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Harrison offers a tribute to Rosemary Radford Ruether in the light of a host of womanist and feminist scholars who helped shape and inform the scholar and teacher she is today. Although Harrison has never met Ruether, the two women have something in common: Howard University. Ruether's legacy lives on, and this pioneer, who has joined the cloud of witnesses, continues to influence Harrison's vocational pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Middle managers play a key role in promoting a caring culture in nursing homes. However, there is limited knowledge about middle managers' inner motives and their experiences of their responsibility in developing a caring culture. Research aim: The aim of the study is to get a deeper understanding of middle managers' motives and their experiences of their responsibility to develop a caring culture in nursing homes. Research design: A qualitative design with a hermeneutic approach inspired by Gadamer was chosen which guided the interpretation of data. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted. Participants and research context: Data were collected from thirteen middle managers in nursing homes, in six municipalities in northern Norway in September and October 2021. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data. Oral and written informed consent was obtained from participants. Findings: The findings show that the middle managers had non- egoistic motives to promote a caring culture as expressed in their attitudes and actions. They felt responsible to promote a caring culture where both patients and staff experienced care and were respected and recognized as unique individuals. Middle managers as good role models are responsible for being present and raising awareness of the importance of care in the nursing home culture by systematically reflecting on care values. However, a strong focus on the financial and administrative demands limits the middle managers' possibilities to promote a caring culture and prevented them from always acting as they wanted to act, which often causes moral distress. Conclusion: Being in contact with inner motives, enables the leader to promote a homelike and caring culture where both patients and staff feels respected and recognized as unique individuals. This study highlights the importance of systematic reflection on caring values in nursing homes which leads to value awareness among all actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnant women in Switzerland expect safe and healthy birth outcomes for themselves and their babies. However, in 2018, 691 died in infancy with gaps identified in the provision of services to parents in such circumstances. Our study aims to illustrate these gaps and how, from participants' perspectives, they were addressed. A hermeneutic method was employed to analyze three cases: one from each major language region was via primary health-care providers. A thematic analysis was carried out with individual participants followed by a cross-case comparison which showed a hermeneutic of rupture, the juxtaposition of time and reshaping the family. This article shows the unique journeys experienced by parents whose baby dies before or shortly after birth in one country where neither the language nor experience is shared. The derivation of three hermeneutic themes may resonate with other parents or health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social support is known to be essential to cope with the physical and psychological aftermath following coronary heart disease treatment. Consequently, patients experiencing loneliness may be placed in a vulnerable situation. The aim of this study was to provide insight into the nuances and complexity of loneliness and its impact on health behaviour in the early rehabilitation period following treatment. The study used a hermeneutic philosophical approach. Patients classified as lonely were interviewed in either a focus group (n = 7) or in an individual interview (n = 10). We analysed the empirical material using inductive content analysis. The analysis illuminated various dimensions of patients' perceived loneliness; 'Loneliness as an emotional pain', 'A changed, but unmet need for social support' and 'Striving for symmetry in relationships'. Loneliness negatively influenced patients' ability to adapt to the critical event and manage health behaviour changes. Insight into the mechanisms that aggravate loneliness may inform future social support interventions. Social støtte er beskrevet som essentiel i forbindelse med håndteringen af de fysiske og psykiske følger af iskæmisk hjertesygdom. Derfor kan patienter som oplever ensomhed være i en særlig sårbar situation. Formålet med dette kvalitative studie var at opnå en nuanceret indsigt i patients oplevelse af ensomhed, samt hvordan ensomhed influerer på sundhedsadfærd i den tidlige rehabiliteringsperiode efter behandlingen for iskæmisk hjertesygdom. I studiet havde vi en hermeneutisk filosofisk tilgang. Patienter klassificeret som ensomme blev interviewet enten individuelt (n = 10) eller i fokusgruppe (n = 7). Vi analyserede det empiriske materiale med induktiv indholdsanalyse. Analysen tydeliggjorde forskellige dimensioner af patienternes oplevede ensomhed: "Ensomhed som en emotionel smerte", "Et ændret, men ikke imødekommet behov for social støtte", Stræben efter symmetri i relationer". Ensomhed havde en negativ indflydelse på patienternes mulighed for at håndtere den kritiske hændelse og på sundhedsadfærd. En øget indsigt i de mekanismer som forværrer