The philosophical basis of nursing research is simply about increasing our knowledge and addressing everyday challenges through reflective thinking. This article explored the fundamental principles that inform nursing research and stresses nurse researchers' vital role in meeting everyday challenges. By employing classic philosophical concepts and contemporary ways of knowing, this article explained how individual beliefs, conceptions about truth, and reflections on self had contributed to knowledge development. To put it plainly, this article is about the story of a nurse researcher and the illustration of how a nurse's philosophy impacts research and consequently contributes to the development of nursing science. Instead of regarding this process as a quest for the ultimate truth, this article recognized the evolving process of interacting with fluid knowledge to advance nursing practice and do well in society.

Humans ; Skull Base/surgery* ; Head ; Philosophy

Hemifacial Spasm/surgery* ; Humans ; Microvascular Decompression Surgery ; Philosophy ; Postoperative Complications ; Treatment Outcome

COVID-19 ; Humans ; Philosophy ; SARS-CoV-2

Global Health ; Humans ; Medical Oncology ; methods ; organization & administration ; trends ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; Philosophy, Medical

PURPOSE: Amendment to the Act on Decisions on Life-sustaining Treatment was recently enacted to designate long-term care hospitals as providers of hospice and palliative care. Despite its benefit of providing improved accessibility to end-of-life care, the amendment has raised concerns about its effect on quality of service. This study aimed to use information obtained from an expert group interview and previous studies to compare how cancer patients, family caregivers, physicians, and the general Korean population perceive the potential benefits and risks of this amendment.METHODS: We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional study from July to October 2016. The included participants answered a structured questionnaire regarding the extent to which they agree or disagree with the questionnaire items indicating the potential benefits and risks of the amendment. Chi-square tests and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed.RESULTS: Compared with the general population, physicians agreed more that long-term care hospitals are currently not adequately equipped to provide quality hospice and palliative care. Family caregivers found improved access to long-term care hospitals more favorable but were more likely to agree that these hospitals might prioritize profits, thereby threatening the philosophy of hospice care, and that families might cease to fulfill filial responsibilities. Compared with the general population, cancer patients were more concerned about the potentially decreased service quality in this setting.CONCLUSION: Although potential service beneficiaries and providers expected improved accessibility of hospice and palliative care services, they were also concerned whether the system can provide adequate quality of end-of-life care.
Caregivers ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Health Personnel ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Logistic Models ; Long-Term Care ; Palliative Care ; Philosophy ; Risk Assessment ; Terminal Care

In early 2018, the National Action Plan for Preventing Suicide was announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and related ministries. The Action Plan presents a realistic goal of reducing suicide mortality to two-thirds of the present level, which would make it 1.4 times higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average (in contrast to current circumstances, in which it is 2.4 times higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average). Several public and private organizations are engaged in various suicide prevention activities. However, it is crucial for a seamless network to be formed, including government organizations, medical institutions, private organizations, and religious organizations. In medical settings, it is imperative that clinicians assess patients' risk of depression or suicide and arrange for a referral service. We need to connect modern social trends with classical mental health treatment modalities by using technologies such as smartphones and the internet. Strategies for research and development and for actual implementation must be established. Suicide prevention requires the active cooperation of not only mental health professionals, but also all physicians and health professionals. Experts in philosophy, sociology, economics, religion, and anthropology must also collaborate to find ways of affirming the importance of human life.
Anthropology ; Depression ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Internet ; Loneliness ; Mental Health ; Mortality ; Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development ; Philosophy ; Referral and Consultation ; Smartphone ; Sociology ; Suicide

In their embryology, Aristotle and Galen greatly disagreed on the role of human derived materials like menstrual blood and vaginal secretion (called by them female sperm or semen). This gap made those two ancients also disagree on their understanding of mother's role in the generation of the human body in her womb. During the Middle Ages, especially during the thirteenth century, the scholastics drew on those two ancient thoughts for some rational underpinnings of their philosophical and theological doctrines. However, the manners of adoption and assimilation were varied. For example, Albert the Great strived to reconcile the two in the image of Avicenna, one of the main and the most important sources of Galenist medicine in the thirteenth Century. By contrast, those scholastics who played an important role in the controversy over plurality/unicity of the substantial form, drew on their disagreements. For example, pluralists like Bonaventure, William of la Mare, and Duns Scotus appealed to Galenist medical perspective to underpin their positions and paved ways to decorate Virgin Mary's motherhood and her active contribution to the Virgin birth and to the manhood of her Holy Son. in contrast a unicist like Thomas Aquinas advanced his theory in line with Aristotelian model that Mary's role in her Son's birth and manhood was passive and material. Giles, another unicist, while repudiating Galenist embryology with the support of Averroes's medical work called Colliget, alluded to some theologically crucial impieties with which might be associated some pluralists' Mariology based on the Roman physician's model. In this processus historiae, we can see not only the intertwining of medieval medicine, philosophy, and theology, but some critical moments where medicine provided, side by side with philosophy, natural settings and explanations for religious marvels or miracles such as the Virgin birth, the motherhood of Mary, the manhood of Christ, etc. Likewise, we can observe two medieval maxims coincide and resonate: “philosophia ancilla theologiae” and “philosophia et medicina duae sorores sunt.”
Embryology ; Female ; Human Body ; Humans ; Parturition ; Philosophy ; Spermatozoa ; Theology

