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Related Experiment Videos

Professional caring: a contradiction in terms?

V M Woodward1

  • 1Department of Educational Studies, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.

Journal of Advanced Nursing
|December 31, 1997
PubMed
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Nursing and midwifery caring involves instrumental and expressive elements. Current trends emphasize instrumental care, potentially diminishing the vital expressive aspect of holistic patient care.

Area of Science:

  • Nursing and Midwifery
  • Healthcare Ethics
  • Sociology of Professions

Background:

  • Traditional nursing and midwifery care encompass both instrumental (task-oriented) and expressive (emotionally supportive) components.
  • A growing emphasis on instrumental aspects of care may be compromising the holistic nature of nursing and midwifery practices.
  • Societal shifts, including a potential reduction in altruistic values, may contribute to this imbalance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the diminishing emphasis on expressive caring within nursing and midwifery.
  • To identify societal, educational, professional, and organizational factors contributing to the imbalance between instrumental and expressive caring.
  • To propose strategies for perpetuating traditional, holistic caring values in contemporary practice.

Main Methods:

Keywords:
Professional Patient Relationship

Related Experiment Videos

  • Qualitative analysis of current practices and societal trends.
  • Discussion of educational, professional, and organizational influences on caring values.
  • Identification of examples illustrating a deficit in expressive caring.

Main Results:

  • The instrumental component of care is increasingly prioritized over the expressive element.
  • Societal changes and institutional goals appear to favor task-oriented care, potentially at the expense of compassionate care.
  • Educational and professional frameworks may inadvertently devalue expressive caring.

Conclusions:

  • Maintaining the integrity of traditional caring requires a renewed educational focus on expressive elements.
  • Practitioners need to recognize and address the impact of current changes on holistic care.
  • A commitment to preserving caring as a central professional value is essential for nursing and midwifery.