A view of the phenomenon of caring in nursing practice

334

291

Empirical evidence was found which support these findings, which are in opposition of the received view that patients place greater emphasis on the technical aspects of care tasks. The quality issues identified as important by patients and relatives in this study are not always evaluated in care audits. Those responsible for evaluating health care quality might consider combining traditional (professional/technical) audit criteria with those used by health care users to achieve a more comprehensive evaluation.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patients’ and relatives’ experiences and perspectives of ‘Good’ and ‘Not so Good’ quality care

Attree

2001

334

291

“…The use of the lived and spoken meanings of the carers themselves liberates the meanings and expenences of the phenomenon called care (Clarke & Wheeler 1992) The ahove quotation relates to professional (nursing) carers, but pomts the way to a better imderstanding of all canng circvunstances However, before a more holistic picture of the dimensions of care can be achieved, we would suggest that there should be a change m emphasis away from 'nursmg care' towards 'family care' McFarlane (1976) highlighted the need to take full accoimt of the family and patients' perspective on care and not just focus on the professionals' views Yet, with a few exceptions (Kitson 1987), this issue has rarely heen addressed More recently, the need to consider the impact of nursmg care on patient outcomes has been stressed (Morse et al 1990), but the meanmg of care from a family carer's viewpoint has either been ignored or taken as read This situation is unacceptable…”

Section: Common Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to the above, other typologies of nursmg care underpins nursmg activity (McFarlane 1976, Kitson 1987, have been developed (Swanson 1991, Clarke & Wheeler Morse et al 1990, Clarke & Wheeler 1992 Indeed, it has 1992), but despite these efforts it is still considered that an acceptable definition has yet to be reached ( IS argued that attempts to achieve a more precise defimtion A typoloQT of family care of care, thereby reducmg the concept to actions or structures, are 'philosophically naive' and disr^ard canog's uniquely mdividual nature, thereby stnppmg it of its contextual elements (Phillips 1993) However because no two canng contexts are identical, actions which constitute canng can only be identified by skilled assessment of the situation, and not by some universally applicable theory or rule (Phillips 1993) …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Developing a typology of family care: implications for nurses and other service providers

Nolan¹,

Keady

Grant

1995

105

The meanings attributed to the concept of care are considered. It is argued that whilst nursing has paid considerable attention to care in a professional (nursing) context, it has virtually ignored care as it is defined and construed by family carers. A new typology of family care is described which builds on the limited existing conceptual work in this area. It is further suggested that interventions which are intended to assist carers form a continuum ranging from services which are facilitative to those which are actually obstructive. In the light of these discussions, the implications of the new typology for nurses working with family carers are addressed briefly.

“…This interest is represented by an expanding nursing literature on the topic and a growing debate which examines this concept from a variety of perspectives (e.g. Benner & Wrubel 1989, Forrest 1989, Swanson 1991, Clarke & Wheeler 1992, Barker et al . 1995, Bottoroff et al .…”

Section: The Nature Of Caring Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Caring and cancer nursing: framing the reality using selected social science theory

Kelly

1998

Despite the recent interest in caring for both academic and clinical nursing, the theoretical basis of this concept may appear somewhat elusive as the research and debate vary widely in their focus. As a result, the available literature may fail to consider the specific contextual issues which characterize caring as it is understood across different health care settings. Consideration of theory from disciplines close to nursing, it is suggested, may be useful in understanding the nature of such 'real world' caring. In this discussion the concept of caring within cancer nursing is explored by drawing on a number of social science and nursing sources. It is known that cancer provokes unique caring demands for nurses practising in this area. By examining the context of cancer, it is argued that effective caring deserves to be recognized as an important clinical variable which can influence a diverse range of issues such as patient satisfaction or therapeutic outcome. It is suggested that other nursing specialisms should also explore the psychosocial dimensions of caring in relation to their own role.