In the middle of the tunnel
Section: LEARNING TO TEACH
Authors
Ruth Campillo Poveda
Position
Alumna de tercer curso de la EUE “La Fe”, Valencia.
Contact address
C/ Pepe Montó, 8 pta, 3. 46410 Valencia.
Abstract
This paper was presented by a third-year student as her final assessment project of an optional module titled “the critical patient”. Her words are quoted below:
“It was really difficult for me to chose a presentation topic that would faithfully represent the objective pursued by the course subject. And I say this not because the contents of the subject are void of a variety in terms of approach points, but totally the contrary. There are a lot of implications, doubts and disjunctive scenarios presented by the magnitude of this complex subject.
At the beginning I thought about performing an analysis on any alternative therapeutic measures that could be useful in improving our attitudes towards people who suffer from irreversible terminal diseases. In the end, I thought that performing a study on the magnitude of terminal disease would allow me to determine my own inclinations regarding death and what death means in the life of human beings. What is death for me? What experiences do I have with death? These and many other reflections resulting from this inner thinking process made me think that maybe it was more appropriate to explore myself instead, going back in time to my past through my memories and back until the present time. In this journey I compiled a sequential bibliography of the personal implication of the word “death” according to my own scale of values, which means doing it according to my own principles. That involved exploring what feelings it generates in me, what sensations I get from it, how this method has evolved as a result of my own maturity process as a person, the influence the environment has had on me, and the repercussions it has had on my training as a nurse in the construction of such knowledge.
“It was really difficult for me to chose a presentation topic that would faithfully represent the objective pursued by the course subject. And I say this not because the contents of the subject are void of a variety in terms of approach points, but totally the contrary. There are a lot of implications, doubts and disjunctive scenarios presented by the magnitude of this complex subject.
At the beginning I thought about performing an analysis on any alternative therapeutic measures that could be useful in improving our attitudes towards people who suffer from irreversible terminal diseases. In the end, I thought that performing a study on the magnitude of terminal disease would allow me to determine my own inclinations regarding death and what death means in the life of human beings. What is death for me? What experiences do I have with death? These and many other reflections resulting from this inner thinking process made me think that maybe it was more appropriate to explore myself instead, going back in time to my past through my memories and back until the present time. In this journey I compiled a sequential bibliography of the personal implication of the word “death” according to my own scale of values, which means doing it according to my own principles. That involved exploring what feelings it generates in me, what sensations I get from it, how this method has evolved as a result of my own maturity process as a person, the influence the environment has had on me, and the repercussions it has had on my training as a nurse in the construction of such knowledge.
Keywords:
attitudes in death situations; therapeutic approachesethical dilemmas
Versión en Español
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