Articles: empathy.
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The aesthetic is a way of knowing the meaning of and the meaning in the art of nursing. The art of creating stained glass offers a personal metaphor for nursing's essence; the art of caring. Both arts aim to fulfil the potential of their subjects to achieve a harmony that goes beyond their individual components. ⋯ Both transcend space and time, and the art of stained glass and the art of nursing are influenced by the artist's/nurse's personal, social and cultural history. Just as the artisan transforms the glass and lead and is transformed in the creative moment, so does the caring transaction transform both patient and nurse. This personal reflection explores the nature of caring in nursing as mirrored by the author's work with stained glass.
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Nurse education today · Oct 1995
The 'political correctness' debate and caring in psychiatric nursing.
In recent years the controversy over so-called 'political correctness' has figured prominently in discourses of higher education. In terms of nursing, the issue of 'political correctness' cannot be confined to intellectual word-games, but is of key significance in the debate around the nature of professional caring. ⋯ After discussing the particular problems which arise when the three issues of 'political correctness', 'caring' and humanistic psychology are brought together in this way; it proposes a politically focused strategy for the future development of psychiatric nursing. Although it is written from the perspective of psychiatric nursing in Britain and is very much concerned with the use of a particular language; the arguments put forward are equally appropriate to other English-speaking countries, and perhaps also to non-English speaking countries.
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Nurses continue to struggle with the knowledge that practice within a conceptual context is imperative, yet operationalizing theory-based practice has been fraught with challenges and frustrations. It is timely, given the current environment, for nurses to reflect personally and collectively on the processes and meanings of nursing. Caring theories have been examined with increasing frequency recently, as nurse leaders and theorists explore the profession using alternative frames of reference. ⋯ Assumptions integral to the purpose of the project have been validated by staff response. Concepts and their relationships appear to achieve acceptance and be congruent with this nursing group's values and the way in which they practice. Observations to date indicate that collective development of a practice model is providing the means for growth and change in the institution's nursing practice.
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Critical care nursing by definition focuses on human responses to life-threatening problems. An increasing number of ethical dilemmas confronts the critical care nurse. ⋯ An ethic of care that acknowledges the special relationship and connection of one human being with another may provide the necessary guidance to assist the nurse in resolving these dilemmas. Critical care nursing practice based on an ethic of care acknowledges and legitimizes care for patients as well as oneself.