Journeying with Alice: some things I don't know for certain.
In this narrative I reflect on those things I do not know for certain. The narrative is constructed around my experience of giving Alice, a patient at the hospice where I worked as a complementary therapist, a foot massage. The narrative reveals the possibility of caring in the context of hospice, notably the significance of paying attention to little things such as a foot massage, that made such a difference to Alice's care. The narrative further reveals factors that resist caring, in particular the impact of labelling people as difficult for whatever reason. The narrative stands as an exemplar of reflective practice as an opportunity to reveal and challenge those things I might claim to know but which in the mystery of the human-human encounter can never be known for certain. Only by being non-attached to knowing can the practitioner truly realise her or his caring potential.
Christopher Johns
R N
RN
University of Bedfordshire, Flat 4, Bedford MK40 3DA, UK. chris.johns@beds.ac.uk
D005260:Female; D005528:Foot; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008405:Massage / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations