The 'order of things': Tracing a hostory of the present through a re-reading of the past in nursing education
Kim Walker
Nursing (Applied Research), St Vincent's Private Hospital, Australian Catholic University, Darlinghurst NSW
Colin Holmes
Adjunct Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville QLD
PP: 106 - 118
Abstract
For the best part of modern history, nursing's education system has tended to fore-ground the pragmatic over the esoteric, the practical over the theoretical and the primacy of character over intellect.
As a consequence of this binary logic at work, nursing education inoculated its neophytes with a set of troublesome values about the importance of nursing education vis-à-vis nursing practice and, as a result, created a powerful cultural climate which both wittingly and unwittingly perpetuated the subjugation of nurses to other health professionals rather than the obverse.
In this paper, a number of historical educational texts are read from a ‘presentist' perspective to illustrate how a certain ‘order of things' inscribed itself on the body/subjects of generations of nurses. This history has left an unfortunate legacy that ensures nurses' political voice continues to remain muted and their contribution to healthcare under-recognised and under-valued.
Keywords
education, history, gender, power, patriarchy
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