The values underlying the nursing profession are entrenched in Christianity. The act of service and care to others is a core tenet of Christianity. As nurses, we show compassion, love, and kindness to strangers every day. We are the direct channel of God's healing, and we are committed to performing diligently, both morally and ethically.
Christian Perspective Versus Postmodern Relativism Within Healthcare
Christianity emphasizes caring for one another. Christians are called to love God and to be of service to others. The idea of sacrificing oneself for the other is echoed throughout the Christian scriptures. The idea of offering relief to those suffering is true Christianity. From the teachings of Jesus, who God sent to save humanity from sin, an act considered the greatest act of sacrifice, die for others' sins ( Following Jesus as the Truth ).
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Christians model this act of God's love in their compassion, love, selflessness, and kindness. They have a tradition of taking care of those who are unable to take care of themselves. To give the ultimate Christian nursing, one needs to have a relationship with their creator and understand the ultimate act of love by sacrificing His only son for others' salvation ( Following Jesus as the Truth ). There is no earthly measure of what a nurse gives to a patient, for the care is inspired by God's love.
While Christianity is grounded firmly on one source of truth, postmodernism is a difficult construct to define. The premises of postmodernism rely upon an individual judgment of the truth. This causes relativism of opinion and of what is right and what is wrong ( Following Jesus as the Truth ).
Postmodernism encourages proponents of out-of-the-box thinking and perception of reality. The reality, according to the postmodern dogma, has no single convergence point. According to them, the truth changes based on one's experiences and situation ( Following Jesus as the Truth ). In nursing experience, a postmodern approach would make certain procedures merited by the situation warranting them. Such a view is flexible, and decisions have no firm ground for justification like in Christianity.
Scientism
Scientism is the upholding of scientific thought and ideas over all other sources of knowledge. It is the scientific validation of all knowledge and explanations. Scientism acclaims that itself is the only form of knowledge that exists blatantly, disregarding all other knowledge fields (Mayes et al., 2018).
One characteristic of scientism is using the word "science" out of context to command attention and respect of opinions. Science is grounded in experiments and results as sources of laws and knowledge (Mayes et al., 2018). Not everything on earth is measurable scientifically or through scientific instruments and therefore cannot be put into a laboratory and experimented upon. This fact shouldn't stop mankind from delving into the non-scientific realms of knowledge such as the arts, humanities, and theology. Scientism renders other styles of thinking unthinkable.
Critics of scientism decry that it risks undermining science itself and other disciplines such as ethics, philosophy, art, among other humanities and social sciences. Scientism casts other fields of knowledge like metaphysics as pseudoscience (Pigliucci, 2018). Fields like logic and ethics have no experimental data to prove however carry hugely relevant philosophical knowledge behind them. Scientism coins itself as the ultimate way of logic, dismissing other rationales.
Scientism has become an avenue for commercial entities to commercialize science. In some advertisements, products are said to be scientifically proven to work. The use of specific figures to describe a product's effectiveness without documenting the science behind them is an outright abuse of science (Pigliucci, 2018). False claims of scientific data lead to ignorance of critical analysis and skewing decisions by consumers, who are supposedly in "trust" of science.
In the age of big data, where data points are collected across numerous fields, scientism could easily be abused. A case in point is when the researcher finds a relationship between two datasets and infers a conclusion due to confirmation bias (Pigliucci, 2018). While data may show a correlation, it doesn't necessarily mean that scientific knowledge is deduced.
World View
A world view is an individual or a society's broad perspective on issues and topics. It is the basis of many decisions made regarding life. Every individual holds a personal philosophy of life that is their world view, which depicts what they expect in life and what they stand for, regardless of whether they know it or not.
What is the Ultimate Reality?
The ultimate reality is that God is our creator. According to Genesis, He is the creator of the heavens and earth. He is the giver of life as He breathed life to man in the creation accounts. I live life in the ways that please God and follow his teaching according to the Bible. All authority also comes from God. Human beings are co-creators and are on earth to complement God's creation. Through the holy spirit, God gives us the power to serve others in kindness and love and to spread the joy of His goodness. In essence, every man is equal in the eyes of God, and we should treat each other with respect and kindness, whether rich or poor, weak or strong.
What is the Nature of the Universe?
A universe is a place of harmony between all creatures of God. It is a place where life supports life in a cycle of synchronicity. The sun provides light to plants that then feed the food chain. In essence, every creature cares for the other, and so should all humans. We should provide comfort for others when they are in need because the universe cares for us. The universe extends God's providence and love for all of His creations.
What is a Human Being?
A human being is a creature capable of intelligence and spirituality. What makes humans what they are is that they have a conscience that separates their behavior from other animals. A human being belongs to a community and is social. Human beings are capable of collaboration and unity in tackling a problem that threatens their existence. They solve problems that advance humanity and improve the quality of life.
What is Knowledge?
Knowledge is the act of perceiving something and understanding it. It is what remains after engaging the senses and scrutinizing to obtain a deeper meaning of something. Knowledge is gained from learning a discipline like medicine and advancing in it. It can also be obtained by engaging with text on a certain field of study ranging from arts to science. There is no custodian of knowledge, for it can be shared with every interested party. Human beings have a nature to pursue knowledge and interests that feed their intelligence, setting them apart from all other animals.
What is your Basis of Ethics?
The foundation of my ethics is Christian beliefs and teachings. These teachings guide my morals and decisions. The teachings are love, kindness, patience, forgiveness, and humility toward other human beings. As Christians, we have to serve humanity with God's grace and love.
What is the Purpose of your Existence?
My purpose of existence is to be an agent of kindness and goodness as prescribed in Christianity. The purpose is to serve those in need of help and give support to the weak. As a nurse, I help alleviate the suffering that others go through even though they are strangers. It gives me the joy to see others get better due to my work and continue to do.
References
Following Jesus as the Truth: Postmodernity and Challenges of Relativism (LOP 62 B) Lausanne Movement . Lausanne Movement. Retrieved 18 February 2021, from https://www.lausanne.org/content/lop/following-jesus-as-the-truth-postmodernity-and-challenges-of-relativism-lop-62-b .
Mayes, C., Williams, J., Kerridge, I., & Lipworth, W. (2018). Scientism, conflicts of interest, and the marginalization of ethics in medical education. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice , 24 (5), 939-944.
Pigliucci, M. (2018). The Problem with Scientism . Blog.apaonline.org. Retrieved 18 February 2021, from https://blog.apaonline.org/2018/01/25/the-problem-with-scientism/ .
Rieg, L. S., Newbanks, R. S., & Sprunger, R. (2018). Caring from a Christian worldview: Exploring nurses' source of caring, faith practices, and view of nursing. Journal of Christian Nursing , 35 (3), 168-173.
Worldview - an overview, ScienceDirect Topics . Sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 18 February 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/worldview.
