Thoughts of creation and the discipline of nursing

Abstract

Aim The aim is to highlight thoughts of creation as a significant fundamental of the nursing discipline. This is achieved by exploring thoughts of creation in relation to everyday nursing care. Design This study, based on a hermeneutical approach, provides reused data drawn from a larger Norwegian empirical study. Method A second thematic analysis was conducted. Data in the original study consisted of qualitative interviews and qualitative follow‐up interviews with 13 nurses. The research context was the primary and secondary somatic and psychiatric health service, inside as well as outside institutions. Results Three themes emerged: (a) Life as greater than a human being; (b) creational powers attributed to the human being; and (c) understanding life as basically good. Thus, thoughts of creation in terms of philosophical underpinnings seem to gain backing from nurses’ experiences of everyday nursing care and it can be argued that it adds elements that enrich nursing care.