Magiran, and IranDoc) as well as international databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Eligible studies were included in the study and analyzed based on the inclusion criteria, which included the close relevance of the articles to the research objective and the availability of their abstracts or full texts.
Results/Findings: Following the review, 13 articles were included in the final analysis. To synthesize the findings, the selected studies were examined and compared with a focus on the research objective and findings related to the role of hermeneutic philosophy in nursing research. Common concepts across the studies were then identified and organized into major themes based on conceptual similarities. The findings revealed three major shifts associated with hermeneutic philosophy in nursing research: a shift from describing behavior to understanding the meaning of lived experience; a reconceptualization of the researcher’s role as a reflexive interpreter; and changes in methodology and knowledge production toward context-dependent and human-centered knowledge.
Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that the application of a hermeneutic philosophical approach to research influences the researcher’s role and the research process, thereby fostering a focus on the meaning of lived experience, redefining the researcher’s role, and transforming the methodology and production of knowledge in the nursing profession. Therefore, further research is recommended to explore its implications for other domains of nursing, including management and education.