Student Nurses' Perceptions of Mercy: A Qualitative Study

Mercy is a valued nursing attribute. It often identifies faith-based educational institutions, clinics, and hospitals and has been a quality valued and taught by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy through nursing's history. This qualitative study explored the meaning of mercy as expressed by undergraduate nursing students attending a faith-based nursing school. This article presents the findings of a question posed to students: What does mercy mean to me? Nursing practice and education implications are also presented.

The Evolution of Rogers' Science of Unitary Human Beings: 21st Century Reflections

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the state of Martha E. Rogers' science of unitary human beings as it has evolved over the past 40 years, with particular attention to the decade since her death. Although Rogers never updated her 1970 book, revised concepts and principles of homeodynamics, as reported in other publications, are discussed. In more than a decade since Rogers' death, nurse scientists have been prolific in explicating the science in scholarly research and writing. An example of theories derived from the science, as well as concepts under study, and research methods are identified. Twenty-first century thoughts on the science of unitary human beings, as expressed by three founders of the Society of Rogerian Scholars, are highlighted from an interview conducted by Fawcett. Rogers suggested that the development of a science of unitary human beings is a never ending process.

Envisioning Nursing in 2050 Through the Eyes of Nurse Theorists: Leininger and Watson

Madeleine Leininger and Jean Watson envision how their theoretical ideas will be expressed in the world in 2050. Leininger explains how her theory and ethnoresearch methodology have given rise to transcultural nursing and the culture care nursing paradigm and predicts that they will continue to contribute to culturally congruent care practices that promote health, healing, quality of life, and even world peace. Watson provides a vision based on an emergent perspective that emphasizes subjective dimensions related to self-knowledge, self-control, self-caring, and self-healing potential; spirit and wholeness of being/becoming; natural healing approaches; and caring, healing relationships with self and others.

Socrates’ Questions: A Focus for Nursing

This column focuses on the philosophical dialogue originated by Socrates. Six questions that Socrates would ask the ancient Greeks are explored in discussing a book written by Phillips entitled Six Questions of Socrates. These questions were: What is virtue? What is moderation? What is justice? What is good? What is courage? What is piety? A human becoming perspective is used as a lens to view the discussion on these questions and the question is posed, “What would it be like to frame discussions on health and quality of life around Socrates’ questions?” Parse’s teaching-learning processes are presented as a means of creating an environment where dialogue on these questions can occur.

Ethics, Government and Sexual Health: insights from Foucault

The work of Michel Foucault, the French philosopher who was interested in power relationships, has resonated with many nurses who seek a radically analytical view of nursing practice. The purpose of this article is to explore ‘ethics’ through a Foucauldian lens, in a conceptual and methodological sense. The intention is to provide a useful framework that will help researchers critically to explore aspects of nursing practice that relate to the construction of the self, morality and identity, be that nurse or patient related. The fundamentals of the research method of genealogy and the methods of ethics are reviewed. Using an example taken from the sexual health practice area, advice is given on how to structure data collection, incorporate interview data, avoid discourse determinism and measure resistance.

Invisibility, Moral Knowledge and Nursing Work in the Writings of Joan Liaschenko and Patricia Rodney

The ethical ‘eye’ of nursing, that is, the particular moral vision and values inherent in nursing work, is constrained by the preoccupations and practices of the superordinate biomedical structure in which nursing as a practice discipline is embedded. The intimate, situated knowledge of particular persons who construct and attach meaning to their health experience in the presence of and with the active participation of the nurse, is the knowledge that provides the evidence for nurses’ ethical decision making. It is largely invisible to all but other nurses. Two nurse researchers, Joan Liaschenko of the University of Minnesota and Patricia Rodney of the University of Victoria, have investigated the ethical concerns of practising nurses and noted in their separate enquiries the invisible nature of critical aspects of nursing work. Noting the similarities in their respective observations, and with the feminist ethics of Margaret Urban Walker as a theoretical framework, this article examines the concept of ‘invisibility’ as it relates to nursing work and nursing ethics.

Feminist Approaches to Nursing History

Nursing history, similar to women’s history, has followed the progression of feminist movements, garnering approach and direction from emerging feminist thought. In this article, in a chronological format, women’s and nursing history are juxtaposed with feminist movements. Brief representations of scholarship in women’s history are used to set the context for nursing history, which forms the bulk of the analysis. Although the purpose of this article is to delineate the evolution/direction of Canadian nursing history, past and current historiography is framed within important international scholarship; hence, discussion of works by Celia Davies, Barbara Melosh, and Susan Reverby, for example, is included. New directions in Canadian nursing history should include attention to everyday work experiences from which nurses and nursing students construct their identity. In addition, comparisons to other workers will be helpful.

[Psychiatric nursing, which theoretical school of thought to follow?]

Schools of thought in psychiatry are both a way to reflect on care to support the clinical aspect and an idea of the person. They also tell us something about the way society treats its insane people. For nurses working in psychiatry, the choice of a model is all the more complicated as they are caught between two disciplines, psychiatry and nursing. This issue is an opportunity to emphasise the essence of a school of thought and the possible misunderstandings.

The training of new recruits into nursing: BJN 100 years ago

While many leaders of nursing 100 years ago strove to achieve a universal standard of education for nurses, it is interesting to note some of the methods of training employed in those days, and the importance of discipline in nursing care activities. The following are some extracts from an article by Miss I. C. Keogh, a matron

On the way to learning

The purpose of this article is to explore concepts of thinking and learning in a Heideggerian sense. It inquires into a theoretical and practical conceptualization, explores possibilities for participation in thinking and learning in the nursing experience, and offers a philosophy of learning appropriate to the nursing experience.

Interpretive hermeneutics and modifying the modern idea of method

A challenge currently facing human sciences researchers is recognizing the importance of creating a shared horizon of meaning in their work. To move towards this goal, researchers require an awareness of how their chosen conceptual framework creates a stricture through which they know and understand the individual. The methodological approach of philosophical interpretive hermeneutics emphasizes that what is learned from experience extends beyond the strictures of formalized method, thus offering a middle way of thinking in the research encounter. This article explores how interpretive hermeneutics can broaden the notion of research from one of simply knowing to one of understanding. It does so by engaging with Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, where researchers strive to embrace a constellation of philosophical outlooks rather than a specific philosophical method. A key insight in research involving philosophical interpretive hermeneutics is its emphasis on human experience.

Children's nursing and future directions: learning from 'memorable events'

At present, the UK provides pre-registration education in four distinct branches, including child, but this is under threat with calls for a single generalist register in line with most of the developed world. Debate about this may be understood by placing 'memorable events' associated with this in their historical context. Analysis of quantitative data, obtained from the Nursing and Midwifery Council identifies a clear correlation between the numbers of registered children's nurses and changes in child health and welfare policies as well as nurse education over the last century. This interpretation of 'memorable events,' showing the growth and influence of this branch of the profession, should enable present day reformers of nurse education to make a rational and informed decision as they debate and decide upon the future of children's (and young people's) nursing in the UK.

The under-used resource of historical research

Nurse educationalists in Britain face the charge that the system is no longer producing nurses who are competent when they qualify. Research into these issues led to an historical approach, using life story and documentary analysis, to understanding how nurses from the 1940s and 1950s talked about nursing. This article by Janet Hargreaves considers the value of such an approach and argues that an understanding of how nursing was crafted in the past illuminates the present.

Research philosophy and Socrates: rediscovering the birth of phenomenology

Socrates can, to some extent, be credited with an original conception of what is now seen as 20th century phenomenology 'invented' by Heidegger. With phenomenology becoming more recognised as important in understanding health care and all its complexities, this article by Victoria Vivilaki and Martin Johnson provides a theoretical evaluation of some of the terminology and the underpinning philosophy used in recent phenomenological studies.

'Faced' with responsibility: Levinasian ethics and the challenges of responsibility in Norwegian public health nursing

This paper is concerned with aspects of responsibility in Norwegian public health nursing. Public health nursing is an expansive profession with diffuse boundaries. The Norwegian public health nurse does not perform 'hands on' nursing, but focuses on the prevention of illness, injury, or disability, and the promotion of health. What is the essence of ethical responsibility in public health nursing? The aim of this article is to explore the phenomenon based on the ethics of responsibility as reflected upon by the philosopher Emanuel Levinas (1906-1995). From an ethical point of view, responsibility is about our duty towards the Other, a duty we have not always chosen, are prepared for, or can fully explain; but it is nevertheless a demand we have to live with. Interviews with five experienced Norwegian nurses provide the empirical base for reflection and interpretation. The nurses share stories from their practice. In interpreting the nurses' stories, the following themes emerge: personal responsibility; boundaries; temporality; worry, fear, and uncertainty; and a sense of satisfaction. As the themes are developed further, it becomes apparent that, despite their diversity, they are all interrelated aspects of ethical responsibility. Responsibility for the Other cannot be avoided, ignored, or transferred. The nurses' responsibility is personal and infinite. Levinasian ethics can help nurses understand the importance of accepting that being a responsive carer can involve not only contentment in the predictable, but also the fear, worry, and uncertainty of the unpredictable.

Nursing philosophy: Foucault and cultural diversity issues in the nursing field

Cultural diversity is a highly important issue in nursing education and nursing practice today. This study is a philosophical approach to the power relationship between a health care provider and a care recipient. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships between nurses and ethnic minority patients based on the discussions of some Foucauldian concepts that are related to cultural diversity. Based on the analysis, this study provides some suggestions for cultural competency in nursing practice.

