Nursing as textually mediated reality

Nursing and nursing practice both construct and are in turn constructed by the context in which they operate. Texts plays a central part in that construction. As such, nursing and nursing practice can be considered to represent a reality that is textually mediated. This paper explores the notion of nursing as a textually mediated reality and offers the reader the possibility of engaging in reflection on what implications this has for nursing and their own nursing practice. The analyses provided draw on aspects of the work of both Foucault and Derrida. Foucault's notion of discourse provides a vehicle for the exploration of nursing as textually mediated, as does Derrida's concept of binary oppositions. The paper thus illustrates some of the possibilities afforded nursing by poststructural analyses. In particular it does this by exploring one of the central textual constructions, impacting on the way that nursing and nursing practice are conceptualized, the mind/body binary opposition.