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CHAPTER 10 Kari Martinsen 149

to 1985, she was a scientific assistant at the history mid-70s, when she wrote about nursing’s social his-
department at the University of Bergen. In addition to tory and feminist history, and the social history of
conducting her own research, Martinsen lectured and medicine.
supervised master’s degree students in feminist his- From 1986, Martinsen worked for 2 years as
tory and developed a database of Norwegian feminist Associate Professor at the Department of Health and
history. Social Medicine at the University of Bergen. She
The period from 1976 to 1986 can be described as a lectured and supervised master’s degree students, in
historical phase in Martinsen’s work (Kirkevold, 2000). addition to writing a series of philosophical and his-
She published several historical articles (Martinsen, torical papers, published in 1989 under the title Car-
1977, 1978, 1979a, 1979b). Close collaborators during ing, Nursing and Medicine: Historical-Philosophical
this phase were Anne Lise Seip, professor of social his- Essays (Martinsen, 1989c). With this book, the threads
tory; Ida Blom, professor of feminist history; and Kari of Martinsen’s historical phase were drawn together,
Wærness, professor of sociology. In 1979, Martinsen and marking the beginning of a more philosophical
Wærness published a book with the provocative title, period (Kirkevold, 2000). The book has several
Caring Without Care? (Martinsen & Wærness, 1979). In editions, and the 2003 publication includes an inter-
this book, the authors raised important questions: view with the author (Karlsson & Martinsen, 2003).
• Were nurses “moving away” from the sickbed? Fundamental problems in caring and interpretations
• Was caring for the ill and infirm disappearing of the meaning of discernment are what preoccupied
with the advent of increasingly technical care and Martinsen from 1985 to 1990. In a Danish anthology
treatment? published in 1990, she contributed a paper entitled
• Were nurses becoming administrators and research- “Moral Practice and Documentation in Practical
ers who increasingly relinquished the concrete exe- Nursing.” Here she writes:
cution of care to other occupational groups? Moral practice is based upon caring. Caring does
Aiding ill and care-dependent people was consid-
ered women’s work, and this view has long historical not merely form the value foundation of nursing;
it is a fundamental precondition of our life . . .
roots. However, the existence of the professionally Discernment demands emotional involvement
trained nurse is not very old in Norway, originating in and the capacity for situational analysis in order
the late 1800s. The deaconesses (Christian lay sisters), to assess alternatives for action . . . To learn
who were educated at different deaconess houses in moral practice in nursing is to learn how the
Germany, were the first trained health workers in moral is founded in concrete situations. It is
Norway. Martinsen described how these first trained accounted for through experiential objectivity or
nurses built up a nursing education in Norway, and through discretion, in action or in speech. In both
how they expanded and wrote textbooks and prac- cases learning good nursing is of the essence
ticed nursing both in institutions and in homes. They (Martinsen, 1990, pp. 60, 64-65).
were the forerunners of Norway’s public health sys-
tem. This pioneer period was described by Martinsen In 1990, Martinsen moved to Denmark for a 5-year
in her book, History of Nursing: Frank and Engaged period. She was employed at the University of Århus to
Deaconesses: A Caring Profession Emerges 1860-1905 establish master’s degree and PhD programs in nursing.
(Martinsen, 1984). Based on this work, Martinsen Her philosophical foundation was further developed
attained her doctor of philosophy degree from the during these years mainly through encounters with
University of Bergen in 1984. Danish life philosophy (Martinsen, 2002a) and theo-
In defense of her dissertation, Martinsen had to logical tradition. In Caring, Nursing and Medicine:
prepare two lectures: “Health Policy Problems and Historical-Philosophical Essays, Martinsen (1989c,
Health Policy Thinking behind the Hospital Law of 2003b) had connected the concept of caring to the
1969” (Martinsen, 1989a), and “The Doctors’ Interest German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976).
in Pregnancy—Part of Perinatal Care: The Period ca. While she was living in Denmark, Heidegger’s role as
1890-1940” (Martinsen, 1989b). This work emerged a Nazi sympathizer during World War II became public
from her 10-year historical phase, beginning in the knowledge. At that time, a series of academic articles