Book review: Review of Freshwater, D (ed) Therapeutic nursing-improving patient care through self-awareness and reflection
Book review: Review of Freshwater, D (ed) Therapeutic nursing-improving patient care through self-awareness and reflection
This book examines that highly complex and sometimes elusive area of nursing, ‘the most effective therapeutic tool the nurse possesses’ and does so largely with clarity, insight and illustration. The analytic route taken is to explore the key part played by the nurse’s self-knowledge and, in particular, the ability to evaluate oneself and its significance for patient care. Material is clearly organised into three areas: the nurse as therapeutic practitioner, reflective learner and reflexive researcher. The orientation of the book usefully draws on psychological and post-modern perspectives. Its primary contribution lies in its attempt to integrate both analysis and theory with practical ways to improve self-awareness within nursing practice, education and research.
The introductions to each section of the book are useful and well written. The diverse range of authors from the UK and USA come from a range of backgrounds including patient care, education and research.
Attention is given to both intrapersonal as well as the interpersonal considerations, with the former receiving more limited attention in the literature to date. Key concepts, such as the ‘therapeutic use of self’, are examined in the practice section. The educational contributions include discussions on the art of nursing and transformative learning. The research chapters offer interesting debates on subjectivity within research. Practical strategies such as clinical supervision, the use of the creative arts and reflective journals are exemplified effectively. The only chapter I found less convincing was that on the praxis model of research. The illustration (using narrative as a mode of expressing the self) is engaging, although it would have benefited from greater methodological treatment.
The content of the book is relevant to an international audience, although some readers may find the terminology used off-putting at times. Despite this small point, I found the book often managed to move beyond the now commonplace clichés and rhetoric on aesthetic issues, sometimes found in the nursing literature. The result is a number of valuable thought provoking essays and illustrations that may indeed provide a basis for improving practice, in all its forms.
therapeutic nursing
p.640
Ersser, S.
4dab23f3-b2fc-461f-9c72-367849adf4bc
2003
Ersser, S.
4dab23f3-b2fc-461f-9c72-367849adf4bc
Ersser, S.
(2003)
Book review: Review of Freshwater, D (ed) Therapeutic nursing-improving patient care through self-awareness and reflection.
Nurse Education Today, 23 (8), .
(doi:10.1016/S0260-6917(03)00125-4).
Abstract
This book examines that highly complex and sometimes elusive area of nursing, ‘the most effective therapeutic tool the nurse possesses’ and does so largely with clarity, insight and illustration. The analytic route taken is to explore the key part played by the nurse’s self-knowledge and, in particular, the ability to evaluate oneself and its significance for patient care. Material is clearly organised into three areas: the nurse as therapeutic practitioner, reflective learner and reflexive researcher. The orientation of the book usefully draws on psychological and post-modern perspectives. Its primary contribution lies in its attempt to integrate both analysis and theory with practical ways to improve self-awareness within nursing practice, education and research.
The introductions to each section of the book are useful and well written. The diverse range of authors from the UK and USA come from a range of backgrounds including patient care, education and research.
Attention is given to both intrapersonal as well as the interpersonal considerations, with the former receiving more limited attention in the literature to date. Key concepts, such as the ‘therapeutic use of self’, are examined in the practice section. The educational contributions include discussions on the art of nursing and transformative learning. The research chapters offer interesting debates on subjectivity within research. Practical strategies such as clinical supervision, the use of the creative arts and reflective journals are exemplified effectively. The only chapter I found less convincing was that on the praxis model of research. The illustration (using narrative as a mode of expressing the self) is engaging, although it would have benefited from greater methodological treatment.
The content of the book is relevant to an international audience, although some readers may find the terminology used off-putting at times. Despite this small point, I found the book often managed to move beyond the now commonplace clichés and rhetoric on aesthetic issues, sometimes found in the nursing literature. The result is a number of valuable thought provoking essays and illustrations that may indeed provide a basis for improving practice, in all its forms.
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Published date: 2003
Keywords:
therapeutic nursing
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Local EPrints ID: 9320
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/9320
ISSN: 0260-6917
PURE UUID: 4868589f-653a-4fce-84c5-11f5c60131b6
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Date deposited: 05 Oct 2004
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 04:55
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Author:
S. Ersser
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