KARI MARTINSEN

Philosophy of Care

Gregory S. Wiggins
 NURSING
BACKGROUND
 EDUCATION
• 1964 RN
• 1966 Psychiatric RN
• 1968 Bachelor’s in Philosophy
• 1974 Master’s in Philosophy
• 1984 Doctorate in Philosophy
 MARTIN
HEIDEGGER
German Phenomenologist

Investigated Existential
being

Useful to Martinsen because

Caring was the Central
Concept in his Thought
 OOPS!

Heidegger’s role as a Nazi

sympathizer during WW II
became public knowledge.
Martinsen decided that she
needed a new philosopher to
base her caring philosophy
on.
 KNUD EILER
LOGSTRUP
Danish philosopher and
theologian
Filled the gap left by
Heidegger
Major Contribution:
Sovereign Life Utterances
 Drag picture to KARL MARX
placeholder or click icon Criticized individualism and
to add the satisfaction of the needs
of the rich at the expense of
the poor.

Martinsen applied this

philosophy to care saying,
“those who need care the
most receive the least” thus
calling attention to flaws in
the health care system.
 EDMUND HUSSERL
Phenomenology as the
Natural Attitude
Contribution: The body
cannot be divided into body
and soul; it is a wholeness
that relates to other bodies,
to things in the world, and to
nature.
 MERLEAU-PONTY
Our bodies and those of our
patients express themselves
through actions, attitudes,
words, tone of voice, and
gestures.
Phenomenology involves
acts of interpretation,
description, and recognition
of lived life, the everyday life
that people live together
with others in a mutual
natural world, including the
professional contexts in
which caring is performed
 KARI MARTINSEN
“Nursing is founded on
caring for life, on neighborly
love, . . . At the same time it
is necessary that the nurse
is professionally educated”
 MAIN IDEAS
• People are created dependent and relational
• The person is fundamentally dependent upon community
and the creation
• To the created belong the sovereign life utterances
• Sovereign life utterances are phenomena that create life
and release life’s possibilities
• The body is created as a whole in which body and spirit
enter into a benevolent interaction, and which sensing
cannot be avoided
• Sensuous and experience-based knowledge is the most
fundamental and essential for the practice of nursing
 PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS
(ASSUMPTIONS)

Care Untouchable Zone

Professional Judgment Vocation

Morality The Eye of the Heart

Person-Oriented The Registering Eye

Professionalism
Sovereign Life Utterances
 METAPARADIGM
Nursing

Person

Health

Environment
 E VA LUAT I O N:
HOW DOES MARTINSEN’S PHILOSOPHY MEASURE
UP?
 EVALUATION
Clarity

Generalizable

World View

Use

Guiding Nursing Decisions, Actions, and Practice

S T R E N G T H S / W E A K N E SS E S
 APPLICATION
It is impossible to do nursing without caring

Nurses act through the philosophy of care, even if

they don’t know that it was explained by or credited
to Kari Martinsen
Martinsen’s Philosophy is: The Philosophy of Care
 References

Alligood, M. R., & Tomey, A. M. (2010). Nursing theorists and

their work (7th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby.
Austgard, K. (2006, January). The aesthetic experience of
nursing. Nursing Philosphy, 7(1), 11-19. doi:
10.1111/j.1466769X.2006.00242.x
Austgard, K. I. (2008). What characterises nursing care? A
hermeneutical philosphical inquiry. Scandinavian Journal of
Caring Sciences, 22, 314-319. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-
6712.2007.00526.x
Jensen, J. B. (2011, September). Working with arts in nurse
education. Designs for Learning, 1(1), 34-43.
Martinsen, E. H. (2011, March). Care for nurses only? Medicine
and the perceiving eye. Health Care Analysis, 19(1), 15-27.
doi: 10.1007/s10728-010-0161-9
Rick, D. (2004). Nursing fundamentals Caring & clinical
decision making. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Learning.
 
Ha Det Bra
“Goodbye”