ensomhed, har relevans ved udarbejdelsen af fremtidige sociale støtteinterventioner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sufferers from burnout might experience a sincere bonding to their lost lifeworld, which can result in their holding on to their previous worlds while simultaneously trying to unleash themselves. In this article, four experiential dimensions are presented in discussion with the phenomenological insights provided by Merleau-Ponty. These dimensions are "Trapped in the present body," "the balancing act," "precious moments of joy," and "this is my Lifeworld now." In the rehabilitation process, the participants demonstrated deliberate choices and reflective self-cultivation to adjust to their present situation. The illness seemed to promote a search for meaning—and out of the existential chaos, a "new" habitual body might appear. The study provides invaluable information about the rehabilitation process and the need for humanistic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dementia in Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is an area of significant health and community concern. In this article, we use a hermeneutic mode of interpretation to deepen understanding of experience and meaning in dementia for family carers of older Aboriginal people in urban Australia. Specifically, we draw from the hermeneutic concept of "world disclosure" to illuminate the dementia experience in three ways: through an artwork of the brain and dementia; through concrete description of the lived relation of caregiving; and through an epochal perspective on the significance of contemporary caregiving in dementia. Using narrative and visual knowledge, this three-fold approach brings to the forefront the importance of ontological and existential meanings which resonate for Aboriginal families in the dementia caregiving experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Ruth's theology of resilience amidst vulnerability: a resilience rooted in ḥesed (loving kindness, a generosity beyond the call of duty). Ḥesed is a powerful social force that could address current issues for those both in privileged positions and in vulnerable situations. A re-reading of Ruth offers modern theologians and serious students of the Bible pathways towards building resilience amidst vulnerability, and in caring for those in vulnerable positions. The text at hand offers a pathway to be true to one's core values and character, even amidst desperate situations. In Ruth resilience is developed by caring for others, identifying with a particular faith community, and taking initiatives while maintaining integrity. The narrative unveils a sustainable life of resilience that happens when one's private and public life is lived congruently to each other. This article also reads Ruth's narrative through a lens of a minority foreign woman that uses feminist and post-colonial approaches while looking at Ruth through a hermeneutic of trust. First, the author identifies her assumptions and considerations. Secondly, the article examines resilience as rooted in one's identity and explores ḥesed under cultural and spiritual frameworks, within the narrative of Ruth and Naomi's road scene from Moab to Bethlehem. Lastly, it examines resilience as rooted in ḥesed, within the narrative of the threshing floor scene encounter between Ruth and Boaz. The road and threshing floor scenes are decisive moments for Ruth. Her words and actions in each instance reveal her resilience: her strength of mind, emotion, and spirit, in spite of her vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of the ongoing bond maintained by the bereaved with the deceased has attracted considerable attention, but studies have generally ignored postdeath relationships when loss occurs in utero. The goal of this research was to reach an interpretive understanding of the continuing bond experience among Israeli mothers who underwent feticide, examining the strategies they use in maintaining a postdeath relationship with a child they did not know, whose death they chose and witnessed, within a social context that ignores their loss and forces them to silence their grief. The results highlight two themes: (a) strategies for relinquishing connection with the baby and (b) strategies for maintaining a postdeath relationship. These processes partially correspond with two theoretical views that shed light on interpretation of the results: the dual process of coping with bereavement and relational dialectic theory. Implications of the results to the practice of health providers are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older people fear Alzheimer’s disease. Central to the fear of the disease is the dread of the loss of identity or self. The aim of this study is to investigate the thoughts people in an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease have about their future selves, and the consequences these thoughts have for their temporary lives. The concepts of future and self are understood in terms of the concepts ‘possible selves’ and ‘selfhood’. The participants in the study are two men in their early 60 s. The data consist of four individual interviews and 11 facilitated family conversations including two of their next of kin. The data were collected over a two-year period. The data were interpreted using a hermeneutic analysis inspired by Gadamer. The main findings were the efforts made by the participants to live in the present and their worries about a future as ‘living dead’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Richard Rorty are used to redescribe the fundamental assumptions underpinning project management. Rather than viewing project management as merely a science, the significance and value of philosophy for project management are developed. The philosophical practice of redescription as a way of responding to existential disruptions of the lived experience of managing projects is seen as vital not only to being a project manager but also to describing project management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suicidality is a life-and-death struggle in deep loneliness and psychological pain. There is a lack of knowledge about what could help the suicidal patients’ struggle for continued life. The aim of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of suicidal patients in the aftermath of suicidal attempts. The research question was ‘What resources in the person himself or herself and his or her surroundings are crucial in a suicidal crisis to maintaining the will to live and hope for life’? Methodology: The study has a hermeneutic approach and an explorative design. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 10 participants: men and women 21–52 years of age. The context was two emergency psychiatric units and one crisis resolution team. Ethical considerations: The participants signed an informed consent before the interviews were conducted. Findings: This article presents three themes: (a) becoming aware of the desire to live, (b) an experience of connectedness and (c) someone who cares. Discussion: The suicidal person’s awareness of wishes, dreams, hopes and will, but also of their feelings in the aftermath of the suicide attempt, seemed to play a crucial role in a suicidal crisis. Experiences of connectedness remind the person of the responsibility in his or her own life and in the lives of others and seemed to strengthen the urge to go on. Private and professional relationships seem to be crucial in stimulating the desire and hope to go on living. Conclusion: Becoming aware of the desire to live, being connected to others and experiencing someone who cares is necessary for life. Both private and professional networks seemed to be important resources that could remind the suicidal person of his or her own dignity as part of being human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The profusion of conflicting images of God in the Bible are often effectively categorized and segregated by historical-critical readings of the text in which some images are accepted at the expense of others. The result, however, is the establishment of a “canon within a canon” comprised of more palatable images of the divine while effectively ignoring those deemed to be vulgar or offensive. However, when we read through a hermeneutic rooted in a negative theology (i.e., an “apophatic hermeneutic”), conflicting images of God in the Bible may be understood as a necessary aspect of the verbal profusion that leads the contemplative not to logical contradiction, but to “linguistic self-subversion” (Turner). This can serve to dismantle our secret attachments to our preferred images which are themselves exposed as falling infinitely short of the God revealed in Christ precisely as the Deus absconditus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this article was to obtain an understanding of what is experienced as human dignity by nurses in surgical practice. In order to obtain experiences from practice, the critical incident technique was chosen. A total of 11 nurses from surgical practice wrote 49 stories about positive and negative incidents. The text was analysed using hermeneutical text interpretation. The findings revealed patient dignity in terms of preserved dignity, that is, healthcare professionals paid attention to the patient. Nurses experienced preserved dignity when healthcare professionals allowed the patient to tell their story, allowed themselves to get close to the patient and in turn received the patient’s trust. Violated dignity included circumstances when the nurses were forced to see what they did not want to see. Nurses experienced violated dignity when healthcare professionals behaved rudely towards the patient, acted as if he or she was invisible or humiliated the patient at the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What is special about our everyday activities is that they occur within the ceaseless flow of many unfolding strands of spontaneously responsive, living activity. This requires us to adopt a kind of fluid, process thinking, a shift from thinking of events as occurring between things existing as separate entities prior to their interaction, to events occurring within a continuously unfolding, holistic but stranded flow of events, with no clear, already existing boundaries to be found anywhere – a flow of events occurring within intra-actions in which we ourselves are also immersed. Bringing the nature of these flowing processes to light requires the use of concepts of a kind very different from the well-defined concepts expressive of theories or models. I have called them prospective, descriptive concepts, and below I explore their nature and their use in characterizing how our surroundings can influence the unfolding shape of our utterances and other expressions within them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay seeks to engage the narrative art of the book of Joshua in ways that may prove valuable for contemporary communities of faith. The argument draws on the feminist and postcolonial critical tradition for defining insights about the construction of the subject, the interrogation of power dynamics, and the