著者

池辺 寧

出版者

日本医学哲学・倫理学会

雑誌

医学哲学 医学倫理 (ISSN:02896427)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.18, pp.90-101, 2000-12-15 (Released:2018-02-01)

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A body has been generally considered an object to be controlled. But a person does not own his or her body. The person is defined here as having a mind-body unity. Each patient has the embodied experience of his or her illness. The life history of the patient is, so to speak, engraved on his or her body. Nurses must try to understand the patient's illness in light of the patient's own life history. From this point of view, this paper proposes that nursing is "a physical dialogue" between nurses and patients. It is true that the nurse-patient relationship is not symmetrical. But nursing is not a one-sided action. Since it connects nurses' lives with patients' lives, nursing is an interaction. Accepting a chronic illness means that patients adjust themselves to a new situation caused by illness, i. e. a new state of self. They must find for themselves some meanings in life accompanied with their illness. The role of nurses is to support them. Patients understand their illness not only mentally, but also physically. When nurses try to appreciate the meanings which patients give their sick bodies and illness, they must interpret them through the patients' physical selves. Patients expect that nurses will give them the imagination necessary for hope. Many people today hesitate to be cared for by others, because they place much value on autonomy. But no man could live without dependence on others. Caring and interdependence should be more highly valued.