This study examines how Choe Han-gi (崔漢綺, 1803–1879) developed his medical discourse which integrated the concepts of traditional Chinese medicine with modern Western anatomy, based on the philosophy of Seo Gyeong-deok (徐敬德, 1489–1546), a scholar of the Neo-Confucianism of Joseon (1392–1910). Seo emphasized gi (氣, C. qi, vital, material force) rather than yi (理, C. li, the principle of things) as a way of understanding the world. Since Choe's early academic interests pertained to Neo-Confucianism, it is reasonable to examine his philosophy in this context. Similar to Seo, Choe assumed that the most essential component of the world was the intrinsic and mysterious gi. Although Seo spoke of gi as a damil cheongheo ji gi (湛一淸虛之氣, the gi which is profound, uniform, clear, invisible, and empty), Choe preferred to use the word singi (神氣, C. shenqi, the intrinsic, invisible, and mysterious gi). He believed that the earth, moon, and stars operated through the action of singi and that all creatures could only exist by relying on it. Singi was the most important premise in Choe's medical discourse, a fact demonstrating that although he could be very critical of traditional Chinese medicine, his perspective was part of that tradition. He believed that singi integrated and operated the entire human body and that it perceived external objects. He also emphasized the role of hyeongjil (形質, C. xingzhi, a visible object with a form and quality; here it means all human bodies). This was the medium through which singi could appear in reality. Choe thought that singi could not reveal itself in reality without hyeongjil, and that hyeongjil became a dead thing without singi. His perception of the role of hyeongjil was expressed in his interest in modern Western anatomy, an interest that complemented his focus on singi. In light of his understanding of the singi-hyeongjil relationship, Choe criticized both modern Western anatomy and traditional Chinese medicine. He thought that modern Western anatomy lacked awareness of singi and that traditional Chinese medicine lacked accurate knowledge of human anatomy. Although he was not completely sympathetic toward any forms of medicine, he was open to ideas from both Western and Chinese medicine. Choe could not accept Western anatomy as fully as Japanese intellectuals did. The study of anatomy in Japan had developed in relation to the idea of Ancient Learning (古學, C. guxue), which denied such theories of systematic correspondence as Yin and Yang and the Five Elements (陰陽 五行, C. yinyang wuxing) and tended to focus on the action of hyeongjil itself. Because Choe accepted modern Western anatomy without accepting Ancient Learning, his perspective was unique in the history of East Asian anatomy. From a medical history perspective, how does Choi Han-gi's medical discourse distinguish itself from other medical discourses, and what are its characteristics? In addition to other explanations, focusing on the political imagination associated with medicine can help illuminate the differences between the medical discourse of Choe and those of others. Discussion of medicine and the human body was tied to political thought, manifesting the political imagination of the society in which that discussion took place. The development of Western and Japanese anatomy reflected a vertical and hierarchical political order, exemplified by the belief that the brain was the center of the body. However, Choe doubted that organs like the brain or heart dominated the body. In his view, the singi ruled the body; it was not a specific organ, and it was equally inherent in all people. His political thought also emphasized the horizontal and equal order among people. His view of singi simultaneously influenced both his perspective on medicine and his perspective on society. Choe Han-gi's belief in this horizontal and equal political order was inherent in his singi-centered medical discourse.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Brain ; Clothing ; Complement System Proteins ; Heart ; Human Body ; Humans ; Imagination ; Japan ; Learning ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Moon ; Philosophy ; Qi

PURPOSE: This review describes the historical changes in nutrition philosophy from a reductionist to a holistic approach during the 20th century. Also, the role and efficient use of a holistic approach to precision nutrition are discussed. RESULTS: Over the past century, significant progress has been made in human nutrition research, unraveling fundamental mechanisms of single nutrients on single targets or pathways. This kind of a reductionist approach has helped to save populations from nutrient deficiency diseases and improve associated health outcomes in large parts of the world. However, a new set of nutrition problems, like obesity and diet-related chronic diseases, are growing each year worldwide, increasing the financial burden on the health care system. A linear cause-effect association between single nutrients and a single physiologic effect, is insufficient to solve the complex nutrition-health relationships. Research that involves a more holistic rather than reductionist approach is needed to tackle a new set of nutrition problems. Recent advances in technology, informatics, and statistical methods are enabling an understanding of the diversity of individuals and the complex interactions between foods and human bodies, leading to the concept of “precision nutrition.” CONCLUSION: The emerging goal of precision nutrition is to provide tailored dietary advice for maintaining health and preventing obesity and diet-related chronic diseases. The parts are already being installed. To grab the complexity, reductionism and holism must be used interdependently.
Chronic Disease ; Deficiency Diseases ; Delivery of Health Care ; Human Body ; Humans ; Informatics ; Obesity ; Philosophy