Humanism Nursing Communication And Holistic Care

The purpose of this book is to present cohesive, introductory information, drawn from the disciplines of speech communication, interpersonal communication, and nursing. It is proposed by the author to establish a benchmark of holistic and humanizing theoretical orientation for interpersonal communication between nurses, clients and others which is appropriate in all areas of nursing practice, education and research.

The purpose of this book is to present cohesive, introductory information, drawn from the disciplines of speech communication, interpersonal communication, and nursing. It is proposed by the author to establish a benchmark of holistic and humanizing theoretical orientation for interpersonal communication between nurses, clients and others which is appropriate in all areas of nursing practice, education and research.

The purpose of this tool, the Nursing Communication Observation Tool (NCOT), is to assist you as an observer in collecting and analyzing data about interpersonal communications. It is patterned after the work of Robert Freed Bales of the Center for the Behavioral Sciences at Harvard University and designed for observing any interpersonal communication occurring in nursing practice contexts in which you, as a nurse, interact with your clients, peers, leaders, and colleagues of nursing and other health care professions.

'Death is inevitable--none of us will escape it. Ending life with a terminal illness is a slow and rather lonely process. I am interested in the question of why some nurses choose to work in the field of palliative care. I am one who willingly stepped into the role of being with patients at their most vulnerable time ?when death became inevitable. My nursing history has spanned fifty years, of which the last twenty were in palliative care of terminally ill and dying patients. What was it that influenced me to move from a curing model to comfort caring only? My work is an account of how I discovered palliative care nursing after thirty years in the acute-care setting. I migrated to Australia at the age of seventeen after the violence of World War II and the death of my father in a refugee camp. It seemed that taking on nursing was the best way to settle into a new life. I was happy with general nursing but had a feeling that there was more I could contribute to my patient care. My mother's unexpected death with cancer was responsible for showing the way. She died in the hospice unit of the hospital where I was employed. Sitting by her side showed me another aspect of nursing that attracted me to a career change. I transferred to the Hospice after mother died and remained there for twenty years. Naturally I wondered why this change of direction happened.' - Susan Bardy

In this volume the personal journey of why a nurse chose to leave Acute Care nursing to be involved in Palliative Care nursing connect with a broader culture of Palliative Care nursing by interviewing those who chose palliative care nursing and examine the reasons for changes in careers from acute, curing based, nursing to Palliative Caring for those in end of life nursing. The longest section of the study travels the world of Palliative nursing with participant observers. It is about the actively working nurse and includes extensive analytical discussion of an attempt to understand the sense of professional change, and the significance of beliefs for the reasoning behind vocational transformation. The second section examines the interviews, the third addresses the heart of the research question and examines nursing moving from a curing model to a caring only approach when death of the patient is inevitable. The volume ends with a letter written by the author to her sons asking them to be there when her time comes at the end of life through a life limiting illness and requests her sons and the Palliative Care professionals observe her final wishes.

The last two decades have seen raised awareness of qualitative approaches to health care. These methods involve an understanding of human experiences and take a humanistic and holistic approach which is essential in nursing and midwifery where the focus is on caring, communication and interaction. This book provides perspectives and practical guidelines for such research in health care. A variety of qualitative research approaches are described, as well as the data collection and analyses specific to these methods. There is also consideration of the ethical issues and problems which may arise. For those who wish to extend their knowledge, there are discussions of philosophical and theoretical issues and a comprehensive list of references on qualitative research

Out of necessity nursing, as a profession, reflects the qualities of the culture in which it exists. In our culture for the past quarter of a century nursing has been assailed with rapid economic, technological, shortage- abundance, changing scenes' vicissitudes. In the individual nurse these arouse turmoil and uncertainty. These cultural stirrings inflame that part of the nurse's spirit capable of chaotic conflict and doubt. Often she questions her professional identity. ''Just what is a nurse?" Her nurse colleagues, other professionals, and nonprofessionals freely, directly and indirectly-on television, in the theater, through the news media and the literature-pummel her with their multitudinous varied views.