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CHAPTER 10 Kari Martinsen 159

that nurses “think along” and assess what she writes thinking relevant for both nursing generally and for
and speaks about in their own lives, their own practice specific professional issues. For example, several col-
and experience, and, against this background, imagine lege lecturers in Norway and Denmark produced an
their own way to alternatives for action. This is how article compilation in 2000, which gives an introduc-
Kirkevold (1998) puts it: tion to Martinsen’s thought and for which the target
group is students (Alvsvåg & Gjengedal, 2000). The
Martinsen’s theory of caring is practically relevant book The Philosophy of Caring in Practice: Thinking
as an overarching/general philosophy of nursing. with Kari Martinsen in Nursing, was published in
It is clearly articulated and encompasses a precise 2002 and republished in 2010 (Austgard, 2010).
formulation of how (one ought) to understand In 2003, a Danish nurse wrote a textbook of spiritual
and approach patients and nursing. Its strength is care. Central to the book is Martinsen’s thinking, in ad-
the ability to promote reflection upon nursing dition to that of Katie Eriksson and Joyce Travelbee
practice in different contexts, in that it gives a (Overgaard, 2003). In the Danish Encyclopedia of Nurs-
clear picture of what the author believes must be ing, published in 2008, Kari Martinsen is portrayed in
present so that nursing may be considered caring a separate article, while several other articles refer to
or moral practice (p. 181).
her thinking on caring and judgment (Jørgensen &
Many of these texts have, she maintains: Lyngaa, 2008).
. . . a normative character, and are intended to Research
mobilize a counter-culture in nursing, which In the same way as one in practical nursing can “think
does not only revolutionize the discipline of along” and assess what she writes, her writings can
nursing and its practice, but which also stands as also be applied in research. Countless dissertations
a resisting force against the societal tendency in based on practical, concrete, and more theoretical
opposition to the concept of care. . . . In recent issues discuss the relationship between empirical
years the personal, inspiring and poetic style has experience in light of Martinsen’s terminology and
become more pronounced. It communicates philosophy. In one doctoral dissertation from 2006,
Martinsen’s normatively founded philosophy of the Norwegian pedagogue Pål Henning Walstad
caring in a gripping way, and has therefore had addresses Kari Martinsen’s Grundtvig-Løgstrupian
great impact on nurses and students influence, calling it Care for Life, and discusses this in
(Kirkevold, 1998, p. 204).
relation to practical work and professional education
Martinsen herself addresses practicing nurses through (Walstad, 2006). Moreover, nursing teacher Betty-
their professional journal, Sykepleien. Kirkevold writes: Ann Solvoll has in her 2007 doctoral dissertation
“In choosing the journal Nursing as a main vehicle for done a field study of nursing education and is discuss-
communicating her academic work, she has under- ing the data in relation to Martinsen’s reflections on
scored her roots in practical nursing rather than in care (Solvoll, 2007). Two Danish doctoral disserta-
science” (Kirkevold, 1998, p. 203). tions (Dahlgard, 2007; Mark 2008) reflect Martinsen’s
theory applied to empirical material dealing with care
Education for the dying, and with anorectic and diabetic
Most nursing colleges in Norway and Denmark patients, respectively. Similar applications are made
make good use of Martinsen’s texts, and her works with reference to bathing of patients (Jeanne Boge,
form part of the curriculum at a variety of educa- 2008), dignified encounters in the final phase of life
tional levels. Her books are reprinted regularly and (Kari Gran Bøe, 2008), and the importance of space
have had considerable impact. Several prescribed and architecture for psychiatric patients (Inger Beate
texts for nursing education deal with her thought Larsen, 2009). Else Foss is a preschool teacher who
(Alvsvåg, 2011; Kirkevold, 1998; Kristoffersen, 2002; analyzes children’s crying in kindergartens in her
Mekki & Tollefsen, 2000; Nielsen, 2011). In addi- doctoral dissertation (Foss, 2009). These examples of
tion, other books have been written for nursing edu- applications of Martinsen’s thought in research are
cation in which the aim is to make Martinsen’s even beyond those of nursing proper.