The
diversity of the nursing profession has been visible in the educational
landscape in recent years more and more. How can now be strengthened mutual
understanding and acceptance between educational establishments, institutions
and nursing staff? Is there a gap between VET and higher education in nursing?
And if so, how could this be overcome?
This
is a question we are interested in this paper. Inspired by the article in the magazine SBK No. 11
2012, "Well equipped for the job - and beyond" we want to share our
thoughts.
For
many years we work as nursing professionals in various areas, levels and institutions. So we look
closely at the development of nursing as a profession. We investigate how
healthyly health systems and institutions evolve. From the perspective of Neuro
Linguistic Programming NLP and insights from neuroscience, we are creating
interesting new aspects. At the annual symposium "Tower of the
Senses" in Nuremberg we receive inputs, which we try to translate in order
to make them useful for the nursing profession. It creates new perspectives,
which may be provocative and new at the same time. In order to identify further
opportunities for the development of the nursing profession, we also want to
shake existing ways of thinking.
Our
concern is a discussion at all levels and training levels to stimulate the
nursing department in order to meet upcoming challenges.
The
transition from nurse and guard to specialized professionals of care suggests a long and varied history. The job
titles and professional identity have
adapted to the present day. The job description, i.e. the new job profiles are
probably not yet fully known in society. The variety of different professions
and denominations has increased and varied, sometimes dramatically which
explains the complexity of care.
It
is challenging to describe the profession of nursing and to explain to the
society what we do all day at work. The term "care" includes countless activities, not only in our
profession, but also in many other areas of the world of work, or in everyday
life. A customer relationship for instance needs to be cared, my car needs
care, or even the garden wants to be cared for and much more.
But
the term “nursing” with respect to executive tasks such as washing, providing
food, or making injections is too simplified a term. The situation is similar
for the expression of "care". Maybe it needs new terms and
expressions in order to make our work comprehensible and visible and thus strengthen it further.
To
make this possible care needs to go its own way, developing further self-awareness,
self-confidence and self-determination. Usually our profession is defined as
distinct, compared to the medical profession.
The proximity to the medical corresponds to the nature of things, sometimes
more, sometimes less. However, tasks, knowledge, skills and abilities are
different. More targeted care can create their own professional identity. An
orientation that is based on differentiation from other professions, is in
danger of getting lost in the disorientation.
The
core of the nursing work is the relationship design, depending on the setting
of course, of various kinds. In areas where we both worked, the geriatric
psychiatry and long-term care, it needs an intensive, long-term relationship
formation. In the acute hospital on an emergency department, it needs a
different shorter form of relating. Relationship creates trust and acceptance,
the basis for nursing actions.
In
this context, we also deal with the question of why nursing requires a high
school education and how a connection can be ensured for training. To bring the
acceptance and understanding of higher education to the base, it still needs
further efforts. The care has its own science and that makes sense. Nursing
science is not an exact science. (If there is some absolutely exact science.,
The perception and interpretation of the viewer flow into all results. The
Symposium in Nuremberg tells us that intuition is a serious skill, based on
years of experience. Neuroscience can also confirm this. Tower of the senses
Symposium 2009, see www.turmdersinne.de / en / symposium)
We
know, a lot of care is based on empirical knowledge, is done by feeling and
intuition. Exact parameters and measurement capabilities in nursing is not an
easy task to establish. The relationship work and design as the most important
pillar is difficult to measure. From higher education, we wish further
development of theories and models for practice. In parallel, we require a
mutual understanding, a togetherness, an integration of all nursing professions
associations and educational institutions.
In
professional training, theory and practice are strongly interrelated and one
goes from the beginning to the front. At university level accademic studies are centerstage and the
connection to practice comes later. We call this "limbic" and
"cognitive" learning, or right hemisphere and left hemisphere
learning. Of course, both have their share of the other. Higher education is
weighted higher in society and politics. Not only in nursing, in many
professions. But why? This is also the case in collaboration between care and
medicine. Medicine determines, Care executes. In recent years, much has
changed, but Care is still not an independent legal profession. We are
challenged. And also at the base, we need to refresh and increase our knowledge
regularly. Training courses today are
many and very good ones, near to practice, offered from different educational
institutions and universities.
But how
does one teach and learn relationships,
communication and empathy? "Limbic" learning is different from
"cognitive" one. Therefore we need new teaching methods in order to
learn also these limbic aspects . This
is already partly possible. Also the acquiring of cognitive knowledge, learning facts is a challenge. We wish here
more connection from "cognitive" to "limbic". This requires to go into
practice and to get in touch with the people. In profesional training as FAGE for example, this is lived learning. It is important that trainees
are well supported, which requires resources and time. Trainees need a
counterpart to reflect on their development. Our brain is a social organ. That
is, it can only develop when it communicates with other brains.
The
professionalization of nursing is a very exciting process. We are aware that
there is also a very complex journey. In order to give the profession its due
place in health care and society, it needs many efforts. It is gratifying how
much work was already done. We will continue to deal with our exciting
profession and its development, and try to incorporate new findings.
Joe Goldener
Care professional RF
Rolf Bolliger
Care professional RF
SWISSpsy working group " Health Care"
