Nursing: A call to care
From Microsoft Word clipart
Comparing the current practice with the history and theory of nursing.
Objectives • • •
To critique the current practice using theory and literature To bring attention to the majesty of the art of caring To encourage nurses to have unlimited creativity and use the tools available to advocate excellent care.
Overview of History •
B.C. “If the spot on his skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to put the infected person in isolation for seven days.” • Leviticus 13:4
www.cdphe.state.co.us/.../images/skin.htm
History B.C. •
• •
The laws expressed concern for a holistic type of health and include exhortations for rest, care for the poor, and justice Early type of health promotion Function of the “science” or knowledge was for care and flourishing
Limitations of Other Cultures •
• •
“From the standpoint of humanity and the care of the afflicted the Jews have an unbroken and glorious record” (Nutting and Dock, 2000, p. 64). Other cultures muddled knowledge with superstition Most knowledge was on cures not health promotion
History A.D. •
“The early Christian church and the teachings of Jesus Christ expressed succor to orphans, the poor, travelers, and above all, the sick. The deaconesses of the early church visited the sick, much like modern visiting nurses or home health nurses” • Deloughery, p.3, 1991
History A.D. •
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat… I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” • Matthew 25:35-36
Xenodochium
• www.ostia-antica.org/regio3/1/1-4.htm
Impress your friends with this big word!
History – A Sad Decline •
Nursing was given over to women “who were too old, too weak, too drunken, too dirty, too stolid, or too bad to do anything else” • Reverby 1987 p. 22
A Pivotal Point • •
•
Florence Nightengale She started a focus on education and knowledge base to bring up nursing from the “gutter” so to speak This emphasis on knowledge and professionalism has sharpened into the drive for technology and higher learning as we see it today
Problems With the Current Practice of Nursing •
•
Main problem – sin in the form of selfishness. People just don’t care about others. This is highlighted in an acute care setting, but also perhaps perpetuated by acute care
Specific Problems Highlighted in Acute Care Settings • • • • • •
Efficiency becomes the end instead of the means to care Policies are driven by money People are objectified and detached from their environment People are not considered sacred Continuity of care is fractured Time is limited which results in a lack of many characteristics of true care
Say No to Reinventing the Wheel •
•
We do not necessarily need a new vision of nursing. Instead, we need to go back to the fundamentals of nursing I argue that care is the essential piece of nursing that is missing – or at least not being included in the translation into practice
What is Care? • • • •
Caring about –need or vulnerability Taking care of –assume responsibility Care-giving – direct action Care-receiving – positive response •
Tronto, Doornbos, Groenhout, and Hotz,
Person •
Good care is dependent on how people are viewed. It can only occur when: • People are considered holistically • People are considered sacred or are respected
So What? •
We cannot change everything… We have a system. We have hospitals. Even if we change to a universal health plan there still won’t be enough health care providers. What do we do?
Stir Up the Church • • • •
The early church started this whole care thing, maybe it needs to get re-involved What a partnership between church and healthcare can look like Christian nurses –you must exhort your congregations! It all starts with individuals
We Can Change… •
• •
•
Be an influence – (get on those committees. I know it’s overwhelming, but if you’re committed to beneficence, you will take action) Care about the details – (hearing stories, getting cups of cold water etc) Critically think! (What drives you crazy? What would make things safer?) Give research examples Follow up care – the importance of holistic thinking
Conclusion •
So Remember… BE CREATIVE • Guard your ability to care Do not grow weary of doing good… •
•
Works Cited Baer, E. D. (2009). "Do trained nurses... work for love, or do they work for money? "Nursing and altruism in the twenty-first century. Nursing History Review, 17, 28-46. Borsay, A. (2009). Nursing history: An irrelevance for nursing practice? Nursing History Review, 17, 14-27. Chambliss, D. F. (1996). Beyond caring: Hospitals, nurses and the social organization of ethics. (pp. 63-65). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Deloughery, G. L. (1998). Issues and trends in nursing (3rd ed., p. 3). St. Louis: Mosby. Doornbos, M. M., Groenhout, R., & Holtz, K. (2005). Transforming care: Toward a Christian vision of nursing practice (pp. 20-93). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. Marriner, A. (1986). Nursing theorists and their work (p. 82). St. Louis: C.V. Mosby Company. Mohrmann, M. E. (1995). Medicine as ministry (p. 71). Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press. Nutting, M. A., & Dock, L. L. (2000). A history of nursing (Vol. 1, p. 64). Bristol, UK: Thoemmes Press. Reverby, S. M. (1987). Ordered to care: The dilemma of American nursing, 1850-1945 (p. 1). New York: Cambridge University Press. Smith, J. (October 10, 1999). C. S. Lewis on Man's Godly Potential. In Greater Things. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from http:// www.greaterthings.com/Topical/CS_Lewis_Godly.htm. Tronto, J. C. (1994). Moral boundaries: A political argument for an ethic of care (pp. 106-108). London: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.