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160 UNIT II Nursing Philosophies

families with person-oriented professionality, and
Further Development that (patient encounter) is at the heart of person-
Caring can be understood on several levels: ontologi- oriented professionality.
cal, concrete, and practical, or at the level of system or
organization. In nursing, we are encouraged to act in a Simplicity
professional and moral manner, so that caring and life At first glance, Martinsen’s theory seems complex.
utterances are given the space they need to emerge in At the same time, the question must be asked whether
nurse-patient encounters. We are continuously chal- this is because she turns so many of our familiar
lenged to reflect critically over whether this happens assumptions on their heads, for example, that we as
or not. It would involve the manifestation of a person- human beings are free, independent, and boundless
oriented professionalism, the manifestation of loving in our capacity for activity and interference with cre-
deeds in the profession, over and over (Martinsen, ation. Western societies live in a culture of individual-
1993b, 2000b). ism. Her view of humanity can be described as
It is important, moreover, to develop a mode of collectivist. She uses a poetic and philosophical rather
thinking about caring in nursing research. Science in than a scientific mode of speaking, which might also
nursing might face certain boundaries. The challenge is seem alien in a scientized society. She writes about
to develop a type of research that does not impoverish general phenomena that affect us all, and that we can
practice, but that upgrades the available knowledge and easily recognize in our personal lives, either occupa-
wisdom developed through practice, in other words to tionally or in daily life. Seen this way, the theory of
develop or create a practice-oriented research, a coop- caring is not hard to understand. Martinsen asks that
eration between researcher and practitioner (Martinsen, we read slowly while imagining our own experiences
1989c, 1993b). Kirkevold writes as follows: in light of what she writes (Martinsen, 2000b).
Martinsen’s theory is especially important be- Generality
cause it is one of the few existing Norwegian Because Martinsen’s nursing theory deals with essen-
nursing theories, and because it is one of the first tial phenomena of life and nursing, phenomena pres-
Nordic nursing theories that gives expression to a ent in all human situations, it can be seen as relevant
new understanding of reality and the need for to patients in general (Martinsen, 2006). Her theory of
new nursing theories based upon this care “seems to be relevant for all patients who, because
(Kirkevold, 1998, p. 182).
of illness or other reasons, need help and assistance”
At the organizational and social levels, the concept (Kirkevold, 1998, p. 181).
of care is also highly relevant. It is important to de-
velop social systems and organizations, such as the Accessibility
health service, so that a person-oriented professional- The patient’s and the nurse’s worlds of experience are
ism can be facilitated. Martinsen writes about both a diverse, nuanced, and multifaceted. A nuanced and
merciful and a political Samaritan (Martinsen, 1993b, varied language is required to deal with a multifac-
2000b, 2003b). What is important at both organiza- eted reality, one that is on par with what is to be de-
tional and social levels is how the political Samaritans scribed. This language is close to philosophy and also
facilitate the work of the merciful Samaritans. to everyday language; it is a poetic language. We may
say that the poetic language is the most precise in
Critique describing manifold phenomena and situations open
to interpretation. Reflection on professional judg-
Clarity ment and professional narratives creates the contexts
Martinsen’s theory clearly states that life has been of a community of nursing and the tradition of nurs-
created and given to us. We have been created in ing; we recognize situations and thus find profes-
dependence on each other and on nature. Caring sional and moral insight. This enables us to perform
for each other and for nature is fundamental. Our situation-dependent, good nursing—a professional
challenge as nurses is to meet patients and their moral practice.