Caring as a slave morality: Nietzschean themes in nursing ethics

Area of Science:

• Nursing Studies
• Philosophy of Science
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• Existing skepticism questions caring's status as an ideal, its virtue, and political realism in nursing.
• These critiques highlight concerns about favoritism, injustice, self-deception, and the subversion of nursing by organizational structures.

Discussion:

• This paper introduces a radical skepticism by examining the 'caring paradigm' through phenomenology and holism in nursing discourse.
• A genealogical approach, inspired by Nietzsche, is employed to analyze the origins and implications of caring ideology.

Key Insights:

• The ideology of caring is framed as a 'slave morality,' originating from resentment by nurses ('slaves') against the medical profession ('nobles').
• Caring is presented as a form of 'fantasy revenge,' inverting power dynamics by portraying nurses' perceived weaknesses as virtues and the medical model as 'evil.'

Outlook:

• This slave morality ideology attacks the medical-scientific model, aiming to elevate nursing through resentment.
• The paper concludes that this ideology has debilitated nursing, hindering its development as a scientific discipline.