reformation of community. The essay then explores Joshua’s representations of authority and its use of liminal moments in Israel’s narrative of conquest in order to suggest possible avenues of appropriation by contemporary readers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In academia there seems to be a taken for granted assumption that there is one way to do a literature review. This paper argues that the manner of reviewing literature needs to be congruent with the particular research methodology. As an example, the authors explicate reviewing literature in hermeneutic research. The paper begins by discussing philosophical assumptions. The authors then offer personal accounts of their experiences of working with literature in ways that are congruent with hermeneutic methodology. It is argued that the key purpose of exploring literature in hermeneutic research is to provide context and provoke thinking. Literature, which can include anything that provokes thinking on the phenomenon of interest, becomes an essential dialogical partner from which scholarly thinking and new insights emerge. In conclusion distinguishing hallmarks of ways of working hermeneutically with literature are articulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychiatric nurses frequently encounter suicidal patients. Caring for such patients often raises ethical questions and dilemmas. The research question for this study was: 'What understandings are revealed in texts about consolation and psychiatric nurses' responses to suicidal patients?' A Gadamerian approach guided re-interpretation of published texts. Through synthesizing four interpretive phases, a comprehensive interpretation emerged. This revealed being 'at home' with self, or an ethical way of being, as a hermeneutic understanding of a way to become ready to mediate consolation with suicidal patients. Trustworthiness was addressed by means of the qualities of auditability, credibility and confirmability. This re-interpretation adds to nursing knowledge, enhances understanding of previous research findings, provides pre-understanding for further research and reveals the value of hermeneutic inquiry in nursing. It also deepens understanding of a published model of consolation. These understandings may help to guide nurses who are struggling with suicidal patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored patients' experiences of participation and non-participation in their health care. A questionnaire-based survey method was used. Content analysis showed that conditions for patient participation occurred when information was provided not by using standard procedures but based on individual needs and accompanied by explanations, when the patient was regarded as an individual, when the patient's knowledge was recognized by staff, and when the patient made decisions based on knowledge and needs, or performed self-care. Thus, to provide conditions for true patient participation, professionals need to recognize each patient's unique knowledge and respect the individual's description of his or her situation rather than just inviting the person to participate in decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to achieve a deeper understanding of the meaning of the lived experiences of elderly persons who are severely ill with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and in need of everyday care. Narratives from dialogues with six persons were interpreted using phenomenological-hermeneutic methodology. The structural analyses showed severe problems in daily life due to old age with a decaying body and dialectic experiences of resignation-contentedness, loneliness-connectedness, and being homeless-being at home. The interpreted whole reveals that life, suffering and comfort must be understood as an interlaced experience where ageing is just as important as the experience of illness. These elderly people's concerns and problems due to old age, a decaying body and being severely ill with COPD call for palliative and comfort care and thus challenge all professionals involved in their care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of articles in the nursing literature discuss the differences between descriptive and interpretive approaches to doing phenomenology. A review of studies demonstrates, however, that many researchers do not articulate which approach guides the study, nor do they identify the philosophical assumptions on which the study is based. Such lack of clarity makes it difficult for the reader to obtain a sense of how the knowledge produced by the study is to be evaluated and used. In this article, the authors compare the philosophical components of descriptive and interpretive approaches to doing phenomenology and illustrate types of knowledge produced by each through reviewing specific studies. They focus on the various uses of phenomenology in generating useful knowledge for health care practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two hermeneutical exemplars are presented of men who died in their homes. While the families enjoyed the experience of having their loved one at home, the experiences had cultural differences from each other. One man died in the United States utilizing the services of a professional hospice agency. The other man died in the Philippines with the assistance of his family. In addition to the cultural contrasts between these two exemplars, the primary purpose is the portrayal of the creativity of one nurse in producing a very positive experience with dying at home. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]