The Moral Sense of Nursing Care

  • Mercedes Pérez
Chapter

Abstract

Since its earliest days nursing has had care as its essential occupation, and most of the literature uses this term to refer to its specific domain of professional competence. Care is understood as a human phenomenon influenced by multiple factors, ranging from material resources and health care policies to the attitude and culture of the nurse who is caring. But care is always a personal “work” that immediately relates us to another human person. As a consequence, nurses have always been sensitive to the complex moral demands associated with their practice. In our present age, this understanding of care remains, although the context in which the nurse administers care to others has very little continuity with what existed at the beginning of the profession. This poses a challenge to nursing: how can nurses respond to the demands of the profession as it stands today (which includes a host of administrative, technical, and managerial roles) without losing what is essential to the practice, the delivery of care?

Keywords

Human Dignity Health Care Policy Moral Dilemma Moral Sense Caring Relationship 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Ana Marta González and Craig Iffland 2014

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  • Mercedes Pérez

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