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Welcome to the First Careful Nursing Blog

Hello and welcome to the first Careful Nursing Blog.

Our best news first

Our best news is the most obvious – the new website which came on-line earlier this month. Just the basics as yet. We will develop it further and add resources over time.

Hospital implementation project

In April 2013 the Department of Nursing at St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, began planning its hospital-wide implementation of the Careful Nursing Philosophy and Professional Practice Model. The project has been funded through a nursing and midwifery innovation grant from Nursing and Midwifery Planning Development (NMPD) in Dublin, South Kildare and Wicklow.

Beginning this April, the project is proceeding, one ward at a time. Ms. Sinead Murphy, Project Manager, with her team of staff nurses, Ms. Ligi Anish and Ms. Deepa Rajendran, provide a two-day workshop which focuses mainly on the philosophy, and the therapeutic milieu and practice competence and excellence concepts of the practice model. Nurses from the first ward attended the workshop, as it was held three times over successive weeks so that all nurses could attend. At present, Sinead, Ligi and Deepa are working with the nurses on the ward to guide them in their day-to-day experiences of implementing the philosophy and model, while at the same time planning implementation on the next ward.

Careful Nursing conference

In April the first ever Careful Nursing conference was hosted at Trinity College Dublin by the Adelaide Hospital Society in conjunction with the Adelaide School of Nursing and the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin.

The Adelaide Hospital Society is particularly proactive in Ireland in seeking to address health care challenges. Dr. Fergus O'Ferrall, former Adelaide Lecturer in Health Policy at Trinity College Dublin, identified a range of challenges in his article "The Crisis In Caring: An Evidence-Based Response" published in the Autumn 2013 issue of Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. He suggested that Careful Nursing has a role to play in helping nurses address these challenges.

The conference emphasised the need for Careful Nursing in a changing health care environment. A report of the conference by Claire Mahon, President of the Irish Nursing and Midwifery Organisation, published in the World of Irish Nursing, can be read here.

Careful Nursing criticism

Recently, the Careful Nursing Philosophy and Professional Practice Model has come in for resolute criticism. In the April on-line issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing Professor Emerita Lynn McDonald of the University of Guelph, Canada, published 'Florence Nightingale and Irish Nursing'. Professor McDonald is a sociologist and accomplished scholar. She is currently particularly well known for her outstanding work as the editor of the Collected Works of Florence Nightingale.

The focus of Professor McDonald's criticism is the article 'The Careful Nursing Philosophy and Practice Model', published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing in 2012. Constructive criticism is always welcome and I am thankful to Professor McDonald for taking the time to critically evaluate my work.

The main aim of Professor McDonald's article is to challenge my claims that the 19th century Irish nurses' approach to nursing, on which the contemporary philosophy and model is based, was distinctively Irish and established prior to Florence Nightingale, and that the Irish nurses at the Crimean war, who were Sisters of Mercy, influenced Nightingale. But, I stand by my claims. The facts speak for themselves, as stated and referenced in the Background section of this website. A discussion of Professor McDonald's article appeared in the 13 April edition of The Sunday Times (Ireland) by the news editor, Colin Coyle. It is attached below. See what you think.

It needs to be said that nurses in Ireland have the highest regard for the nursing accomplishments and legacy of Florence Nightingale. This was abundantly evident in the year-long series of celebrations held all across Ireland during 2010, to honour Nightingale on the 100th anniversary of her death. But we are also naturally mindful of our own professional forebears. We keep their legacy close at hand and enjoy sharing it with others.

Let us hear from you

The plan is that we will write a blog at the end of each month. The intent of the blog is to keep nurses informed about the Careful Nursing Philosophy and Professional Practice Model. It is also to address issues and answer questions that you might like to raise. Say and ask whatever you wish. We enjoy challenges. Do let us hear from you – post as many comments as you like.

Kind regards, Therese

Attached Documents

PDF icon Colin Coyle Article (Nuns_Failed_to_Light_Way_for_Lady_of_the_Lamp.pdf | 5.31 MB)

 

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