Annotated Bibliography V

1. Annotated Bibliography V EXAMPLE 2

2. Summary Example 2 • Kim and Flaskerud(2007) point out that compassion is a fundamental ideal that is integral to nursing because the spirit of nursing disappears without it • In their view, compassion can be cultivated and taught across cultures that share similar religious and/or cultural attitude towards it if nurses are made to be more aware of it through a number of exercises (60 words)

3. Objective Evaluation Example 2 • Intended for nurses • Written after a first-hand experience of the system after Kim was diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer • Kim and Flaskerud’s (2007) key points: • “Compassion is a…fundamental ideal…, and is indeed integral to nursing….” (p. 931) • “Nurse’s caring work, the are of nursing, builds intrinsically upon a humane quality of being aware of and understanding the suffering of others and seeking to comfort and assist.” (p. 931) • Religious and cultural differences do not interfere with the acts of caring: “touching, listening, and acknowledging and relieving another’s pain and suffering” (p. 932) • as well as gender roles in a culture

4. Pros • Presents an important first-person perspective, as a nurse and a patient, on Nursing, and asks important questions about Nursing as a profession of compassion • Positive views on crossing cultural divides, and useful exercises to make nurses become better trained in compassion, regardless of religion, geographical location and gender roles

5. Limitations • A few sources offered do not provide much insight on the positive aspects of compassion—only the negatives • The work is a narrative account of one nurse’s experiences as a nurse and a breast-cancer patient, and lacks any scientific data/study on compassion; works as a personal reflection paper on what is needed in nursing, from Kim’s view, but fails as an argument/persuasion paper because the points are not fully argued/developed/explained/supported

6. Limitations Cont’d • One of the points mentions Buddhist view on compassion, but the writers do not know the Buddhist philosophy on “suffering” or “dukkha”, which is not about human suffering. It is rather about re-birth into Maya or the world of the senses, from which all Buddhists seek liberation • Conclusion is a circular argument (stated, but not proven) • One person’s experience in his/her area/city does not mean all hospitals and their staff are like the ones she has experienced

7. Connection/Reflection • Kim and Flaskerud (2007) are correct in pointing out that compassion is an important quality in Nursing, “regardless of culture,” but their supporting details are rather crudely argued and presented, like their notion that “Buddhist cultures are based on the idea that “life is suffering” inherently extending into taking others’ suffering into account.” (p. 933) This statement does not take into consideration the fact that Buddhist philosophy on suffering is about emotional detachment, which is really a dreadful way of thinking for nurses who should be cultivating compassion for another person…

8. Bibliography Kim, Sue, & Flaskerud, Jacqueline H. (2007). Cultivating Compassion Across Cultures. Mental Health Nursing. 28. 931-934