Question

5. How does Lisa Newton argue in defense of the traditional nurse? How does Helga Kuhse respond to Newton's arguments?

Answer 1

In her Lisa essay Newton rejects the contemporary model of a nurse as an "autonomous
professional" who can challenge physicians' authority and be a strong advocate for
patients She argues instead for the traditional notion of nurse as a careglver cure sur-
rogate mother who IS subordinate to physicians She insists that unambiguous lines of
authority and clearly specified roles are essential to a well-run hospital and that in this
setting physicians alone must be in charge when serious medical problems come up.

In her argument she says tha "the consensus that this ideal and image are appropriate for the profession is becoming monohthlc and may profit from the presence of a full-blooded alternative ideal to replace the cardboaid stereotypes it routinely condemns. That alternative, I suggest, is the traditional ideal of the skilled and genfie caregwer, whose role in health care requires submission to authorW as an essential component We can see the faults of this traditional ideal very dearly now, but we may perhaps also be able to see virtues that went unnoticed in the battle to displace It, It is my contention that the image and ideal of the traditionalnurse contain virtues that can be found nowhere else in the health cate professions, that perhaps maize an-replaceable contribution to the care of patients, andthat should not be lost in the transition to a new deftnltIon of the profession of nursing" in her counter argument Helga kuhse ask whether nurses should be patient advocates ready when necessary to Question physician authority, or be skdled and caring professtonals, who must always defer to physmlans on tmportant medical decisions. Contrary to Ltsa Newton's view,She favor the former, arguing that the nurse's subserwence to physian is not necessory for managing serious medical problems and issues and that requirmg nurses to be subservient probably harm patients