Abstract: A statement of the nature of research needed to distinguish the knowledge of nursing practice from knowledge developed by other disciplines. It orients to the interrelationship of practice and research as the foundation of the discipline of nursing.

Abstract: The aim of this research was to explore surveillance discourses within New Zealand child health nursing and to identify whether surveillance practices have implications in this context for power relations. Five experienced and practising Plunket nurses were each interviewed twice. The texts generated by these semi-structured interviews were analysed using a Foucauldian approach to critical discourse analysis. In contrast with the conventional view of power as held and wielded by one party, this study revealed that, in the Plunket nursing context, power is exercised in various and unexpected ways. Although the relationship between the mother and the nurse cannot be said to operate as a partnership, it is constituted in the nurses' discourses as a dynamic relationship in which the mother is actively engaged on her own terms. The effect of this is that it is presented by the nurses as a precarious relationship that has significant implications for the success of their work.

Abstract: In this paper the authors draw attention to the value and understandings of nurse dignity in the work-life of nurses. A review of nursing literature and a theoretical lens on worker dignity derived from recent work by Hodson (2001) was used to explore these questions. In the context of current and international workforce issues associated with recruitment and retention, analysis of the construct of worker dignity within the profession takes on a strong imperative. Findings of this inquiry reveal that while there is a degree of coherence between the nursing research and elements of Hodson's (2001) research on worker dignity, the dignity of nurses, as a specific construct and as an intrinsic human and worker right has received little explicit attention. Reasons for this may lie partly in approaches that privilege patient dignity over nurse dignity and which rely on the altruism and self-sacrifice of nurses to sustain patient care in environments dominated by cost-control agendas. The value of dignity in the work-life of nurses has been under-explored and there is a critical need for further theoretical work and research. This agenda goes beyond acceptance of dignity in the workplace as a human right towards the recognition that worker dignity may be a critical factor in sustaining development of healthy workplaces and healthy workforces. Directing explicit attention to nurse dignity may benefit the attainment of both nurse and organisational goals. Hodson's (2001) framework offers a new perspective on dignity in the workplace.

Abstract: This article presents a reconsideration of partnership between nurse and client as the core of the nursing discipline. It points to the significance of the relational nature of partnership, differentiating its features and form from the prevalent understanding associated with prescriptive interventions to achieve predetermined goals and outcomes. The meaning of partnership is presented within the nursing process where the caring presence of the nurse becomes integral to the health experience of the client as the potential for action. Exemplars provide illustration of this emerging view in practice and research. This is the first of a series of articles written as a partnership between nurse scholars from Iceland, New Zealand and the USA. The series draws on research projects that explored the philosophical, theoretical, ethical and practical nature of nursing practice and its significance for health and healthcare in a world of changing need.

Abstract: The authors share the evolution of innovative ways to explore, 'unpack' and re-frame clinical issues that exist in everyday practice. The elements of these processes, which they call 'puzzling practice', and the techniques associated with them, were delineated over a two year period by the authors using action theory based processes. The authors have evolved several different frameworks for 'puzzling practice' which they draw on and use in their practice development work and in research practice. This paper pays attention to a particular form of puzzling practice that they found to be useful in assisting individual clinicians and teams to explore and find workable solutions to practice issues. In this example 'puzzling practice' uses seven different elements; naming the issue; puzzling the issue; testing the puzzle; exploring the heart of out practice; formulating the puzzle question; visualising the future; and generating new strategies for action. Each of the elements is illustrated by the story and the key foundations and ideas behind each element is explored.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the discourses of scientific mothercraft and their implications for the nurse-mother relationship, drawing on the author's recent research into surveillance and the exercise of power in the child health nursing context. The application of Foucauldian discourse analysis to the texts generated by interviews with five New Zealand child health nurses confirms that this paradoxical role has never been fully resolved. Plunket nurses primarily work in the community with the parents of new babies and preschool children. Their work, child health surveillance, is considered to involve routine and unproblematic practices generally carried out in the context of a relationship between the nurse and the mother. However, there are suggestions in the literature that historically the nurse's surveillance role has conflicting objectives, as she is at the same time an inspector and family friend.

Abstract: The concept of cultural safety offers a unique approach to nursing practice, based on recognition of the power differentials inherent in any interaction. Clarification of the concept is offered, together with a review of the historical shift in nursing attitudes that has led to the emergence of “cultural safety” as a viable and valued component of nursing practice. The argument is made that cultural safety has allowed for a more reflective, critical understanding of the actions of nursing to develop. This includes recognition that nurses' attitudes and values have inevitably been influenced by social and political forces, and as such are in part reflective of those within the wider community. Comparison between the support given by nurses in the early 1900s to the theory of eugenics and the current acceptance of cultural safety is used to highlight this point. An examination of the literature identifies that ideological and conceptual changes have occurred in the approach of Aoteaoroa/New Zealand nurses to issues with cultural implications for practice. A review of background factors relating to Maori health status and the Treaty of Waitangi is presented as a necessary context to the overall discussion. The discussion concludes with an acknowledgement that while the rhetoric of cultural safety is now part of nursing culture in New Zealand, there is no firm evidence to evaluate its impact in practice. Issues identified as impacting on the ability to assess/research a concept, such as cultural safety, are discussed. For cultural safety to become recognised as a credible (and indispensable) tool, it is necessary to further examine the “end-point” or “outcomes” of the process.

Abstract: The author considers aesthetic knowing and the use of the arts in nursing. She identifies concepts that pertain to the art of nursing. The interrelationship of the moral sense and the art of nursing is explored. The author concludes that the mediums of non-fiction, fiction and poetry can provide valuable contributions to the aesthetic way of knowing in nursing education, practice and research.