『대학(大學)』의 간호철학적 이해와 접목 가능성 탐색

Abstract

The The purpose of this study is to explore the potentials of grafting the philosophical understanding of nursing practice with the Great Learning (大學), a representative writing in Confucianism (儒學). Modern nursing, which was founded by Nightingale, has shown noteworthy development by building a scientific knowledge system till the present. However, given that modern nursing is a Western study that was founded in England, the nursing philosophy so far has primarily focused on establishing a scientific knowledge system and a methodology to understand the human as a nursing subject, based on the main stream of Western philosophy. If the identity of nursing is ethical practice, then the process of recovering and developing the morality of each nurse should be the fundamental starting point. Hence, this paper contemplates the process of recovering the moral nature of nurses, and of cultivating their ethical leadership, through discussing the teachings of the Great Learning. Begin with recovering the innate morality of humans (明明德) through self-cultivation (修身), assisting the recovery of another being’s morality (新民) and further, governing the society and the world with peace and harmony (平天下). To this end, the starting point of this study is to reflect upon the life and professional goals of a person who seeks to become a nurse, or a leader in the nursing field through the Three-Doctrine (三綱領) of the Great Learning, and to examine the process of recovering moral nature and the way of practicing through the Eight-Categories (八條目). Furthermore, this study includes examining the process of cultivating the ethical leadership of nurses by establishing their new self through the restoration of their moral nature. Through this process, we can lay a new foundation for nursing philosophy that can take one step closer to realizing the holistic nursing that is ultimately pursed in nursing field, through the holistic development of one’s character, based on recovering moral nature of the individual.