The Ethics of Self-Care in Caring Professions
The medical academy's primary ethical imperative may be to care for others, but this imperative is meaningless if divorced from the imperative to care for oneself. How can we hope to care for others if we, ourselves, are crippled by ill health, burnout, or resentment? The self-care imperative,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Bologna
2014-12-01
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| Series: | Encyclopaideia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://encp.unibo.it/article/view/4561 |
| _version_ | 1818302864640966656 |
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| author | Craig Irvine |
| author_facet | Craig Irvine |
| author_sort | Craig Irvine |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The medical academy's primary ethical imperative may be to care for others, but this imperative is meaningless if divorced from the imperative to care for oneself. How can we hope to care for others if we, ourselves, are crippled by ill health, burnout, or resentment? The self-care imperative, however, is almost entirely ignored in the training of healthcare professionals. Indeed, this training opposes the introspection essential to the practice of ethical self-care. If we are to heed the self-care imperative, healthcare professionals must turn to an ethics that not only encourages, but even demands care of the self. We must turn to narrative ethics. Since narrative is central to the understanding, creation, and recreation of ourselves, we can truly care for ourselves only by attending to our self-creating stories. Narrative ethics brings these stories to our attention; so doing, it allows us to honor the self-care imperative. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T05:45:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d34fc7e050684d53a066f5fd467866b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1590-492X 1825-8670 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T05:45:41Z |
| publishDate | 2014-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Bologna |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Encyclopaideia |
| spelling | doaj.art-d34fc7e050684d53a066f5fd467866b62022-12-21T23:57:40ZengUniversity of BolognaEncyclopaideia1590-492X1825-86702014-12-01183910.6092/issn.1825-8670/45614185The Ethics of Self-Care in Caring ProfessionsCraig IrvineThe medical academy's primary ethical imperative may be to care for others, but this imperative is meaningless if divorced from the imperative to care for oneself. How can we hope to care for others if we, ourselves, are crippled by ill health, burnout, or resentment? The self-care imperative, however, is almost entirely ignored in the training of healthcare professionals. Indeed, this training opposes the introspection essential to the practice of ethical self-care. If we are to heed the self-care imperative, healthcare professionals must turn to an ethics that not only encourages, but even demands care of the self. We must turn to narrative ethics. Since narrative is central to the understanding, creation, and recreation of ourselves, we can truly care for ourselves only by attending to our self-creating stories. Narrative ethics brings these stories to our attention; so doing, it allows us to honor the self-care imperative.http://encp.unibo.it/article/view/4561Ethics ClinicalEthics MedicalNarrative MedicineNarrative EthicsSelf-Care |
| spellingShingle | Craig Irvine The Ethics of Self-Care in Caring Professions Encyclopaideia Ethics Clinical Ethics Medical Narrative Medicine Narrative Ethics Self-Care |
| title | The Ethics of Self-Care in Caring Professions |
| title_full | The Ethics of Self-Care in Caring Professions |
| title_fullStr | The Ethics of Self-Care in Caring Professions |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Ethics of Self-Care in Caring Professions |
| title_short | The Ethics of Self-Care in Caring Professions |
| title_sort | ethics of self care in caring professions |
| topic | Ethics Clinical Ethics Medical Narrative Medicine Narrative Ethics Self-Care |
| url | http://encp.unibo.it/article/view/4561 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT craigirvine theethicsofselfcareincaringprofessions AT craigirvine ethicsofselfcareincaringprofessions |