Nursing Science Quarterly

“To see or not to see” is an allusion to the classical Shakespearean quotation “to be or not to be, that is the question.” Evidence as a concept pertains to truth, reality, and being in the world; it involves seeing, realizing, making visible, and clothing thoughts into words. A new interpretation of the concept of evidence in caring science is presented in this column, based on the etymology of the concept and Gadamer’s hermeneutical philosophy. Ontological or absolute evidence is based on being and the true reality that extends beyond the immediate reality. The truth, or the substance, lies concealed within the true reality. Evidence includes envisioning, seeing, knowing, attesting, and revising.

This column is concerned with the mechanics of transitioning from being a new doctoral graduate to being a researcher with a solid program of study. To clarify these mechanics, Carol Kostovich, Karen Saban, and Eileen Collins discuss the roles of being a nurse mentor, the expectations of being a mentee, and practical tips for sustaining a successful relationship as mentor-mentee.

This column is concerned with the mechanics of transitioning from being a new doctoral graduate to being a researcher with a solid program of study. To clarify these mechanics, the authors discuss the roles of being a research mentor, the expectations of being a mentee, and practical tips for sustaining a successful relationship.

Much has been written regarding the global nurse shortage. Frequently, authors and speakers who represent the discipline of nursing raise the topic of contextual barriers and limitations experienced in the practice setting as potential for the de-valuing of human dignity in the worklife of nurses. Quality of worklife issues arise and are reflected in observations of an ever-present difficulty with recruitment and retention of professional nurses in a multitude of global healthcare settings. This column is intended to begin a dialogue about the valuing of human dignity for nurses and the quality-of-life issues that surface as described by nurses and healthcare recipients that dramatically influence the quality of nursing practice from the humanbecoming school of thought.

In this column the author focuses on the concepts of human vulnerability and human flourishing. A parable is presented highlighting the importance of now, the present, in human flourishing. A bioethical, anthropological perspective and a nursing humanbecoming perspective on human flourishing are offered. Nursing education is challenged to emphasize the nursing theories of the discipline to teach the concept of human flourishing. Parse’s concept of true presence, the four postulates of humanbecoming, and the humanbecoming community change concepts illuminate a nursing theoretical understanding of human flourishing.

Peer review is accepted as a necessary and appropriate mechanism by which to monitor professional behavior and facilitate professional development. The American Nurses Association has supported the process of peer review for over 2 decades. Although peer review is becoming a part of nursing practice and education, it has not been universally adopted. If nurses are apprehensive of peer review due to feelings of insecurity and distrust, it can prohibit peer review from being implemented. By using the theory of human care as the underpinning for the development and implementation of nursing peer review programs, a caring environment is created that helps nurses to accept and benefit from the process.

A critical appraisal of the construct of quality of nursing worklife is presented in an interview with Dr. Beth Brooks. Dr Brooks makes a strong case for better understanding of nursing worklife as essential to healthcare in the future.

Understanding-misunderstanding is an intrinsic part of being human. It is understanding that might be said to underscore all communication. This article is an in-depth exploration of the philosophical views regarding human understanding from some of the greatest philosophers in history, and a glimpse into the disciplines of sociology, psychology, and nursing in their views on human understanding or related concepts. Human understanding-misunderstanding is supported in the literature as a paradox—one that continues to be mysterious and illimitable. In fact, it is the belief of this author, in every human encounter, one cannot not understand-misunderstand.

Feeling unsure is a universal experience of health and quality of life. The purposes of this research study were to discover the structure of the lived experience of feeling unsure, to add to the body of knowledge on the phenomenon of feeling unsure, and expand the humanbecoming school of thought. The Parse research method was used to guide this study and answer the question, What is the structure of the lived experience of feeling unsure? Participants were 10 individuals living with chronic heart failure in the community. The processes of dialogical engagement, extraction-synthesis, and heuristic interpretation were used. The central finding of this study was the following structure: The lived experience of feeling unsure is discomforting trepidation with unassuredness-assuredness, as vigilantly anticipating possibles with treasured alliances arises with moments of acquiescence. New knowledge extended the theory of humanbecoming and enhanced understanding of the experience of feeling unsure.

Using Orem’s theory as the framework, two purposes guided the study: (a) to test the effectiveness of an audio-visual education program and behavioral contracting to promote self-care behaviors in managing radiation side effects and (b) to determine the extent to which low literacy affects self-care abilities. Seventy men diagnosed with prostate cancer participated in this experimental study. The nursing interventions of education and behavioral contracting significantly increased the self-care behaviors of men in managing radiation side effects. An increase in self-care behaviors was especially shown in men with low-literacy skills.

The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the nursing phenomenon, confidence, from the experience of nurses in the nursing subculture of critical care. Leininger’s theory of cultural care diversity and universality guided this qualitative descriptive study. Questions derived from the sunrise model were used to elicit nurses’ perspectives about cultural and social structures that exist within the critical care nursing subculture and the influence that these factors have on confidence. Twenty-eight critical care nurses from a large Canadian healthcare organization participated in semistructured interviews about confidence. Five themes arose from the descriptions provided by the participants. The three themes, tenuously navigating initiation rituals, deliberately developing holistic supportive relationships, and assimilating clinical decision-making rules were identified as social and cultural factors related to confidence. The remaining two themes, preserving a sense of security despite barriers and accommodating to diverse challenges, were identified as environmental factors related to confidence. Practice and research implications within the culture of critical care nursing are discussed in relation to each of the themes.

A model of personhood for nursing in Ireland based on Celtic society, Irish language, Irish customs, and the Catholic religion is discussed. Concepts central to the model are presented bilingually as a means of capturing the essence of nursing care in an Irish context. The adequacy of the model is considered from the perspective of the following evaluative criteria: social utility, social congruence, and social significance.