Self-sacrifice, self-transcendence and nurses’ professional self

In this paper I elaborate a notion of nurses’ professional self as one who is attracted towards intrinsic value. My previous work in 2003 has shown how nurses, who see intrinsic value in their work, experience self-affirmation when they believe that they have made a difference to that which they see...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pask, Elizabeth J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2005
In: Nursing philosophy
Year: 2005, Volume: 6, Issue: 4, Pages: 247-254
Further subjects:B Eros
B professional self
B Ego
B Self-sacrifice
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:In this paper I elaborate a notion of nurses’ professional self as one who is attracted towards intrinsic value. My previous work in 2003 has shown how nurses, who see intrinsic value in their work, experience self-affirmation when they believe that they have made a difference to that which they see to have value. The aim of this work is to reveal a further aspect of nurses’ professional self. I argue that nurses’ desire towards that which they see to have intrinsic value, is a necessary and self-transcending aspect of a nurses’ professional self. I argue further that nurses’ desire towards intrinsic value inevitably involves their vulnerability. Nurses who see intrinsic value are shown to be vulnerable to self-sacrifice in their inclination to work for the good of their patients, at the expense of themselves. Yet an ability to transcend their self in this way remains a necessary aspect of a nurse's professional self, which requires nurture and support through nurse education.
ISSN:1466-769X
Contains:Enthalten in: Nursing philosophy
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-769X.2005.00215.x