Understanding ‘caring’ through biopolitics: the case of nurses under the Nazi regime

These days, discussions of what might be the ‘essence’ or the ‘core’ of nursing and nursing practice sooner or later end in a discussion about the concept of care. Most of the ‘newer’ nursing theories use this concept as a theoretical core concept. Even though these theoretical approaches use the concept of care with very different philosophical foundations and theoretical consistency, they concur in defining care as the essence of nursing and thereby glorify goodness as the decisive characteristic of nursing. These theoretical approaches neglect the fact that nursing is above all a profession with a societal task and is characterized by an asymmetrical power relation between nurses and their patients. Based on the results of a research project that analysed the role nurses played in the killing of psychiatric patients in Germany during the Nazi regime, I demonstrate that an approach based on the concept of care is not able to explain how nurses were able to commit crimes of such atrocity. These crimes were bound to an emotional investment that sustained the production of ‘life unworthy of living’. In the case of nurses under the Nazi regime, certainly a kind of sadism was at issue that can only be explained if we recognize that the social bond is characterized by a certain tension; ‘goodness’ that caring theories assign to the social bond always coexists with the capacity for destruction. Using the Foucauldian theoretical framework of biopower and biopolitics enables one to analyse violence and power as integral parts of nurses' practice. Seen from this perspective, the killing of patients was part of a biopolitical programme and not a relapse into barbarism. The concept of care obscures the political agenda of nursing and does not provide a critical and political framework to analysing nursing practice.     

Virtue and austerity

Virtue ethics is often proposed as a third way in health‐care ethics, that while consequentialism and deontology focus on action guidelines, virtue focuses on character; all three aim to help agents discern morally right action although virtue seems to have least to contribute to political issues, such as austerity. I claim: (1) This is a bad way to characterize virtue ethics. The 20th century renaissance of virtue ethics was first proposed as a response to the difficulty of making sense of ‘moral rightness’ outside a religious context. For Aristotle the right action is that which is practically best; that means best for the agent in order to live a flourishing life. There are no moral considerations besides this. (2) Properly characterized, virtue ethics can contribute to discussion of austerity. A criticism of virtue ethics is that fixed characteristics seem a bad idea in ever‐changing environments; perhaps we should be generous in prosperity, selfish in austerity. Furthermore, empirical evidence suggests that people indeed do change with their environment. However, I argue that virtues concern fixed values not fixed behaviour; the values underlying virtue allow for different behaviour in different circumstances: in austerity, virtues still give the agent the best chance of flourishing. Two questions arise. (a) In austere environments might not injustice help an individual flourish by, say, obtaining material goods? No, because unjust acts undermine the type of society the agent needs for flourishing. (b) What good is virtue to those lacking the other means to flourish? The notion of degrees of flourishing shows that most people would benefit somewhat from virtue. However, in extreme circumstances virtue might harm rather than benefit the agent: such circumstances are to be avoided; virtue ethics thus has a political agenda to enable flourishing. This requires justice, a fortiori when in austerity.     

医德医风教育与建设之我见

医德医风,事关民生,事关医疗卫生行业形象,事关党和政府与人民群众的血肉联系。我院主要从建立组织管理,完善制度建设,拓展监督渠道,强化服务考核四个方面,不断深化医德医风教育与建设。有效地提高了患者满意度和社会信誉度,树立了医院的良好形象。     

Willingness to Favor Aggressive Care and Live with Disability Following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Survey of Healthy Young Adults in Hawai‘i

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health problem that significantly impacts young adults. Since severe TBI patients lack decision-making capacity, the providers and patient surrogates are often faced with the challenging task of deciding whether to continue with aggressive life-prolonging care or to transition to comfort-focused care with an expected outcome of natural death. The assumption is often made that aggressive care is appropriate for young patients who suffer severe TBI despite the high likelihood of a poor outcome. However, the young community''s attitude towards goals of care after severe TBI has not been studied. A questionnaire-based survey study on young healthy adults was conducted to assess their attitude towards aggressive care after a hypothetical case of severe TBI. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with the decision to favor aggressive care. Among a total of 120 community-dwelling young adults (mean age: 19±1 years) who were surveyed, 79 (66%) were willing to live with severe motor disability, 78 (65%) were willing to live with expressive aphasia, and 53 (44%) were willing to live with receptive aphasia. Despite being presented with a high likelihood of long-term moderately severe-to-severe disability, 65 of the 115 respondents (57%) favored aggressive care. A willingness to live with receptive aphasia was the only independent factor that predicted aggressive care (OR 2.50, 95% CI: 1.15 to 5.46). Even among the young adults, preference of care was divided between aggressive and conservative approaches when presented with a hypothetical case of severe TBI.     

Brain Death in Pediatric Patients in Japan: Diagnosis and Unresolved Issues

Brain death (BD) is a physiological state defined as complete and irreversible loss of brain function. Organ transplantation from a patient with BD is controversial in Japan because there are two classifications of BD: legal BD in which the organs can be donated and general BD in which the organs cannot be donated. The significance of BD in the terminal phase remains in the realm of scientific debate. As indicated by the increasing number of organ transplants from brain-dead donors, certain clinical diagnosis for determining BD in adults is becoming established. However, regardless of whether or not organ transplantation is involved, there are many unresolved issues regarding BD in children. Here, we will discuss the historical background of BD determination in children, pediatric emergencies and BD, and unresolved issues related to pediatric BD.     

Occupational Epidemiology in Agriculture: A Case Study in the Southern African Context

Abstract

Some challenges facing occupational epidemiology in developing countries are outlined in this case study of agriculture drawing on Southern African research. These include the characterization of exposures in resource- and data-poor environments typical of developing countries, the assessment of outcomes where cross-cultural and socio-environmental confounders may be substantial obstacles, and the impact of environmental exposures on workplace health. Traditional assignment of low priority to the chronic effects of low-dose exposures relative to acute morbidity in developing countries must be critically examined, as must the gender bias of much occupational epidemiology in agriculture. Advocacy issues involving child labor and the ethics of research among vulnerable groups deserve rigorous attention. It is argued that, if occupational epidemiology is to have meaningful impact on the health of the most marginalized groups of workers in developing countries, it must redefine itself in terms of a public health approach. The boundaries of epidemiologic inquiry need to be broad, and amenable to interfacing with policy research, using qualitative methods and participatory approaches. More so than in other industrial settings, epidemiologists must move from research to practice, seeking to take action where interventions are needed, and to evaluate such actions.