Articles: empathy.
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The ethics of caring, though the subject of much recent discussion by philosophers, has hardly been applied to medical ethics and medical education. Based on receptivity (that is, empathy and compassion) toward and taking responsibility for other persons, the ethics of caring has particular relevance to medicine. Caring guides the physician always to remain the patient's advocate and to maintain the therapeutic relationship when dealing with and resolving ethical dilemmas. This article discusses the philosophy behind the ethics of caring and then explores three issues that arise within its context: receptivity, taking responsibility, and creating an educational environment that fosters caring.
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This study examined the extent to which physicians expressed empathy and positiveness to Hispanic and non-Hispanic white patients during primary care visits. ⋯ Our findings illustrate that the resident physicians expressed empathy equally well to Hispanic and non-Hispanic white patients but that resident physicians need further training on how to express positiveness to patients from different ethnic backgrounds, especially Hispanic patients.
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Review Comparative Study
Caring: theoretical perspectives of relevance to nursing.
Caring as a central concept within nursing has led to the development of several caring theories, the most well known being Madeleine Leininger's Theory of Culture Care and Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring, both of which were formulated in the 1970s. This paper explores a total of four caring theories: the two established theories presented by Leininger and Watson, Simone Roach's theory developed in the 1980s, and a recent caring theory developed by Boykin & Schoenhofer. ⋯ Additionally, simplicity as a central component of internal structure is examined in relation to each. Based on this analysis, similarities and differences are highlighted, concluding with a discussion of the utility of the caring theories within nursing practice.
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It is argued that the current confusion about the role and purpose of the British nurse is a consequence of the modern rejection and consequent fragmentation of the inherited nursing tradition. The nature of this tradition, in which nurses were inducted into the moral virtues of care, is examined and its relevance to patient welfare is demonstrated. Practical suggestions are made as to how this moral tradition might be reappropriated and reinvigorated for modern nursing.