Definitions of oppression

Definitions of oppression
How we begin to serve others as healthcare professionals and how it is we define underserved and oppressed peoples is important in understanding issues in the organization and allocation of health care. This exploration, based on feminist post-structuralist theory, explores how nurses formulate definitions of 'underserved' and 'vulnerable'. This study goes beyond prescribed definitions to locate meanings used to identify oppression. I present, through an analysis of a literature search, the context and construction of the terms 'vulnerable population' and 'medically underserved'. Professional nursing journals are the source of relevant text. The implications of working with particular understandings of the terms 'vulnerable' and 'underserved' is based on my assumption that healthcare providers need to critically focus on the personal and political meanings they attribute to the labels used to define the clients and communities with whom they work. The presentation of this material supports that the way we define 'vulnerable' and 'underserved' is related to how our work fighting racism, ageism, AIDS, poverty, homophobia, addiction, domestic violence, sexism and colonization is realized.     

Alcohol, drugs and stigma

Alcohol and drug-related problems are common in clinical populations but are often stigmatized by the public and the professions. These attitudes may interfere with patients obtaining effective help. The reasons for these barriers are explored, including the views that these problems are self-inflicted--and therefore less worthy of help--and the stereotypes and resistances that abound in working with those who have become addicted. Training and public education may go some way to improve this situation.     

Beyond dualism: leading out of oppression

PURPOSE: To reexamine our beliefs about our gender identity in order to identify new possibilities for leading in nursing. SOURCES OF INFORMATION: Leadership is complex. This article is the result of a lengthy iterative process of exploring the empowerment, image, leadership, feminist, and oppression literature. All of this was distilled in the context of the author's experience as a nurse and nurse leader. CONCLUSIONS: Moving beyond dualism creates new possibilities for leading nurses out of oppression.     

Caring, patient autonomy and the stigma of paternalism

Caring, patient autonomy and the stigma of paternalism ¶This paper utilizes data generated during a qualitative study in palliative and maternity care settings to guide discussion of the current discourse, which emphasizes patient autonomy and derides paternalism. Data are presented which illustrate that this ideology is established in nursing practice. Respect for patient autonomy is identified as an essential element of individualized, patient-centred and ethical care but conversely, it is suggested that over-emphasis may confuse and suppress beneficent intervention. The value of ethical theory to provide an objective means to explore ethical dilemmas in practice is not debated, but exploration of the issues raised by the data suggest, that principle-based ethical theory suffers the following constraints: the predetermined balance of ethical principles in favour of respect for autonomy prevents an unbiased perspective and optimum guidance; in contrast to caring relationship, application of ethical theory does not reveal the particulars necessary to guide ethical decisions aimed at promoting good for the individual; current discourse appears to disregard the inherent inequality in the relationship between the helped and helper and practitioners' need to preserve their own moral integrity. Consequently, this paper argues that beneficence derived through caring should not be superseded uncritically and suggests that mutual nurse-patient relationship, which balances respect for patient autonomy and beneficent guidance based on practitioner's clinical expertise, protects the moral integrity of both patient and practitioner. For conciseness, the term patient will be used to indicate recipients of both nursing and midwifery care and while both nurses and midwives are not always specified, any term referring to nurses, denotes both.     

Genomics, Nutrition, Obesity, and Diabetes

PURPOSE: To present evidence of genetic and environmental interactions as they relate to nutrition, diabetes, and obesity. METHODS: A review of seminal literature related to genetics, obesity, and diabetes. FINDINGS: Multifactorial interactions are important in the development of nutrition-related disorders, but the challenge remains to explain how these interactions are expressed. Treating subpopulations of people might be important and useful to some extent at present, but in the future treating people of given genetic predispositions and other personal and environmental factors will have greater effects on quality-of-life indicators and life expectancies. CONCLUSIONS: Individualization coupled with multifactorial interactions will lead to new and more effective preventive and treatment modalities of nutrition-related disorders. With obesity and diabetes, genomics will bridge the traditional use of diet, exercise, and weight reduction with other environmental factors, ultimately leading to healthier lives.     

Disability and oppression: some implications for nurses and nursing

Since the 1970s organizations of disabled people have defined disability as a form of oppression. However, despite nurses (along with other professionals) increasingly being viewed as part of this experience of oppression, British nursing literature has to date largely failed to conceptualize disability in these terms. In this paper the five faces of oppression identified by Young are modified to include discrimination and developed to provide a framework in which evidence of the oppression experienced by disabled people may be analysed. It is argued that if nurses and the nursing profession are to challenge and reduce oppression then this should be via a process of awareness of the nature of disability, reflection on practice and development in partnership. Accordingly, an agenda is identified which has implications for nursing practice, education and research. It is stressed that if nursing is not to be viewed as irrelevant to the needs of disabled people or as part of the process by which they are oppressed then it is vital that this agenda is heeded.     

Obesity,Drugs and Formula Diets

Knowing when not to operate for uterine fibroids is probably more important than knowing when to do so. This condition requires careful evaluation; medical management is often best.     

Suicide,mental, and physical health condition stigma in medical students

Abstract

The current study aimed to compare the personal stigma of suicide with the personal stigma for other mental and physical health conditions. 116 Australian medical students (58% women), aged between 20 and 41?years (M?=?25.02, SD?=?3.80), completed an online survey. Suicide was more highly stigmatized than most of the other mental and physical health conditions in both attitudes toward suicide and willingness to disclose. The current study highlights the need for further medical student education in suicide, as ongoing negative attitudes could negatively affect patient care and disclosure.