Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem ()

The essence of care in health vulnerability: a Heideggerian construction

  • Virna Ribeiro Feitosa Cestari,
  • Thereza Maria Magalhães Moreira,
  • Vera Lúcia Mendes de Paula Pessoa,
  • Raquel Sampaio Florêncio,
  • Maria Rocineide Ferreira da Silva,
  • Raimundo Augusto Martins Torres

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2016-0570
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 70, no. 5
pp. 1112 – 1116

Abstract

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ABSTRACT Objective: Reflect on the essence of care in health vulnerability from the phenomenological perspective of Martin Heidegger. Method: Theoretical-reflexive study, anchored in three essential parts: 1) Care in Heidegger; 2) The essence of care in health vulnerability; And 3) Nursing care actions on health vulnerability. Results: Vulnerability must be recognized as an indelible trait of the human condition and has its constituents in the human being, co-presence and care. Caring is an interactive process that reveals itself in the relationship with the other. Respecting the integrity of the Being in vulnerability must be a priority in nursing care, through behaviors that privilege the Being. Conclusion: Understanding ontological care and its relation to vulnerability under Heidegger’s phenomenological view allowed us to uncover the facets of care in health vulnerability by adding to the nursing knowledge body a comprehensive and reflective perspective.

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