title: Suffering: toward a contextual praxis.
abstract: Janice M. Morse's article in Advances in Nursing Science (24:1) revised and summarized the major findings of a research program exploring the behavioral-experiential nature of suffering. Using a feminist critical theory stance, this article addresses Morse's conceptualization of a praxis of suffering. First, it identifies the strengths and contributions of Morse's body of research to nursing science. Next, it undertakes a critique situated in feminist critical theory in which the limitations of Morse's work are explored using exemplars from the Western literary tradition. Finally, the article proposes a new conceptualization of an alternative contextual praxis of suffering in which nurses' responses to suffering are situated in an emancipatory paradigm of authentic presence.
authors.affiliation: Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, University of San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.
authors.forename: Jane M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Georges
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D019513:Feminism; D005610:Freedom; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D016294:Models, Nursing; D008960:Models, Psychological; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009742:Nursing Theory; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D011057:Politics; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012930:Social Dominance; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D019366:Western World