Nursing and "being with" in a world with COVID-19: an existentialist look

Abstract

Objective To reflect on nursing from an existentialist perspective, in which "being-with" has been shown to be the best type of care in a world with Covid-19. Method Reflective theoretical study on nursing in the context of a pandemic using an existentialist philosophical theoretical framework. Results Nursing is now perceived by society as a profession whose practices are beyond the clinical conditions that affect individuals who live with this pandemic, as taking care of others is not only performing technical actions, but means, fundamentally, taking sensitive ones, like “being-with” in a present and authentic way. Final considerations The pandemic has caused changes in the way human beings relate to the world, leading to reflections on values due to the restrictions imposed by it. In this scenario, nurses becomes visible, being the protagonists in the different care spaces, since the focus of its practice is existential care, which is established through relationships in encounters between beings, thus making “being-with” possible.

Contexto de cuidado del enfermo renal crónico: conceptos existenciales y humanísticos

“…Establecer un espacio de convivencia es también un elemento estructurante, entendido como resultado de la acción de adaptar la realidad, según el cuadro 1. Se entiende, en la dimensión existencial, donde el yo es propriamente um "estar con o ser con", y ese "estar con" se relaciona con otros "yoes" que forman "mi" mundo circundante 15 . En este contexto, los seres de mi mundo se distinguen de los objetos en que "también están ahí conmigo"; además, este "con" y este "también" son existenciales.…”

“…Existencialmente, el hombre es entendido como un ser individual, necesariamente relacionado con otros hombres en el tiempo y el espacio. Cabe señalar, sin embargo, que este tiempo no siempre está relacionado y sincronizado con el tiempo cronológico, sino que es inherente al tiempo interno, único, vivido por los seres-en-el-mundo de la ERC, configurando la unicidad de cada ser, que tiene su propio ritmo para adaptarse a esta nueva realidad 4,7,15 , retratado en las declaraciones de los participantes.…”

“…El pasar del tiempo permite que los seres se reúnan en este espacio, desarrollando recursos internos para vivir mejor. Así, tornandose en rutina, emerge como elemento estructurante de la subcategoría de la temporalidad, ligada a la temporalidad de la existencia del ser, inherente al pasado, presente y futuro, que debe ser comprendida singularmente en los seres-en-el-mundo de ERC, o sea, serpaciente y ser-enfermero 7,15 .…”

Conceitos e pressupostos existenciais no contexto da doença renal crônica à luz da teoria humanística

“…Nursing, under an existential look, is materialized, as a science, from the experiences lived between "being patient" and "being nursing", in the "being with", constituting the meaning of these experiences, the starting point for establishing an intersubjective relationship for care to occur (12,18) . "Being with", in its broadest sense, requires to fix attention on the "being patient", to be attentive to an opening here and now of the shared situation, world in which both beingsnursing and patient -are, and to communicate availability (12,18) . In the world of CKD, "being with" refers to the ability of "being nursing" to be present in the experiences of "being patient", responding to the fullness of the singularity of this "being" (18,19) .…”

“…"Being with", in its broadest sense, requires to fix attention on the "being patient", to be attentive to an opening here and now of the shared situation, world in which both beingsnursing and patient -are, and to communicate availability (12,18) . In the world of CKD, "being with" refers to the ability of "being nursing" to be present in the experiences of "being patient", responding to the fullness of the singularity of this "being" (18,19) .…”