| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KAHARU Chie St.Luke's College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Assistant Professor, 看護学部, 助教授 (30194947)
YOKOYAMA Miki St.Luke's College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Lecturer, 看護学部, 講師 (70230670)
SAKYO Yumi St.Luke's College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Lecturer, 看護学部, 講師 (10297070)
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| Research Abstract |
This study explores the context in which the term "nursing" is used in Notes on Nursing (second edition), and clarifies the structure of meanings covered by this word.
1.We conjecture that Nightingale's attempt to establish the concept for the word "nursing" was intended to define nursing from the viewpoint of interrelationship between man, nature (science) and God, because she was aware of the growing scientific knowledge-oriented way of thinking after the Industrial Revolution, which tried to explain things focusing only the relationship between man and science.
2.Seven keywords are concentrated in the introduction section and the last chapter of this book : Nature, God, Providence, laws reparative, disease and health/healthy. These keywords are indicative of three propositions. The first proposition is that there exist the law of God and the law of life, the second is that disease is a reparative process where effort of nature works, and the third is that symptoms or pains of disease
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result from a lack, in whole or in part, of fresh air, sunlight, quietness and cleanliness. Based on these propositions, we can interpret Nightingale's definition of nursing, which may be summarized as follows : "Nursing is to minimize expense of vital power of the patient by properly maintaining fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness and other requirements." The definition should be considered against the social background f the 19^<th> century, where development of natural science was undermining people's faith in God. It seems that Nightingale wanted to remind people of existence of "the law of God" which underlies "the law of nature," and to encourage man, who was endowed with divine nature, to demonstrate human nature by his own will. This suggests the significance of the "issue of spirituality and God" in understanding Nightingale's view of nursing.
3.We also compare Notes on Nursing and Suggestions for Thought, and find in the latter some common keywords, namely, "God" and "law", and additional keywords :
"Truth", "Spiritual life", "Human Will" and "Religion", which suggests that further analysis of these keywords could help us obtain clearer meaning of "nursing."
Considering the above aspects, Nightingale seemed to think that man can be one with God through spiritual life even in the process of pain and suffering during (physical) illness, and that nursing is a harmonious art of knowledge and practice, a creation of new "knowledge" (science) where "knowledge" in natural science and "knowledge" about God are combined. Less
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