ABSTRACT
We are products of history. Nursing and healthcare have developed significantly in recent years, and applicability of evidence from a decade or more ago is rightly questioned. But this does risk jettisoning awareness of philosophies that have influenced practice. Passive acceptance of philosophy can be dangerous, as philosophy affects our values – how we approach patients and patient care. Our values may be either explicit or implicit, and influence both individual attitudes and the culture we work in (Sarvimaki and Sanderlin Benko, 2001). Values therefore influence care. Chapter 1 identified the need to explore values and beliefs about ICU nursing. This chapter describes and contrasts two influential philosophies to supply a context for developing individual beliefs and values. This is not a book about philosophy, so descriptions of these movements are brief and simplified; readers are encouraged to pursue their ideas through further reading.
