Holistic practice in children's nursing; the personal, professional and maternal

Higham, Sue (2010). Holistic practice in children's nursing; the personal, professional and maternal. In: Robb, Martin and Thomson, Rachel eds. Critical practice with children and young people. Bristol: The Policy Press, pp. 249–265.

URL: http://www.policypress.co.uk/display.asp?K=9781847...

Abstract

Decades ago nurses were expected to leave their non-nurse selves at the door of the ward (Redwood, 2003), although the reality is that that was never really possible.This expectation is in contrast to other fields of practice such as social work where a conscious use of self is promoted (Reupert, 2009).All professionals bring a personal hinterland to their practice, replete with knowledge, skills and values from their lives before and outside their professional practice, just as service users do to their experience. In this chapter I explore the tensions that arise at the interface between the professional and the personal for practitioners working with children, young people and their families. Holistic practice is examined and the value of reflection for practice with children, young people and their families investigated, particularly in relation to professional socialisation.The association between ‘maternal care’ and professional practice with children and young people is considered and the relationships between professionals who are mothers and mothers who are service users examined.

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