Biomedical subjects

M A Longmate

Publications and source records attributed to M A Longmate.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1993

Theory and practice: beyond the dichotomy.

Equipping students with the means to bring theoretical understanding to bear on the implementation of practical nursing skills has been an enduring problem for nurse educators. The problem is partly born out of a clinical culture in which the 'merely theoretical' tends to be dismissed. The aim of this paper is to show ways of thinking about theory and practice which actually avoid fruitless dichotomy. Theoretical reflection and practical action are in reality richly interconnected (Heidegger 1962). In the case of the expert practitioner (Benner 1984) theory and practice may be impossible to distinguish. New thinking on this problem is particularly urgent in the light of the Project 2000 initiative. It is hard to see how this new approach to nurse education can be entirely successful if students are allowed to get into the way of contrasting the reality of practice with the 'merely theoretical'.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed1992

Patient participation: its meaning and significance in the context of caring.

The ideal that patients should be participants in their own care has found wide acceptance amongst nurses. Yet within the academic discipline of nursing little has been done to clarify the nature of participation. In this paper, a phenomenology of participation is presented as it applies to the caring work of nursing. Participation requires: (a) attunement to a mutual 'stock of knowledge at hand'; (b) emotional and motivational attunement to the other's concerns; (c) taking for granted (and implicitly assuming the other takes it for granted) that one can contribute worthily; (d) feeling that one's identity is not under threat. Though it is difficult to attain, participation appears to embody many of the ideals central to current thinking in nursing. Moreover, the attempt to build participatory relationships with patients is ethically required of members of a 'caring' profession.

Affect↗