Nursing care as a moral, practical, communicative and creative activity

Abstract

In this paper nursing care is studied by philosophical inquiry. According to the outlined philosophical theory, nursing can be conceived as a moral, practical, communicative and creative activity. This means that nursing care is viewed as a manifestation of a conception of the good life, that it is related to some kind of changes or non-changes with respect to the patient, that it is oriented towards reaching understanding and that something new, unpredictable and meaningful is created in the nursing interaction. The theory is defended by scientific, moral and practical arguments. Habermas' theory of communicative action plays a central part in the outlined theory of nursing care.