Principles And Directions For Practice Of Modern Humanistic Nursing Care

Humanistic care in modern nursing is care provided by medical professionals for patients and their families, which requires the care-givers to have empathetic experiences of the situation the care-receivers are in. Such experiences include not only moral consciousness expressing concerns for and awareness of their own life or life and death, but also moral awareness showing compassion, concerns and understanding for other people’s lives or life and death. Regarding this sense of caring for life, in-depth theoretical thinking and non-theological rational philosophical interpretationsare still lacking in the modern nursing academia; and Chinese philosophy attaches great importance to and is dedicated to life in its exploration of cosmic genesis, world ontology, the role of humans in the universe,and the intentionality and prescription of individual life. From a philosophical functional and teleological point of view, Chinese philosophy is philosophy of human life, which emphasizes ethical practices and is not lacking in metaphysical speculations; it has many stipulations for human behaviors while focusing on life itself. In view of this, the author chose “Principles and Directions for Practice of Modern Humanistic Nursing Care: A Confucian-Taoist Philosophy of Life Perspective” as her research subject in the hope of integrating “what has been said” in Chinese philosophy with “what is to be said” in humanistic care theories in modern nursing. An organic combination can be achieved with classical Chinese philosophy becoming the “body” of modern humanistic care theories(principles) and modern humanistic care theoriesbeingthe “usage”(applications) of classical Chinese philosophy. In modern new Confucian terms, such research can be considered as “innovation by returning to tradition” in the field of culture: “returning to tradition” in terms of nursing culture(modern humanistic care theories), and “innovation”in terms of traditional culture(classical Chinese philosophy).Humanistic care in modern nursing began in the 1990 s. However, its concern and focus is on the specific operational issues in the implementation of humanistic care in nursing practice while the fundamental theories, basic concepts and categories of humanistic care have not been examined. To make up for the deficiencies, this article aims to construct the philosophical the oretical framework for modern humanistic care and the principles for its practice. With humanistic care being the basic concepts, the authorattempts to examine classical Chinese philosophy from the unique perspective of modern humanistic care and to reveal general principles from Confucian and Taoist philosophy of life which can be combined with practices of modern humanistic care in order to further standardize and guide humanistic care practices. Based on this research intent, this dissertation is divided into two parts, namely principles of life philosophy for humanistic care and directions for humanistic care practices.Part I, containing Chapters 1-3, elaborates onthe contents of traditional Chinese philosophy of life that falls under “the philosophical principles of humanistic care” from the “why it is so”perspective. Chapter 1 “Life Ontology” discusses the origins of traditional Chinese philosophy of lifeas well as its expansion in Confucianism and Taoism, explores and answers the question of universal human values and their origins. Chapter 2 “Virtues of Life” addresses the understanding of human nature in Chinese traditional philosophy of life. Humans and all things on earth are similar life existences that originated in the “Heaven” or “Way”, and they need to follow the common rules of life activities while manifesting the nature of their own virtues in theirrelationships with other people and other things. Chapter 3 “Realm of Life”discusses the personality of saints and realm of life when the general “Life Ontology” and the subjective “Virtues of Life” are fully demonstrated in individuals. The Confucian and Taoistconcept of “Sage” has become the core of humanistic care and can provide guidance for the establishment of spiritual valuesin humanistic nursing care.Part II, composed of Chapters 4-6, explores the contents of traditional Chinese philosophy of life that falls under “directions for practice in modern humanistic nursing care” from the “as it should be” perspective. Chapter 4 “Cultivation of Humanistic Nursing Care” discusses the Confucian Cultivation Theory based on good and evil of human nature as well as the Taoist Cultivation Theory based on the naturalistic view of human nature. These traditional theories of cultivation can provide further guidance for the practices of humanistic nursing care and play a significant role not only in nursing personnel’s psychological adjustment but also in patients’ psychological adjustment with their help. Chapter 5 “Hierarchy of Humanistic Care” addresses the organic connection between traditional Chinese philosophy of life and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. “Righteousness to foster people” is a humanistic rationale that relates to and inherently constrains human physiological needs; “benevolence to protect people” corresponds to human safety needs with concerns for life safety and stability of life as its essence; “trust to designate people” associates with human social needs; “propriety to cultivate people” matches human esteem needs; “ways to accomplish people” fits in with human self-actualization needs. Chapter 6“Humanistic Care Practices” elaborates on the origins, core contents and responsibilities of humanistic care: to revere life through philanthropy and charity, strict norms and integrity, and discretion and sincerity; to experience life using empathy, concern and caring; to guard life with learnedness, earnestness and benevolence.Finally, the “Conclusions” part attempts to construct theories for humanistic nursing care practices. It briefly discusses the three aspects of traditional Chinese philosophy of life and modern humanistic care:(1) in terms of thinkings on caring for life, traditional Chinese philosophy of life fits in with the reality of modern humanistic care;(2) in terms of the values of life, traditional Chinese philosophy of life has the inherent transcendent spirit needed by modern humanistic nursing theories;(3) in terms of humanistic care education, traditional Chinese philosophy of life has multiple values that are in line with the practical needs of modern humanistic nursing care.