Bodily cleanliness in modern nursing

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Boge, J., Kristoffersen, K. & Martinsen, K. (2013). Bodily cleanliness in modern nursing. Nursing Philosophy, 14(2), 78-85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-769X.2012.00545.x, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-769X.2012.00545.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.Why are bodily washing practices the way they are in nursing? Michel Foucault argues that modern democratic societies discipline human bodies in accordance with political interests. In the extension of that argumentation we will show that bodily cleanliness in modern nursing may have been used as a disciplining tool. The first part of our discussion takes as its point of departure the second half of the 19th/the beginning of the 20th centuries, the period in which modern nursing emerged. At that time scientific theories on hygiene seem to have legitimized the political effort to produce a clean, pleasant‐smelling, decent, obedient, and productive population. Doctors, nurses and teachers played important roles in the implementation of hygienic bodily washing practices. The second part of the discussion focuses on the post‐War period. At that time humanistic needs theories seem to have legitimized political argumentation for independent patients who washed themselves if possible. Those who could not manage on their own, should, as far as possible, be washed by cheaper staff, so that nurses could concentrate on medical treatment. Finally we argue that present day bodily washing practices in nursing are in accordance with the norms of appearance and smell that arose in the second half of the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries. We further argue that staff with little or no education perform much of the bodily nursing work. Self‐care seems to be of interest only when it reduces public expenses

Politikk styrer sjukepleiefaget

Artikkelen argumenterer for at sjukepleiefaget har vorte politisk styrt ved hjelp av koplingar mellom sjukepleiepraksis og ulike former for vitskapsbasert kunnskap.publishedVersio

Omsorg for den samfunnsnyttige kroppen

Source at http://www.dnms.no/i/2010/05/Omsorg-for-den-samfunnsnyttige-kroppen.Den franske filosofen Michel Foucault argumenterte for at ein har styrt moderne samfunn ved hjelp av samankoplingar mellom kroppslege praksisar og vitskap. Denne styringsforma kalla han disiplinering. I denne artikkelen argumenterer me for at den politiske argumentasjonen i siste halvdel av 1800-talet og starten av 1900-talet, om å legge om frå folkeleg til borgarleg reinsemd, kan ha vore ein lekk i eit omfattande politisk disiplineringsarbeid. Vidare argumenterer me for at dei kroppslege vaskenormene som oppstod i denne perioden, står ved lag i vår tid. Argumentasjonen byggjer på analyser av lærebøker i sjukepleie frå fortid og notid, på studiar om reinsemd i fortid og notid og på sosiologen Norbert Elias sin sosialiseringsargumentasjon

Hverdagslivet til foreldre som har barn med utviklingsmessige funksjonshemninger

Published version of an article in the journal: Vård i Norden. Also available from the publisher at: http://www.artikel.nu/Bob/GetBob.aspx?bobID=3544Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and illuminate the daily life of parents who have children with developmental disabilities. Background: Up to the 1980’s most children with disabilities were institutionalized. Today these children live with their families supported by public health care services and the family’s social network. Parents experience extreme strain due to unpredictability, sleep deprivation, multiple hospitalizations and demanding caregiving procedures. Method: Semi structured interviews of four couples of parents with children from age one to six years with developmental disabilities were conducted. The interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using Systematic Text Condensation. Findings: Four main themes were identified, “different and unpredictable daily life”, “always in a state of preparedness”, “living right now” and “challenging encounters with health professionals“. Despite parents’ challenging daily life they emphasized their positive view of caring for a child with disabilities. Conclusion: To manage their daily life parents needed to be acknowledged as valuable collaborators and experts on their child’s condition. They expressed a need for information adjusted to their child’s illness trajectory. Training family, especially grandparents, to be confident performers of caring procedures may relieve parents’ caring load. Despite a challenging daily life the parents expressed a positive and healthful attitude. To improve parents’ coping it is crucial that health professionals support the parents’ health promoting strategies as well as their need for care. Further studies on grandparents’ contribution is needed, as well as parents’ experiences of early transfer to the child’s habilitation services

Predictive Analog to Digital Conversion of Doppler Ultrasound Signals

Analog to digital conversion in multigate Doppler ultrasound systems for blood velocity measurements, is a technological challenge. The echoes must be digitized at a rate determined by the system bandwidth (typically 2 MHz), and the dynamic range is large (16 bits or more) due to the presence of strong, low-frequency Doppler clutter echoes originating from slowly moving tissue. Off-the-shelf A/D-converters do not meet these requirements with the transducer configuration employed by contemporary Doppler systems. Analysis reveals a 5 bits reduction in required wordlength for an A/D-converter in a predictive feedback loop, when the maximum clutter frequency is about 1.5 % of the pulse repetition frequency. The prediction error filter is recursive. Alternatively, first and second order DPCM (Differential Pulse Code Modulation) yield 4 and 6 bits respectively. With short input segments (from a high-resolution Color Flow Mapper), the results are, in the above order: 4, 4 and 5 bits. The resu..

Entering a World with No Future. A phenomenological study describing the embodied experience of time when living with severe incurable disease

This paper presents findings from a phenomenological study exploring experience of time by patients living close to death. The empirical data consists of 26 open-ended interviews from 23 patients living with severe incurable disease receiving palliative care in Norway. Three aspects of experience of time were revealed as prominent: 1. Entering a world with no future; living close to death alters perception of and relationship to time. 2. Listening to the rhythm of my body, not looking at the clock; embodied with severe illness, it is the body not the clock that structures and controls the activities of the day. 3. Receiving time, taking time; being offered not asked for help, is like receiving time that confirms humanity, in contrast to having to ask for help which is like taking others time and thereby revealing own helplessness. Experience of time close to death is discussed as an embodied experience of inner, contextual, relational dimensions in harmony and disharmony with the rhythm of nature, environment and others. Rhythms in harmony provide relief, while rhythms in disharmony, confer weakness and limit time

Being in transit and in transition. The experience of time at the place, when living with severe incurable disease - a phenomenological study

The aim of this study is to describe the experience of time as it presents itself at the place being situated when living with severe incurable disease and receiving palliative care. The empirical data consist of 26 open-ended interviews with 23 patients receiving palliative care at home, at a palliative day care; in a palliative bed unite in hospital or in a nursing home in Norway. A common meaning of a shifting space for living emerged from the analysis and was revealed through three different aspects: (i) Transition from a predictable to an unpredictable time: To live with severe incurable disease marks a transition to a changed life involving an ongoing weakened and altered body with bothersome symptoms making experience of time different and unpredictable. (ii) Transition between a safe and unsafe time: When time is unpredictable, feeling safe is revealed as essential to how time is experienced at the place being situated. (iii) To be in transition from a homely to a homeless existence. In a time of increased bodily weakness, unpredictable ailments and displacements the sense of belonging to the place is revealed as significant to the experience of time. Not knowing where to be in a time of change is like an existential cry of distress where the foothold in existence is lost. The findings are discussed and interpreted as an embodied experience originating from the passage of time continually affecting life sometimes so fundamentally that it marks a transition to a changed space of life that is reflected in the experience of time