Practices of responsibility and nurses during the euthanasia programs of Nazi Germany: A discussion paper

In this paper, we focus on the contexts of moral decision-making by nurses in the euthanasia programs of Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945 using Urban Walker's philosophical model. We use the second hypothesis of this model, that morality consists of practices of responsibility, to give an analysis of the understandings nurses had of their responsibilities in the euthanasia programs. The article starts with a brief introduction to the euthanasia programs of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945 and nurse participation, to illustrate how the responsibilities of nurses were manipulated. Secondly, nursing as moral practices are analysed in the context of the euthanasia programs that implement commonly shared understandings and practices of responsibility. Thirdly, the reasons that nurses gave for avoiding any responsibilities are examined. Fourthly, it is examined if nurses took any responsibility in the euthanasia programs. In conclusion, this paper discusses three points of relevance such a reflection on moral responsibility in the context of Nazi Germany has for nurses today who may be confronted with euthanasia.

Envisioning nursing in 2050 through the eyes of nurse theorists: Katie Eriksson and Margaret Newman

Nurse theorists Katie Eriksson and Margaret Newman envision how their theoretical ideas will be expressed in the world in 2050. Eriksson believes that the fundamental concepts of health and suffering in her theory of caritative caring will endure, but will find newer and richer forms of expression. By giving voice to the caring ethos in symbolic form, we can shape the mysterious and unpredictable future. Newman speaks of an emerging pattern of nursing knowledge that reflects compassion, transformation, and freedom. She believes that individual nurses who focus on clients' unitary, evolving pattern of the whole will help to transform the health of society.

Teaching Holistic Nursing: The Legacy of Nightingale

This article emphasizes the importance of holistic concepts in nursing and curriculum development. Grounded in the work of Florence Nightingale, nursing education prepares practitioners to meet the holistic needs of clients. The basic tenets offered by the American Holistic Certification Corporation and the American Holistic Nurses' Association are used to describe essential content in a nursing program emphasizing holism. Strategies for introducing holistic nursing into curriculum and overcoming barriers to including holistic nursing in nursing education are discussed. Examples are provided through the experiences of two schools of nursing that successfully incorporated holistic nursing concepts.

Modernity, mental illness and the crisis of meaning

Western civilization has, over its relatively recent past, undergone dramatic, unparalleled changes. The historical period in which these changes have occurred is commonly referred to as 'modernity', and although modernity has had profound repercussions on all aspects of people's lives, what has received less attention in the nursing literature is how modernity has influenced, and continues to influence, the mental health of modern men and women. In an attempt to address this, the following paper, drawing on the work of Szasz, Nietzsche and Frankl, seeks to present an accessible introduction to one of the most salient features of modernity; namely, the erosion of those traditions that gave life a meaning or a purpose, and that provided people with ready answers to the problem of how they ought to live. The paper will then introduce some of the possible consequences of this on the mental health of modern men and women, as well as providing preliminary suggestions as to how mental health nursing might respond. In doing so, the paper also seeks to stimulate further discussion and research into how modernity has influenced, and continues to influence, the mental health of modern men and women, and how psychiatric and mental health nursing might respond.

Nursing care and understanding the experiences of others: a Gadamerian perspective

A personal and professional issue that confronts all nurses is that of attempting to understand the experiences of our patients or clients. The position taken here is that understanding another person as a human being is much more than being able to explain their experience according to a particular model of ill-health. Rather, it is an issue of human dignity and respectfulness. Gadamerian hermeneutics has been used in nursing research to articulate the process of understanding and to develop interpretations of particular experiences. Gadamer's exposition of understanding shows that we need to be aware that our understanding of other people is developed through a fusion of our own history, language and culture with that of the other person. This occurs through a hermeneutic question-answer dialogue in which we put our ideas at risk of being modified or rejected in the process. Understanding then, is a perceptual and conceptual process in which we fully participate. In this way, the experience of understanding those we nurse increases our understanding of ourselves as well as enhancing our ability to further understand others.

Psychiatric nurses enhancing consumer and caregiver participation in the state of Victoria: the impact of history and policy

Australian mental health policy now clearly articulates that consumer and carer (informal caregiver) participation in all aspects of service delivery is an expectation. As the largest professional group, nurses clearly play a key role in translating policy into practice. The aim of this article is to briefly overview the history of mental health service development in Victoria, with specific emphasis on the development of psychiatric nursing. Changing perspectives of consumers of mental health services and their informal carers is discussed. Policy development is described in the context of the development of mental health services. It is argued that an appreciation of the history of punishment and confinement is necessary for providing a climate conducive to consumer and carer participation.