Humanization of nursing care from the i-other relationship: ethics, alterity and responsibility
International Journal of Development Research
Humanization of nursing care from the i-other relationship: ethics, alterity and responsibility
Received 03rd August, 2018; Received in revised form 26th September, 2018; Accepted 19th October, 2018; Published online 28th November, 2018
Copyright © 2018, Kezia Cristina Batista dos Santos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Currently, the term humanization has been widely discussed in the health area, however, there are no changes in care practices. Considering alterity as essential for a humanized relationship by the demand for a singular assistance, this study aimed to reflect on the humanization of nursing care from the I-other relationship proposed by the philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas. The I-other relationship pointed out by Lévinas presents the other as absolute alterity and the self as passive subjectivity, which despite being in relation, remain radically separated. The nurse self, before the alterity of the other, becomes responsible for this, and from this responsibility the ethics operates. Health care is human because it is a response to the appeal that comes from the face of the other. Final Considerations: Caring is the essence of nursing. In nursing care situations the other remains as alterity and to assist it in a humanized way it is necessary to recognize and respect its subjectivity, welcoming not only a sick body but a singular face impossible to objectify, categorize and conceptualize.
