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Cut from the right wood: spiritual and ethical pluralism in professional nursing practice
Author(s) -
Cusveller Bart
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2648.1998.00782.x
Subject(s) - spirituality , pluralism (philosophy) , sociology , nursing , nursing practice , epistemology , psychology , medicine , philosophy , alternative medicine , pathology
Today, different cultures and contexts of nursing adhere to different codes of ethics. This pluralism may be traced back to differing beliefs about the nature of man and the world, involving different approaches to, and understandings of, spirituality. How significant is this pluralism of beliefs surrounding spirituality for proper nursing practice? I argue that certain introductory nursing textbooks perceive the significance of spirituality for nursing practice as marginal, because of certain assumptions as to what constitutes a proper, or professional, practice. After arguing that such assumptions are problematic, especially from an ethical point of view, I will advance an alternative understanding of professional practice, by drawing upon Alasdair MacIntyre’s work. The aim is to give the spiritual dimension of nursing care its rightful place.